Let's go racin' boys

Well folks, I know it seems like it has been forever since the Atlanta race two weeks ago. Now while there wasn’t any action on the racetrack, by golly there sure has been a lot of conversation off the track after the Carl Edwards/Brad Keselowski incident.

What I find fascinating is how something like that is overshadowing everything else that is going on in the sport. Think about poor Kurt Busch for a second. The man wins again at Atlanta — with a new crew chief to boot — but all anyone cares about is Brad and Carl.

Now over this period of the last week, I am sure you have heard, seen or read every side of this argument from the wreck and NASCAR putting Edwards on a three-race probation. I am sure you have already formed your opinion of who was right and who was wrong and that’s pretty much why that incident has taken center stage.

Now while I have been here in Bristol, I have visited with both Carl and Brad. Edwards maintains it was his intention to only spin Keselowski out on the frontstretch and basically get his attention or “rattle his cage” like Earnhardt used to say. Folks, I am sure that is true.

Luckily no one got hurt. It was an issue between two drivers and thankfully no other driver got caught up in it. As mentioned earlier, NASCAR handed down their penalty. Additionally, they have met with both drivers here at Bristol.

Now like I said, I met with both drivers. Keselowski came over to my motorcoach on Friday morning and spent some time with me. His position is that he isn’t going to be pushed around. He feels he has to really make a point to earn the other drivers respect that he thinks he deserves even though this is his rookie season. I can fully understand that. That is one of those proverbial “been there, done that” kind of scenarios.

I mean lets face it, most of us ruffled the feathers of the veteran drivers when we first came into the sport. And like every other time, after a few incidents, someone will pull you aside and basically explain the “rules of the road.” I think you will see that happen with Brad.

Neither driver feels they were at fault in Atlanta. Brad doesn’t think he should have had to give Carl any room. He believes Carl drove in front of him, they touched and it put Carl into the wall unfortunately. On the flip-side, other than regretting that Brad had such a serious accident, Carl didn’t feel like he did anything wrong.

I just have to tell you that I don’t know there is any kind of resolution. I really don’t think these guys have resolved anything. Now NASCAR has made it perfectly clear to both sides that they will not tolerate that kind of behavior and that’s what they should do.

It really will be interesting to see what happens here at Bristol. Boy, is it a hard place to come to when you are on probation though. To have to come to Bristol of all places when you are under the scrutiny and watchful eye of the NASCAR people — that sure is tough.

Now to their credit, President Mike Helton and his crowd are pretty good at understanding what a driver’s intent was. I think a clear example of that is the penalty they issued to Carl. They didn’t throw the book at him because they understood it was never Carl’s intent for Brad’s accident to be as serious as it was. So that’s a lesson learned for any driver.

So I think we all learned something from the Carl/Brad incident at Atlanta. I also think NASCAR’s January mandate of “have at it boys” now has limits added to it. Trust me when I say I am pretty darn sure it will be made crystal clear to all the drivers.

Lots of folks are asking “so what does probation mean for Carl?” Well, I talked to Helton about that too. You know, maybe in the past when someone was put on probation, it probably didn’t have any teeth to it. So it’s my understanding now that if you get yourself into a situation when you are on NASCAR probation, the next penalty coming down the pike at you will be severe. Folks, I don’t think we are talking points and money here.

So that is something Carl is going to have to deal with for the next three races. Unfortunately for him, two of the three races are short tracks where again, we all know cars get together. Hopefully we won’t find out what the new NASCAR probation means.

Also hopefully, Carl and Brad will avoid each other. That’s probably the best thing those two can do right now. I still believe there is animosity towards each other both on and off the racetrack. Both guys are racing both races here this weekend so who knows what will happen next because these two don’t see eye to eye at all. Maybe there is a way for them to get past this and move on. That’s my hope because I don’t want to see either of them find out what NASCAR’s next ruling might be.

Oh by the way

It was a great qualifying run for Joey Logano as he snagged the pole Friday at Bristol. Kurt Busch is on the outside pole. I had said coming into this joint that I believe it would be either Kurt or brother Kyle that everyone will be chasing this weekend. Why? Well just do the math. In the last 16 races run here, which is eight years, the Busch boys have won 50 percent of them. Folks, you have to admit that is phenomenal. They might add to that total because that No. 2 car is bad fast and I am pretty sure Kyle will get his car moving to the front as well.

Oh by the way II

We have a new tire combination here this weekend but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be working as well as everyone had hoped. It seems like the rubber is going into the race track but basically dusting up the track like we have seen at a couple of tracks in the past.

Normally by the time Sunday comes, the track is rubbered up pretty good so hopefully that will be the case here. We are anticipating one of the best Bristol races in years. There are a lot of competitive cars and that makes for great racing. There are some good cars about mid-pack and also in the back, so you can anticipate pit road strategy coming into play Sunday to gain track position.

I love Bristol — always have. It’s always a great place to come for a race. I always tell folks it’s like turning on a blender. You just mix everything up but you just never know what you are going to get.