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Filed under: Carl Edwards, NASCAR Crashes

It was more like a pat on the back than a slap on the wrist.

In fact, NASCAR practically gave Carl Edwards a "high-five" Tuesday afternoon in handing out a meager, guess-we-gotta-do-something, three-race probation to the high wattage driver for his dangerous on-track retaliation Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Footage of Edwards intentionally wrecking Brad Keselowski late in Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race -- Keselowski's car launched in the air and slammed down on the retaining wall -- has made the network news and piqued interest overseas.

Even the tabloid show Inside Edition was asking NASCAR President Mike Helton questions after his announcement that Edwards would not face any severe penalties for his high speed "gotcha".

Part of what makes this case both rare and interesting is that there has been so much outrage and so many calls for a driver to be suspended for his actions on-track.

 

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Despite many calls for a swift and harsh penalty, NASCAR has decided against suspending driver Carl Edwards for an aggressive, retaliatory move in Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Calling the incident "unacceptable" NASCAR President Mike Helton announced Tuesday that the sanctioning body would not fine Edwards or penalize him any championship points, but instead place him on a three-race probation for Sunday's frightening collision with Brad Keselowski and suggested Edwards and Keselowski need to sit down and "clear the slate."

"There is a line. ... and we'll step in to maintain law and order when we think that line has been crossed,'' Helton said. "There is a balance of wanting to do the right thing. ... wanting the teams to race but us needing to maintain law and order too.''

Edwards, more than 100 laps down to the race leaders Sunday, crashed into sixth-place running Keselowski, sending Keselowski's Dodge airborne and crashing hard on its roof along the front stretch grandstands. And the fact that Keselowski's car got airborne on a 1.5-mile track was an even bigger issue in all this, according to Helton.

Edwards has repeatedly said he was glad Keselowski wasn't injured and that he never intended the car to flip into the air. But, he has also maintained that it was absolutely his intent to settle a score with the young driver. Earlier in the race, the two collided and while Keselowski was able to continue racing, Edwards car suffered a lot of damage which was why he was so far off the pace.

Their more famous run-in, however, occured at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April when Keselowski's car made contact with then race leader Edwards, sending Edwards Ford airborne into the front stretch retaining fence. Debris from the accident injured seven fans. Keselowski went on to win his first -- and only -- Sprint Cup race.

 

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Filed under: Carl Edwards, NASCAR Crashes

While the verdict is still out from NASCAR officials on whether to penalize Carl Edwards for a dangerous retaliatory crash he caused late in Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, there has been plenty of judgment rendered elsewhere.

Opinions have varied from those calling for Edwards' suspension to others shrugging off the whole matter with a wink-wink, "boys will be boys."

On the far extremes, fan reaction on FanHouse has ranged from calls for this to be considered a criminal matter to those who think Edwards' target, the young driver Brad Keselowski, "had it coming.''

Still many others are convinced NASCAR is privately enjoying the whole dust-up and will use this as a publicity stunt to promote its next race, two weeks from now, at the traditionally action-packed half-mile, Bristol, Tenn., bullring.

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Monday that if there is any further action -- "if" being the significant word -- it wouldn't be announced until Tuesday, possibly Wednesday.

 

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Filed under: Carl Edwards, NASCAR Crashes

NASCAR told its drivers to "have at it" this season. After all, what's a little bumping and heavy banging in the name of television ratings, improved attendance and high marks on fan surveys, right?

Four races into the season, however, even NASCAR has had to draw the line somewhere.

Across Carl Edwards' forehead.

Call it unintended consequences or simply a case of mixed messages. But NASCAR, Edwards and Brad Keselowski, who was on the receiving end of Edwards' retaliatory 180-mph temper tantrum, are very lucky someone didn't get seriously injured.

Running 156 laps down -- yes, 156 laps down -- Edwards intentionally turned his Ford into Keselowski's sixth-place Dodge with seven laps remaining in Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

 

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Filed under: Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

A revitalized and resurging Mark Martin won the back-pats and gotta-luv-it grins of NASCAR nation with his incredible five-win, championship runner-up effort in the 2009 season.

And he enters Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway ranked third in the Sprint Cup championship, looking every bit the contender at age 51 that he was at age 50. And age 40 and age 30, for that matter.

He won the pole position for the season-opening Daytona 500 and has two top-five finishes in the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet through the first three races, proving he's still competitive on the race track even as his contemporaries have moved into the broadcast booth.

This isn't a trek into the tired, age ol' debate of whether NASCAR drivers are athletes. It's an acknowledgment that Martin is and that others in NASCAR may be finally catching on.

 

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How ironic that 1986 Daytona 500 winner Geoff Bodine may look back at his storied racing career and decide his single greatest glory came in a race he didn't even drive in.

Standing alongside the Olympic sliding track Saturday night in Vancouver, Canada, with the four-man American bobsled team one final run away from its long-coming gold medal, the racing veteran who was the driving force behind their American-made "Night Train" sled gave the team all he knew to give.

"I'm a racer, I know you need to concentrate, so I just looked at them and relayed the confidence,'' Bodine, 59, told FanHouse on Tuesday. "I knew how difficult it was. I knew they had it in them.

"Afterward, when they won, they let me take a photo with the gold medal around my neck and let me tell you, it felt good."

That gold medal felt good for the entire country, too. Amidst a sea of sleek, muscled athletes, here was stocky, balding Steven Holcomb, sort of an Olympics everyman, flying off the starting line with his teammates in blazingly fast starts, piloting his sled through the harrowing "50-50 curve" and setting track records on a course infamous for its crashes.

 

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Filed under: NASCAR Rumors, IRL

On the bright side, Graham Rahal figures by the time the IZOD IndyCar Series begins March 14 in Brazil, he will have essentially earned an advanced degree in marketing and promotion.

What the 21-year-old really wants, however, is a job behind the wheel of a race car -- preferably a car without fenders.

"I know there have been a lot of NASCAR rumors, but right now my focus is 100 percent on being in the IndyCar Series,'' Rahal told FanHouse this weekend.

"I'm not just an IndyCar driver, but very much a fan of the sport and to make a big switch like that takes time to consider. As of this second, everything I have going is for IndyCar.''

So instead of joining Danica Patrick in the stock car ranks -- even as a part-time gig -- Rahal has been visiting America's corporate boardrooms hoping to attract financial backing for the 2010 IndyCar season. The timing, however, couldn't be worse.

 

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Filed under: Nationwide Series, Danica Patrick

The most challenging part of Danica Patrick's stock car schooling may prove to be the extended Spring Break she's about to take.

Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be Patrick's last NASCAR competition until June 26. She is leaving the "dough" to return to her bread-and-butter, the IZOD IndyCar Series and her very real chance at becoming the first woman to win the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend.

She said Friday that she intends to keep testing her No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet in between her duties in the IndyCar Series, which starts its season March 14 in Brazil.

This week was the first time she split time in both the Indy car, which is part of MIchael Andetti's multi-car team, and her stock car, which is owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. And judging by her comments Friday, her Indy car was nearly as challenging during the preseason test as her transition to stock cars has been.

"I feel like some of it was circumstantial, getting into the Indy car again and getting used to how fast they are and the down force,'' Patrick said from Las Vegas. "Unfortunately, I didn't have a very good car so I didn't feel very comfortable.

 

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Filed under: Kevin Harvick, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Richard Childress Racing

When informed on California Speedway's pit road Sunday that two races into the 2010 season he was officially NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series championship leader, Kevin Harvick broke into a broad grin and smirked.

"Now only 34 more to go,'' he shot back after the day's runner-up effort.

Of course, two races hardly make a season and don't typically even begin to foreshadow the championship outcome. Matt Kenseth won the season's first two races last year and didn't qualify for the Chase for the Championship. Jimmie Johnson was ranked 19th after California and still landed his fourth consecutive trophy.

But. ...

After a what-else-could-go-wrong 2009, Harvick, like the entire Richard Childress Racing (RCR) three-team operation, will take what he can get. Harvick is hoping to parlay this encouraging beginning to a proper ending -- a return to the ranks of those in the Chase for the Championship, which is where he spent the 2006-08 seasons.

What's most promising for Harvick is that it's not just him leading this charge back. Both of his RCR teammates,Clint Bowyer (ranked second in points after two races) and veteran Jeff Burton (fifth) are also off to a good start, suggesting the once mighty RCR may be returning to form.

 

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Filed under: Nationwide Series, Danica Patrick

The second stop on NASCAR's "Danica Live Tour" is at Auto Club Speedway of California this weekend and really, is there any more appropriate setting than the land of red carpets and bright spotlights for Danica Patrick to meet her next racing challenge?

In a place that rewards fame as much as substance, Patrick is intent on having both.

She, more than anyone else in American racing, is thriving on this masterfully mixed potion of sports and celebrity.

Patrick's racing talents -- she is the first woman to win an IndyCar race -- and magazine-cover looks and personality have give her a world of opportunities away from the track. Her off-track pursuits and exposure have created a demand and financial support for her behind the wheel.

And she makes no apologies for that. Nor should she.

 

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