Carl Edwards defends on-track antics on his Facebook page
Gilbert Sam, Jr.
http://www.racewayreport.com
Monday, March 8, 2010
Engines taken for inspection: Following Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor
Speedway, NASCAR announced that the engines of race winner Kurt Busch,
Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers (random) and Michael McDowell (start-and-
park) would be taken to the NASCAR R&D center and torn down for
observation. Busch and seventh-place finisher Vickers' chassis will
also be taken to the NASCAR R&D center for observation.(Racin' Today)
http://www.racewayreport.com/news/tech.html
U.S. Census Bureau spends $1.2 million on NASCAR sponsorship: Greg
Biffle�s No. 16 Ford carried sponsorship from the U.S. Census Bureau
at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the first of a three-race, $1.2 million
sponsorship with Roush Fenway Racing. The Census, which will adorn the
car in the next two races at Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville
Speedway, aired an ad during the Super Bowl and is making a push in
the NCAA tournament to promote the census forms, which will be mailed
out this month. In 2000, 72% returned the forms. Census director
Robert Groves says every 1% who return forms save $85 million. (USA
Today)
http://www.racewayreport.com/news/sponsorship.html
Carl Edwards defends on-track antics on his Facebook page: On Sunday
and having met with NASCAR officials at the track after being parked,
Carl Edwards later wrote on his Facebook page explaining the reasoning
behind his on-track antics at Atlanta. �My options,� he wrote.
�Considering that Brad wrecks me with no regard for anyone�s safety or
hard work, should I: A) Keep letting him wreck me? B) Confront him
after the race? C) Wait till Bristol and collect other cars? or D)
Take care of it now? �I want to be clear that I was surprised at his
flight and very relieved when he walked away. Every person has to
decide what code they want to live by and hopefully this explains
mine.� (Autosport.com)
http://www.racewayreport.com/drivers/news/carl_edwards.html
Pemberton: NASCAR unlikely to suspend Carl Edwards: NASCAR�s first
take on the latest round in the long-lingering Brad Keselowski-Carl
Edwards feud? And feud apparently isn�t too strong a term here,
considering the carnage involved. Robin Pemberton, NASCAR�s
competition director, said it will take a few days to ponder just what
is going on here. �It looked like it could have been a payback,�
Pemberton said of Edward�s final clip. �We talked with Carl after the
race, and we have an understanding about it, and we will talk
internally again as a group Monday or Tuesday this week, and make any
decision if there will be any other actions we will take.� What
options are at hand? Suspension, perhaps, though that has rarely been
used at the Cup level, particularly when a major star like Edwards is
at stake. �I�m not going to speculate at this time,� Pemberton
replied. (MikeMulhern.net)
http://www.racewayreport.com/drivers/news/carl_edwards.html
NASCAR to announce any additional penalties against Edwards on
Tuesday: Brad Keselowski called for fellow Sprint Cup driver Carl
Edwards to be suspended for at least one race after Edwards wrecked
him Sunday in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. But
Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition for NASCAR, said the
governing body would take its time in examining all the facts before
deciding what to do with Edwards, whose No. 99 Roush Fenway Ford was
ordered to the garage after wrecking the No. 12 of Keselowski and
sending it airborne on the frontstretch on Lap 323 of what was a
scheduled 325-lap event. Pemberton and other NASCAR officials,
including president Mike Helton, met with Edwards following Sunday's
race -- but Pemberton said they would discuss the incident further
"internally" on Monday and Tuesday before announcing any additional
penalties for Edwards by late Tuesday afternoon. "It looked like it
could have been a payback from the No. 99 on the No. 12," Pemberton
said. The two drivers got together earlier during Sunday's race when
they bumped on Lap 41 and Edwards ended up getting shoved into the No.
20 Toyota of Joey Logano, effectively ruining both of their days.
Keselowski, meanwhile, drove away from that incident and went on to
put together a solid run for the day while Edwards spent much of the
afternoon having his car repaired in the garage. Edwards returned to
the track on Lap 190 after spending 150 laps in the garage, and
appeared to purposely wreck Keselowski when Keselowski appeared headed
for a top-five finish. "To come back and intentionally wreck someone,
that's not cool," Keselowski said. "You could have killed someone in
the grandstands. I know that it's a little ironic that it's me saying
that, but at least I didn't do it intentionally [when it happened at
Talladega]. It will be interesting to see how NASCAR reacts to it.
They have the ball. If they're going to allow people to intentionally
wreck each other at tracks this fast, we will hurt someone either in
the cars or in the grandstands. It's not cool to wreck someone at 195
mph." Pemberton indicated that Edwards more or less admitted in the
post-race meeting with NASCAR officials that he intended to wreck
Keselowski, but that he did not mean to send him airborne.
Keselowski's car ended up landing upside down, nearly crushing in the
driver's side of the roof, and was completely destroyed in the
aftermath. Keselowski was shaken up after the wreck and needed
assistance getting removed from the car, but eventually was cleared at
the AMS infield care center. "Carl said he got into him; he said he
didn't expect the result," Pemberton said. Earlier, Edwards spoke
briefly with the media and attempted to explain his thinking. "Brad
knows the deal between him and I," Edwards said. "The scary part was
his car went airborne, which was not at all what I expected. At the
end of the day, we're out here to race and people have to have respect
for one another and I have a lot of respect for people's safety. I
wish it wouldn't have gone like it did, but I'm glad he's OK and we'll
just go on and race some more and maybe him and I won't get in any
more incidents together. That would be the best thing." Keselowski
told reporters that he believed Edwards took "three swipes" at him
before connecting, and that Edwards deserves to be suspended for at
least one race. He also defended what had occurred during their first
incident Sunday. "He cut down on me on a restart and I lifted; I
couldn't lift fast enough for him," Keselowski said. "I lifted for him
to let him in, but I was there. I don't know what more you can do.
"[Keep the] car low, that's what they say. So I was underneath him,
tried to cut him a break. It was too late, though; he turned down. I
apologized to him, but there was nothing that I could do in that
situation."(NASCAR.com)
http://www.racewayreport.com/drivers/news/carl_edwards.html
SMI extends deal with Coca-Cola: Speedway Motorsports, Inc. and Coca-
Cola North America are extending their long-term partnership through
2015, ensuring NASCAR fans who visit premier speedways in locations
such as Charlotte, Atlanta and Las Vegas can open a Coke and Open
Happiness as they cheer on their favorite drivers. (Business Wire)
http://www.racewayreport.com/news/sponsorship.html
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: "We're just running into some bad luck": For
balance, we give you Dale Earnhardt Jr. He lost again. He started
first and ran in the 30s much of the day. He finished 15th, the
benefit of late caution flags. Earnhardt’s not in a slump anymore. He
passed slump about 37 excuses ago. He has failed to win in 61 straight
races. He has won once in the last 138 starts. The big problem with
this is the Sprint Cup circuit is devoid of a great rivalry.
Earnhardt, one of the sport’s biggest personalities, could provide
that, if only he could remember how to drive. He started on the pole
Sunday. He never led a lap. I’m no racing expert, but how do you win
the pole and never lead a lap? I’ve seen dudes with road rage on 285
who have better passing instincts. “We’re just running into some bad
luck,” Earnhardt maintained. “We’re just not getting it done. We’ll
get it done. When it happens, it happens. We’re just not the best team
right now.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
http://www.racewayreport.com/dalejr
More question arise about Goodyear's tires: Goodyear is facing more
questions about the quality of its tires. At least a dozen drivers
were affected by tire problems during Sunday's Sprint Cup race at
Atlanta Motor Speedway, stirring up complaints that Goodyear supplied
a compound that was good for speed but low on durability at the high-
banked track. "When they come here and test, you expect them to build
a tire that we can abuse and that we can race hard with," said Jeff
Gordon, one of those affected. "That obviously wasn't the case. There
is a good chance we were too aggressive, but until we go back and
analyze everything it's hard to say." Ryan Newman also chimed in.
"Goodyear's got some work to do," he said. "It's a safety situation.
We popped one. There are a lot of guys who popped one." Race winner
Kurt Busch didn't have any problems. He was conscious of protecting
his tires after Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified for the pole with the
fastest speed of the Car of Tomorrow era. "When you have that happen,
that means the tires are really grabbing hold of the racetrack," Busch
said. "That means you're going to have speed. And when you have speed
on a track that's very abrasive, yeah, you're going to be worried
about tires, whether it's blistering of the right front, blistering
the right rear. You have to find that right combination." Goodyear
racing chief Stu Grant defended the quality of the tire. "It's a tire
the guys are happy to run on," he said. "They're comfortable and
they're fast if the setup is good. The leaders are running great. If
you look at (Kasey Kahne) and (Busch), their tires have looked great
all day." Kahne finished fourth.(Associated Press/ESPN)
http://www.racewayreport.com/news/tire.html