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March 11, 2010

Rick Teverbaugh: A new kind of justice

By Rick Teverbaugh, Herald Bulletin Sports Editor

Vigilante justice has come to NASCAR.

That sanctioning body turned the police badges and the judges’ robes over to the inmates officially on Tuesday when they put Carl Edwards on only a three-race suspension for his intentional act of bumping Brad Keselowski on Sunday in Atlanta.

It was the first test of the “boys have at it” attitude the NASCAR unveiled over the winter.

Keselowski probably leads the world in “accidental” run-ins with his fellow Sprint Cup competitors. Included in those victims is Edwards.

The last time was early in Sunday’s race.

So when Edwards returned to the track after a 153-lap siesta in the pits getting his car fixed, Keselowski must have felt like he was the one with the target on his hood.

Sure enough, with just three laps to go and with no real purpose to Edwards continuing to make circuits, he clipped Keselowski from behind and sent the car into the air and onto his hood.

Now I believe Edwards is a good enough guy.

I don’t for a single minute believe that he envisioned Keselowski going airborne would be the result of his action.

But I’m not sure he cared at that point either.

Now there seems to be two schools of thought about Edwards’ action and resulting punishment.

The first, coming from many fans and some drivers like Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick, is that the punishment was too light. Their view is that the wreck was too dangerous, especially on a really fast track.

The second, coming from fewer fans and drivers such as Keselowski, Scott Speed and Michael Waltrip, is that the punishment fits the crime, at least under these new “police thy selves” rules.

Well, readers of this column won’t find this hard to believe that I am of a third opinion.

If NASCAR really means what it says about this new policy, then why was there any punishment at all?

Keselowski spun Edwards earlier in the race and in a race last year. Edwards decided he needed to be taught a lesson. So Edwards repaid him in kind.

NASCAR has no idea why Keselowski’s car went airborne and have said that was the most troubling part of the accident for them. If NASCAR has no idea why the car became airborne, then how could that organization expect Edwards to know?

So the fact that the accident looked really dangerous should have been a factor in the punishment. So why was there any punishment?

Apparently NASCAR is still having trouble completely turning this policing over to the drivers. Until it does there will be very little justice on the Sprint Cup trail, not to mention a lot of confused drivers, commentators and writers.

Contact sports editor Rick Teverbaugh: 640-4886 or rick.teverbaugh@herald

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