Racing News Digest

More fall out from Carl Edwards unforgetful wreck at Talladega this past weekend.

NASCAR has come out saying that they are thinking of getting more aggressive on their penalties from blocking and aggressive driving.

I am not making that up. No blocking and getting stronger on aggressive driving. I am having problems grasping all of this.

I initially thought there was nothing wrong with Carl Edwards decision to block Brad Kesolowski. But after talking with @tluckow on Twitter I realized that Carl did make a bad call. He never should have double blocked. He saw Brad go high so he jumped up in front of him. But then he lost track of Brad a little as Brad dove back to the inside. We all know what happened when Carl went down for that second block.

That second block is where Edwards goofed. He admitted that he did not realize Brad had a nose under him. That was one mistake. But once Brad went back low Carl should have let it go. Carl obviously did not know right where Brad was.

Pretty easy to sit back and be a Monday morning quarterback huh? Real easy. But think about being in that car doing 200 mph and seeing the checkered flag right in front of you. Could you pull the reigns back on yourself and say “I am ok with second”. I know for a fact that I could not. And keep in mind, these decisions are being made at 200 mph and in about 1/4 of second. I think I would be crashing a lot.

Obviously I don’t think anyone can say that Brad Kesolowski did anything wrong. Fake left, go right and hold your line. Can’t ask for much more than that.

Do I think Carl Edwards should have a blocking or aggressive driving penalty slapped on him. Hell no. Imagine any kind of racing where all the drivers just let the other drivers go by when ever they want. Would that even be called racing? I know, kind of like kids sports, maybe we shouldn’t even keep score.

Here is what NASCAR essentially had to say.

“We tried letting the competitors police themselves when it comes to blocking and bump drafting,” Jim Hunter, NASCAR’s vice president for corporate communications, said on a conference call with reporters Monday. “We might have to start making some judgment calls of our own and issue penalties for drivers who blatantly block and abuse the bump drafting. We’re going to take whatever measures we need to in order to ensure the races are as safe as possible for everyone.”

“A greater emphasis may come at Daytona and Talladega, because we have tried to let the racers take care of themselves,” Pemberton said. “When certain situations develop a pattern on a more regular basis, that’s where we may have to step in and make some calls. We really don’t want them to put us in that position to make those calls. We’d rather let the competitors take care of it on the track.”

So let the drivers keep policing themselves. If they want to wreck they will keep driving that way. I know, there are drivers that keep a cool head and get knocked out by some other knuckle head. Look at Edwards. Ran a great race from the back. Stayed back there and out of trouble all day. Last 2 seconds of race he throws double block and wrecks. They (I would be included) just can’t help it. I still say let them police themselves.

Despite the injuries to fans, Hunter said the safety systems in place Sunday worked properly.-nascar.com

So why are changes needed then?

“Nothing is bulletproof,” Hunter said. “From what we saw [Sunday], the restraining fence did what it was supposed to do, it threw the car back on the race track. There was some debris that went into the grandstand that fortunately did not evoke serious injury. We’ll analyze the fence and make sure it did what it was suppose to do. We think it did. If there’s something we come up with as we analyze his accident, we’ll put it in play. We’ll make it as safe as we humanly can.”

Exactly. Nothing is bulletproof. Everyone and their brother can come up with ideas on how to “FIX” ‘Dega. But you can’t fix something that isn’t broke and you can’t plan for every crazy thing that is going to happen. We could site here and come up with 10,000 “what if’s”. But it’s that 10,001st one that’s going to bite everyone.

Can you believe that John Darby had to answer a question about flattening Talladega and making it a no restricter plate race. That would basically make it an Auto Club Speedway or something. Just to be blunt….boring!!

“Flattening the track, sure, that would put us in a position where you could run without restrictor plates, but I don’t see that as a real viable option,” said Cup Series director John Darby.

Guess I agree with that one.

“I think the safety efforts that have been made today to the cars and the race tracks and everything else that surrounds Daytona and Talladega have proven effective, and they will continue to be improved as we go forward and learn more. I also believe, and it goes without mention, that the most exciting races we have today are both at Daytona and Talladega. That’s a big part of our sport. Those two tracks have been a big part of our sport for many, many years. I think there’s more value in continuing our safety efforts at those tracks than turning those two very historical very, exciting race tracks into flat parking lots. I don’t understand that thought process.”

I also agree with all of that. So where exactly is all the talk coming from about holding drivers more responsible. More penalties for excessive bump drafting. More penalties for blocking. More penalties for aggressive driving.

Because Cousin Carl tried blocking, turned his race car into a pancake, attempted to take out the catch fence and then some minor injuries to fans.

NASCAR needs to stay away from more penalties. Think I said the same thing last week about Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears. Stay out of it.

NASCAR is essentially going to demolish this sport. More rules. More penalties. Less racing. Less rivalries. BORING. No bump drafting. No blocking. Letting cars “just go by” in fear of getting a penalty. That all sounds pretty weak. That does not sound like a professional sport.