Nascar officials promised this year to make racing more aggressive, “a full-contact sport,” to keep wavering fans interested. And they seem to be intent on fulfilling that mission, big time.
Tuesday the sport’s officials only gave probation, essentially just a slap on the wrist, to a driver who deliberately wrecked another driver’s car. The three-race probation was given to Carl Edwards over his retaliatory actions Sunday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway against Brad Keselowski. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/sports/autoracing/10nascar.html?ref=sports
Some had argued that Edwards’ actions warranted a suspension.
Edwards hit Keselowski’s car, sending it airborne and propelling it into a wall. Edward “took Keselowski out,” as The New York Times put it, following an earlier crash Sunday that took Edwards out of contention.
Veteran driver Kyle Petty called the probation penalty “a laughable punishment.”
But there are many who applauded what seems to be Nascar’s call to blood this season, including the mere probation penalty for Edwards. Some argued that Edwards had merely tried to take Keselowski out of contention in the race, not wreck his car.
Keselowski wasn’t hurt in the crash, but he had asked for Nascar to penalize Edwards for his retaliatory actions.
What on earth does a probation mean when you are talking about assault with a deadly weapon? Does NASCAR not realize that that is what they are dealing with when someone intentionally drives something with that much power into another human being? So if he kills someone in the next three races, then he is trouble? But after that, it is OK?