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Brad Keselowski doesn't mind NASCAR putting him on probation
When it comes to revenge, under traditional racing standards, Carl Edwards should have a double-shot coming his way.
That’s if his victim was anyone but Brad Keselowski.
Despite witnessing his car leave the racetrack on a wrecker at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March and again at Gateway International Raceway last Saturday night, Keselowski said on Friday he has no intention of evening the score with Edwards.
“I don’t really do that,” Keselowski said. “I know that there are some people that are one for one, eye for eye. I think that if you look back through our history together, we’ve had run-ins but I don’t really label that as saying, ‘I’m two down, or two up.’
“I think that it works its way out when you look through the garage, there’s always that one guy that has probably wrecked you (more) than you have him. When you look back at your career it’s probably the opposite with someone else. I think it’s a little childish to keep a scorecard.”
And when NASCAR released the penalties on Wednesday, which placed both drivers on probation until the end of the year and charged Edwards with a 60-point deduction and a $25,000 fine, Keselowski wasn’t surprised to be included in the mix. Although Keselowski didn’t find the punishment “fair,” he actually felt relief that NASCAR had eliminated the pressure to exact revenge.
The Penske racer, in his first full season on the Sprint Cup tour, believes the probation is an attempt to defuse the ongoing feud with Edwards — even though Edwards has been the aggressor in the last two instances.
“NASCAR doesn’t want me to go out there and intentionally retaliate against Carl,” Keselowski said.
That doesn’t mean that Keselowski didn’t feel that Edwards latest shot at him wasn’t personal. Certainly, Keselowski instigated the row on Saturday night — even though he insists the contact “wasn‘t intentional.“ However, Edwards crossed the line when he sent Keselowski on a collision course with the field which was directly behind the altercation at the time.
“I can see why Carl would be upset,” Keselowski said. “You have to remember, being in the car you don’t have the benefit of seeing it on TV. You only see what’s in front of you and all that he knows is that I made contact with him. I can see why he’d be upset.
“I’m sure he thought that I went down there and intentionally hit him. In fairness, if I was to reverse the situation and I was in Carl’s car, I would had done the best that I could to not have let him pass in (Turns) 3 and 4 and if I did get passed, I would have turned it around (at the) next opportunity. That’s just reversing the issues, but I’m not Carl.”
Keselowski has not spoken with Edwards since the situation. He admits he’s not “naïve” and does understand what was going through Edwards mind “because I’m still trying to figure how I feel about it.” However, he’d like the opportunity to discuss Edwards’ rational so the two racers can move forward — if he thought it would do some good.
“If I feel like it would be productive,” Keselowski said. “Obviously, whatever talk that we had at Bristol was not necessarily productive, I don’t see why it would be any different.”
