Brad Keselowski came into Cup like a fox in the hen house. It just happened that Carl was the first to get his feathers ruffled. OK, more than ruffled, more like his neck rung, and his feathers plucked. Apparently he hasn’t forgiven, or forgotten.
If you believe that "Bad Brad" had a lesson coming ( I’m not totally convinced), I’d still have to question the advisability of showing him the error of his ways on the fastest track on the circuit. If we take a look at the incident at Atlanta that spoiled Carl’s and Joey’s day, what I see is Carl making a banzai move from the high line to the bottom. Only one problem, Brad was already there. Brad said in his interview, that he tried to give Carl room, but that there wasn’t time.
Remember the speeds. I think I’d have to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. If he’d jumped on his brakes, he’d have gotten run over. If we look back to Talladega, where this thing really started, I see a clear culprit…..blocking. Carl tried to block a driver who was extremely hungry, who also remembered what happened to Regan Smith, when Tony blocked. If you try to take a pork chop from a pit bull, what do you think is going to happen? One thing I don’t think is going to happen, is if Brad finds himself in the same situation again, the guy in front probably won’t try to
block.
If we believe what we read, then not only Carl and Denny, but half of the garage is down on Brad. Let’s see if we can figure out why.
I’m working on an interview with back to back Busch Series Champion Randy La Joie. I’ll give you a little preview that I think may hold the answer….
John: "We have a lot of long time fans who are upset with the NASCAR. What do you think about the state of Cup racing."
Randy: "There’s too much money in the sport today, no one’s hungry. When I was coming up, we needed every dollar we could get. If you were running sixth, and thought you could move up to fifth, you’d go for it because you needed the money. If you had to move someone, that’s what you did. Now all the drivers are too
good a friends. They all live together on Lake Norman. They park together in the Motor Home Lot every week. No one wants’ to make waves, or make anyone mad."
Make sense? It does to me. A multi-millionaire would race differently than someone who’s really hungry. I think Randy’s nailed it. These guys are comfortable racing against each other. Not just because they respect each others skills, but because they race the way everyone wants’ to. We see way too much of this- “After you.” “No after you.” Maybe they just don’t like racing against someone who takes them out of their comfort zone. Who doesn’t "play the game," and wait until the last laps to really start racing?
I’ve heard drivers whining to their spotters, or crew chiefs about someone "racing them too hard." Say what? Cup drivers are the second highest paid drivers in the world.Maybe it’s not all bad that Brad’s got them a little shook up.
Back to Carl, if he really felt that he needed to teach Brad something about respect, it might have been better to have waited until Bristol. Not only did he put Brad, and other drivers at risk, he also potentially could have put fans at risk also.
The way things are, NASCAR needs all the paying customers they can get. If Carl really felt justified in making his point the way he did, I might suggest a better place to do it, but I won’t criticize his doing it. After all, I can’t see Jimmie Johnson doing it, and we all know what people say about him.
I’m sure after Brad’s been in Cup a while he’ll settle down. If we’re lucky, when he does, someone else will come along, and race like he’s racing now.
Until that time comes, I’ll keep my eye on him.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I think JR is a pretty good judge of character. Brad drove for him for 2 seasons and would probable be driving for him in the Nationwide series if Brad would have ended up in a Chevy in the Cup series. I think Hamlin and Edwards had a problem with Brad racing them hard in that series and their over-inflated egos had a problem with a “rookie” not giving them due respect. Respect is earned and bushwackers need to expect to be raced hard by young guys trying to fight their way up to a cup ride. As far as racing hard in Cup, look what happens to guys who”respect” the veterans and don’t race hard and try to win. Do the names, Sorenson, Gilliland, and a host of others who didn’t make it in Cup come to mind. Brad is a very talented, hungry young driver who will win many races in his career and I don’t want to see him change because of a thug like Edwards. It will not surprise me at all to see him in Victory lane before Hamlin and Edwards this year. I think JR’s scanner comment after the wreck on Sunday gives his opinion of Brad,”Brad’s a good guy.” Seems to me that a former boss would have a pretty good handle on the real BK. We all know Edward’s and Hamlin’s opinion, but how about hearing from some of the drivers in the garage. I find it hard to believe that the whole garage is down on BK.
Thank you…I too am tired of the whiny lazy veterans..who seem to think the are owed any inch of the track they deem is theirs. I got an extreme “kick” out of Homestead..Montoya and Stewart going at it even though it dropped them each in the final points standings..and they kept their humor..Stewart even reporting to his crew chief “I was expecting that..I deserved it”. So..at least a couple of the veterans who can dish it out..can also take it. Looking at Carl’s wreck record..and looking at Brad’s..I don’t see what the heck Carl was so wound up about..at least when Brad is in a wreck it usually involves only one car..not half the field as Carl has been known to take out! So my suggestion would be for the veterans to put their big boy panties on and realize..the young guys are hungry and I don’t believe the “have at it boys” directive was aimed ONLY at the chosen ones. Beware the ides of March!
It’s funny. Before this incident I didn’t think much of Brad. Now though, after so many articles just pounding on him I have started to look at particulars and what I am seeing just doesn’t support the myth. What you see if you look at the accidents he has been involved in is not a guy driving wrecklessly – you see a guy who refuses to give. At both Talladega and the 1st wreck in Atlanta, you see Carl CLEARLY cut Brad off. What Brad is guilty of is NOT slamming on his brakes and just giving the establish NASCAR star the position he apparently feels is due him.
I’ve never much paid attention to this so maybe this is the way it has become. Maybe the “new guys” are just expected to get out of the way no mater how good they are that day. Some sort of unwritten rule that you always have to bow down and surrender your spot if the big name wants it. This could be why Carl lost his mind last Sunday. He was just totally shocked that this new guy refused to treat him like the star he is.
So why do we see Brad involved in so many of these incidents? There is a very real chance that it is because Brad is good. Really good. Good enough to race up there with “The Big Boys” … except that in their minds, he still the “new guy” so the automatically expect him to step aside. Some how in the mind of NASCAR’s Star drivers, respect for them means NOT racing them – EVER.
Maybe these wrecks would stop if these guys learned to respect the fact that Brad is there to race. I’ll bet if they started treating Brad like he was one of “them” there would be a lot less accidents.
Man, can you imagine what would have happened if Carl had cut off Earnhardt the way he cut of Brad on Sunday? They’d still be trying to figure out exactly where Carl’s car had re-entered the atmosphere!
Hey John,
I guess you dont understand NASCAR very well.
The fans and drivers know the risks.
If your dog pees on the floor are you going to wait to rub his nose in it for a week or two or do it right away. If you do it right away you get the best affect. No matter where you are at!
The big ego granny speaks of belongs to BK. He drove for the son of god and that gives him that “get the hell out of my way, I’m coming through” attitude. Guys who race that way seldom make it to their 50th birthday.
Edwards is proving himself to be a jerk and a bully while Hamilin’s nothing but a whiner and a crybaby. I stand with Kesolowski. I like they way he races – feels out his car and the race track and pounces at the end of the race when it counts.
I agree with La Joie, NA$CAR is all about the money. Mr Edwards and the boys all have it, souvenir sales, sponsorship deals, endorsment deals, etc. The young guns want their share of it! How do they get it, beat the big boys!!! How many of the big boys have a clean drivers abstract? Most were the proverbial “BULL in the CHINA SHOP” when they first came to Cup.
NA$CAR is most interested in putting a ” GOOD SHOW “, they have drilled that into everyone involved. The drivers even say it in interviews, ” I think we can put on a good show today” I have heard those words or similar words at least once per interview.
It has become about the show and the actually racing has been lost along the way. TOO BAD!!!!!!!!
Maybe the diplomatic attitude of the big boys has added to lack of good racing.
If the drivers don’t want to race every lap of the event, then why don’t we just start having races where the length of the race is determined by the number of laps that can be run with 1 full fuel load! ( that might actually save the teams some money)
I’d like to see half the field drive with the gusto of BK.
Young Brad is wreckless and continues to foster an elevatd sense of his self worth. He’s like a child who fails to understand he must wait his turn and earn his place and thinks he can run over anyone who he thinks is in his way.
He has, hopefully, learned a valuable and potentially life-saving lesson in humility. If not, he will end up a dead punk, instead of the brash baby he is now. Pray he takes no one else with him to his own private victory lane……
I think NASCAR’s root problem is sneaking out. You have multi-millionaires driving for mega mega millionaires. Like was mentioned, they are all friends that what to put on a “SHOW”, not a race. The last thing they want is somebody coming into the series wanting to race them hard. I believe the term they are using is respect, which mean if I need to be where your car is you better let me because I’ve been here longer. As for the idiot Carl, the best way to send a message is to send your letters to the CEOs of Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., Aflac, Kelloggs, and all the rest of the sponsors on the idiots car. They will listen when it cost them money. Write them a letter and make sure they know the car they sponsor was literally used as a deadly weapon and how the real possibility of needless loss of life also has their name all over it. If they pull their sponsorship, that would be the shot heard round the world. I all for hard racing but what Carl did was shire stupidity and could have been criminal if some had died. One more question still needs to be answered. Who or what convinced him to do something so stupid in that time he was waiting to him car to be repaired. Did the spotter help him hunt down his target? There should be recordings of any radio conversations. Big what if.
What justajoe said he’s is right on. Go Brad
When there is no passing and no touching each other, the “fans” cry “boring!!” When someone adds some excitement to the event, the “fans use words like criminal, jerk, idiot, bully, whiner and crybaby. I think the biggest problem NASCAR has is trying to please a bunch of “fans” who don’t know what they want. Retaliation has been going on since auto racing started. All the drivers know where the line is and when they cross it, they can expect retaliation. The “new guys” just like to push the limits to see what they can get away with. The “establishment” lets them know when they have gone to far. Just like in everyday real life. Carl did not intend to get BK airborne, the COT platform caused that. Carl intended to cost BK a good finish, which he did. Had the bump happened at Bristol or Martinsville, there would be no consequences for either Brad or Carl. Brad would not have gotten the message and Carl would still be looking for retaliation. As it is, both got what they deserved and the “fans” saw a show.
Seems to me, so long ago, I remember another brash young driver who came into this sport (when it was) and really pissed off a lot of the established drivers. As I recall he ended up with the #3 on his car and the rest is history. Now I’m not saying that Kski is the second coming but this sport was not built by the ones who’ve “arrived” but by the ones that are chasing them.
La Joie is so on the money, pardon the pun. How dare a hungry young racer come in and jeopardize all that these veterans have worked so hard to achieve. How soon these same veterans forget what it took for them to get there. They have a right to enjoy the fruits of their labor but they are not the end all. There is always someone who wants it more.