NASCAR handed down its ruling yesterday on Carl Edwards' retaliatory wreck of Brad Keselowski during the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway last Sunday. The Roush Fenway Racing team driver will be subjected to a three-race probation that covers the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 21, the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on March 28 and the Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix International Raceway on April 10.
What does probation mean for Edwards? Not a whole hell of a lot. The best description we could find of this peculiar punishment was "little more than monitoring actions." That is to say, unlike a suspension, Edwards will race the next three Sprint Cup races. The fact that Edwards won't face much consequence for his actions last Sunday is in keeping with what NASCAR officials said in January about putting more responsibility in the hands of the driver. That said, NASCAR president Mike Helton remarked that, "... there is a line you can cross. When you cross that line in our opinion, we're going to get involved with you."
In addition to the probation, NASCAR plans on getting Edwards and Keselowski in a room together along with team owners Jack Roush and Roger Penske to iron out this feud. We don't know about you, but that sounds close enough to the plot of Days of Thunder that an epic rental car race on the beach is almost certain to occur on the way to dinner afterwards.
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