As Brad Keslowski’s No. 12 Dodge lifted into the air yesterday following a nudge from Carl Edwards, it was obvious that the Kobalt Tools 500 had gone from tire troubles to true controversy.

The second BK’s car hit the retaining wall every hardcore race fan already had their mind made up about the situation. Since the flip heard round the world, everything from BK bashers to calls for Edwards to be suspended have circulated through the NASCAR world.

All three sides of the argument, and yes there is more than just Edwards vs. Keselowski, have valid points and drawbacks so let’s take a closer look.

First, let’s consider the situation from Keselowski’s perspective. One minute he’s racing towards a solid top-5 finish and the next he’s on his roof. Probably not the most pleasant experience in the world and certainly disheartening considering a top-5 would by far be his best finish this season.

After getting his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win nearly one year ago at Talladega, even before he was running in the series full time, it is obvious that BK would like to make a return trip to Victory Lane sooner rather than later so that people don’t start calling that win a fluke.

On his way to that win, by the way, Keselowski sent Edwards flying into the catch fence. More recently, only a few hours before he flipped to be exact, Keselowski and Edwards got together again resulting in heavy damage on Edwards’ ride that took upwards of 150 laps to fix.

After getting an up close and personal look at the retaining wall, Keselowski called for Edwards suspension. Funny how he wasn’t reprimanding himself in Victory Lane last year at Talladega.

Carl Edwards, on the other hand, has clearly been bit by Keselowski in the past and any new incident, no matter how tiny, succeeds only in reopening the old wound. Combine that animosity with a long day of limping around a track you know you can win at and just about anyone would be on their last nerve.

So, he saw that red paint on Keselowski’s car and briefly gave in to his animal instincts, particularly those of a bovine animal, and he did exactly what he had wanted to do for quite some time.

However, in the real world, it’s not normally smart to retaliate on the bully who beats you up after school no matter how good it feels at the time. Not a very good role model moment for the usually unruffled Cousin Carl either.

Through it all, NASCAR’s perspective is the one that counts because they dish out the punishment.

On one hand, the sanctioning body has to be fair. Well, Keselowski has wrecked Edwards twice and Edwards has wrecked Keselowski once. So, the situation isn’t exactly even but it should be good enough for Carl. And, the fact that Keselowski has a history of rough behavior with more than one other driver on the track also has to be considered.

On the other hand, NASCAR has to lay down the law. No one is intentionally supposed to wreck anyone, right? Well, yes and no. Rubbin’ is racin’ and all that but no one ever wants to see anyone get hurt so it is a fine line with a lot of gray area.

Plus, the big headlines at the beginning of the year went something like “NASCAR Says ‘Have At It Boys’”, “NASCAR Lets The Drivers Loose” and “Drivers Get Back To Racing Roots”. Sure, maybe the whole idea was only supposed to be about bump-drafting at Daytona and Dega, but the spin has turned it into a sport-wide concept and NASCAR has to take that into consideration. How will the hardcore race fans react to a heavy handed penalty after so much hype about drivers being able to self-police?

So basically all NASCAR has to do is be fair, be justified, be aware of the fans opinions and decide what punishment, if any, is handed down in this situation. Quite a daunting task and not one I would want to be faced with.

In the end, we’ll have to wait and see what the sanctioning body decides. A decision is supposed to be reached by Tuesday afternoon.

A very interesting start to the season I must say. At the end of last year every hardcore race fan knew Keselowski would ruffle some feathers and Denny Hamlin seemed set on teaching the young whippersnapper a lesson.

Looks like Carl beat Denny to the punch. 

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