Carl Edwards took another Nationwide series victory on Saturday night, but under the most controversial of circumstances.
Edwards versus Brad Keselowski is turning out to be the NASCAR rivalry right now, and today was just another in a string of incidents between the two.
The pair have been locked in an intense rivalry for the title this year, and it has shown in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series. Atlanta was the last time these two had a huge coming together, when Edwards spun Keselowski, resulting in the #12 Dodge flipping into the barrier. This time, the #22 Dodge merely slammed into the wall and was T-boned by Shelby Howard‘s Chevrolet.
Keselowski was obviously not pleased afterwards.
“He turned left into me and wrecked me on purpose,” he said. “I gave him the lane, and he still wrecked me. … I figured out a way to beat him. He wasn’t happy with me, so he wrecked me. Wrecking down the straightaway is never cool, whether it’s at 200 mph or 120. I’m sorry that’s the way it had to end.”
However Brad seemed calm and collected in comparison to his father Bob, a former NASCAR truck racer, who was livid.
“Brad got into Carl getting out of Turn 1 — racing — they bumped, they rubbed, typical rubbing-racing deal,” he said. “Carl flipped out like he did at Atlanta and tried to kill the kid. I’m sick and tired of this. I’ll get my own damn uniform back on and take care of this. He ain’t going to kill my boy.”
As for Edwards, he felt the contact earlier in the lap would have resulted in Keselowski ‘stealing’ victory for him, and decided to take action.
“I just couldn’t let him take the win from me,” he said. “My guys work way too hard for that.”
However he insisted he was in the right afterwards, and was not thinking of the consequences of the incident.
“We came to the checkered flag, and I hate to see stuff tore up, but we came here to win and he took it from us there in Turn 1. Just an awesome race. … I’m sure some of them don’t like that win — Brad Keselowski fans and stuff — but, man, I just couldn’t let him take it from me. I had to do what I had to do.”
Meanwhile Reed Sorenson took his equal best finish of the year in second place, and pole-sitter Trevor Bayne took third. Ryan Truex, younger brother of Sprint Cup racer Martin, was running 10th on his Nationwide debut until hitting the wall on Lap 178. A promising run ended in a lowly 28th place finish.
| Pos. | Driver | Make | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Carl Edwards | Ford | 200 |
| 2. | Reed Sorenson | Toyota | 200 |
| 3. | Trevor Bayne | Toyota | 200 |
| 4. | Paul Menard | Ford | 200 |
| 5. | Steve Wallace | Toyota | 200 |
| 6. | Brian Scott | Toyota | 200 |
| 7. | Colin Braun | Ford | 200 |
| 8. | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 200 |
| 9. | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 200 |
| 10. | Tony Raines | Chevrolet | 200 |
