Reaction to NASCAR’s Edwards’ Penalty
SPEED on-air personalities’ reaction to the ruling follows:
“As I said on NASCAR Race Hub Tuesday night, I would have been surprised if NASCAR did anything and surprised if they didn’t do anything. I go back to what Mike Helton said in January after the “gloves off" policy was revealed – that NASCAR still had to maintain law and order. Feuds, rivalries and wars of words are good for any sport and they’re part of what makes people tune in. But in my book, this deal had gone beyond a feud or rivalry. NASCAR could take 600 points from Edwards, fine him $500,000 and put him on probation until the end of 2015, but it doesn’t repair those race cars that got torn up behind these two during their fun and games on the last lap – teams that don’t need to be tearing up race cars. This thing had gone well beyond NASCAR’s intentions of “Have at it, boys." Is that going to put an end to it? I feel strongly that only two people can put an end to this – Jack Roush and Roger Penske because they do carry a lot of weight in this sport. If I was Jack Roush, my point to Carl would be, ‘Yes, thanks for another win because they’re few and far between here at Roush Fenway right now, but I’ve got two destroyed race cars that were behind you.’" –Larry McReynolds, SPEED analyst and former crew chief
“The confusion over ‘Have at it, boys’ continues. Fines and probation are a slap on the wrist. The message here is that intentionally hooking another driver, turning him into the wall and causing a huge wreck is not OK … but then again it's really not all that bad." –Dave Despain, host of Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain on SPEED
“I don’t think the penalty fits the crime and don’t know what probation will do to deter further similar situations. Maybe Edwards will behave the rest of the year while on probation but this penalty doesn’t change the actions and repercussions for everyone else caught up in that wreck. By all appearances, that was as intentional a wreck as you’ve ever seen. I don’t see how this penalty helps any of the other drivers. However, if NASCAR sat Edwards down a race and the other drivers involved in the wreck could recoup some points on him, it might provide more restitution to them." –Randy Pemberton, SPEED