NASCAR officials met with Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards along with their respective team owners at Bristol Saturday morning.
The meeting stemmed from an on-track incident two weeks ago in Atlanta when Edwards tapped Keselowski’s Dodge and sent him flipping. NASCAR gave Edwards a three race probation and scheduled the meeting Saturday morning to clear the air.
“Everything went really well.” Edwards said after it was over. “I think the biggest thing coming out of that meeting is that now, I think, Brad and I understand one another a little better. I think we’re gonna be able to just go forward and go racing, and that’s what this is all about. It was really cool to be able to talk with Jack and Roger and Brad all at once. We laughed. We cried. In the end, I think it’s gonna be good.”
Edwards’ team owner Jack Roush said he was satisfied with the meeting and said NASCAR talked about responsibility.
“The ultimate responsibility that we all have,” Roush said. “That NASCAR has, the owners have and the drivers have – to keep everybody safe in this business. It’s a sport that needs to be contentious, but it needs to be safe too and we’ve got to be careful to respect that line.”
Roush also said he felt that both drivers had put the incident behind them.
“Carl and Brad both said things that would indicate that they’re willing to put it behind them and let bygones be bygones,” Roush said. “To give one another racing room, and that’s what’s needed. They need to give one another a little extra room for awhile.”
Edwards said that while the days since the incident for him have been good he hopes that the media and fans understand his side of what happened.
“It’s very hard for people to understand that the result is far different from the intent,” Edwards said. “Things can be presented in a lot of ways, but I guess that’s just part of it. What’s most interesting to me is that sometimes it’s about selling ad time or newspapers and it’s not about explaining the story.”
Edwards also dismissed the reports that tried to portray him as simply an ‘angry guy’.
“I think some people would like that to be the case,” Edwards said. “But let me put it this way – it’s real easy to stand back and throw stones at someone and make little chirps and say things that make you feel better about yourself, but, in the end, what I said yesterday holds true. The people who know me know that I’m a very fair person. I guess if my biggest fault is standing up for myself, I’ll take it. They can fault me all day for that.”
Comments