Carl Edwards wasted no time to payback Keselowski (AP Photo/Joe Sebo)
According to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary, revenge is defined as ‘to avenge (as oneself) usually by retaliating in kind or degree’ and ‘to inflict injury in return for’. In racing, we often apply the term payback, which basically, substitutes the word revenge. Revenge, or payback, is a common occurrence in racing, dating back to the primitive days of stock car racing.
Most drivers from all eras have felt the uncontrollable compulsion to return the favor if they sensed that they were victimized on the track. When it comes to competitive sports and games, payback is a primary means to prove that you are no patsy. It is one of the few lines of attack to show other competitors your unwillingness to become a soft touch. In NASCAR, if you do not stand your ground on the track, your career will be transitory.
Payback comes in many different forms and fashions. For instance, drivers such as Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth may not blatantly wreck another driver, but if you get into them, they will race you as hard and aggressive as they can without crossing the line. Martin, Kenseth, and even Jeff Burton have the ‘I race you the way you race me’ approach. Racing another driver more intensely than usual, perhaps costing the driver positions and points, as well as contributing to their tire wear, is subtle payback, and some drivers are fine with that method.
Nevertheless, blatant and barefaced payback is the brand that Carl Edwards displayed on Sunday. Not only was it blatant, but it practically instantaneous.
Carl Edwards could have waited for Bristol or Martinsville to enact retribution against Brad Keselowski. He could have waited until Richmond in May, or perhaps Infineon in June. He could have stalked Keselowski, slightly bump him during practice sessions over the course of the subsequent weeks, subtly reminding him that payback is on the horizon, and could occur at any point in time.
Instead, Edwards opted to settle the score as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Was that the wise decision?
In some ways, Edwards’ same-day vengeance approach made sense. He decided that he needed to deal with Keselowski as soon as possible. He did not want to risk piling up the field on one of the shorter tracks. He did not want to potentially ruin a solid run for he and his team while punting Keselowski. At Atlanta, Edwards was over 150 laps off the pace. His race was already shot. It made perfect sense in Edwards’ mind, that is until he saw the No. 12 Dodge lift off the track’s surface.
Immediate vengeance is becoming a common theme in NASCAR. Last fall, we witnessed at least three instances in which drivers applied rapid revenge. Greg Biffle put Joey Logano into the wall at California just a week after Logano ran into Biffle at Kansas. While the Denny Hamlin-Keselowski feud began to simmer at Dover, Hamlin vowed payback after another incident at Phoenix, and delivered the following week at Homestead. At the same track a day later, Juan Pablo Montoya spun Tony Stewart after contact earlier in the race.
Of course, the season was on the brink of conclusion, so in Hamlin and Montoya’s case, it was go ahead with the payback, or patiently wait a few months.
While stewing in the racecar, it is difficult to fault these drivers for wanting to hit that car that hit them just a few laps earlier, especially when your car is damaged and off the pace and the culprit is riding around in full song, enjoying a solid race. However, if I were a driver, and perhaps I would feel differently if I were a driver, but I would want to my retribution to be unanticipated. I would repeatedly assure the rival (with a few little harmless taps and smirks) that payback was imminent, but they would be unaware of when or where it would take place.
NASCAR wants drivers to display emotion and passion; I have a feeling that the Edwards-Keselowski wrangle is only one of several to intensify this season. Let us just hope and pray that the cars stay on the ground and away from the fans in the grandstands.
Whatever happened to ‘pay evil to evil to no one’.
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