Cup Series-Kobalt Tools 500 Racethread

[Shifter]

I must admit to not watching enough Busch-series (or NW or whatever the heck they call it these days) to know what people are on about in terms of Kez causing wrecks, but today was the second time I've seen Carl slash across the nose of Kez's car in Cup, and both times Carl paid the price for it. For Carl to come out and settle his score with Kez late in the race while the leaders are battling to the finish and he and Kez are laps down is the 1st problem with what he did. The 2nd is that he put Kez backwards at high speed, and Carl of all people should know how that can wind up. No SAFER barrier could have led to a roof crushed even more and Kez could be seriously injured. A 'payback' is an art form and the best ones ruin the other guy's race and leave people wondering if it was even intentional. With the number of problems with Carl's payback today I'd be for a suspension, although that's difficult considering the number of potential Bristol ticketholders who are Carl fans.

[Hoss Ghoul]

Great race. Quick thoughts.

Busch and Montoya, taken out by McMurray's ineptitude at Vegas find themselves where they should have been last week.

Mcmurray is, and will alway's be non-cup worthy. Luck, and being a nice guy has earned him his wins, being a male Danica has earned his rides.

Edwards should be looking at a minimum one race suspension, no question. He should know more about racing than I, and I never would have gone for payback or a lesson on a 195mph straightaway. Just dumb. Gets what he deserves and more.

Another great Atlanta race.

Commentators embarrassed themselves not ripping Edwards.

Never would have expected Montoya to choke. Wow.

[Shifter]

Looks as if Busch surprised Monty by going asap and yeah JP trounced the pedal and got wheelspin.

[cgs]

I was surprised at Edwards, especially since I think it wasn't Brad's fault Carl was wrecked early in the race, and i'm a carl edwards fan!

but i too would be surprised if nascar gave anything more than a season-long probation for his actions, given that they said at the start of the season they would let the drivers fight it out for themselves on the track. points or financial penalties would be contradictory imo.

[NickFalzone]

Yeah, Montoya choked. I actually think he had a 50-50 shot at catching Busch before the first GWC he was making up so much ground.

As far as the wreck, I'd say give Edwards a 1-2 race suspension and on probation the rest of the season. Brad's done some dumb stuff on the track in the last year, but what Carl did was above and beyond any of that. He tried to wreck him the previous lap and the DW,etc. even pointed out that you could see his gloves turning the wheel towards Brad trying to wreck him. I can almost see that being just rubbing and racing if they're going for the win, but to do it when you're 100+ laps down and just want to ruin someone else's day is bad karma. And I'm glad no one got hurt, because that was a seriously banged up car, if it had hit on the driver's side I don't know if Brad would have gotten out of there.

Agreed with the others though, great race, one of the best I've seen in awhile.

[patnicholls]

Yep, really enjoyed that one - not seen many of these live due to sporadic UK coverage which now looks to be all sorted

Great job by some of the less fancied guys today - Menard, AJ, Speed, and Regan Smith (who wasn't on it but hung in there for a solid result for a small team). A few unlucky stories too - Gilliland looked good and of course Denny Hamlin deserved better. Was hoping Juan might have got that first oval win but he messed up the final green slightly, although should still be happy with third. Decent job by Kurt and Kasey too, they looked the fastest all day really and Matt Kenseth snuck through.

Carl and Brad: I did see Talladega last year which clearly wasn't Brad's fault, ditto the contact early in this race which just plain unlucky pack racing. Although I understand that Brad has got into some trouble with Denny Hamlin (who is an entirely reasonable guy, and worth a follow on Twitter) and others in the Nationwide races so I guess there is some friction to resolve. Even so, that was an extremely boneheaded move from Edwards who should know better, not least because he's 150 laps down at the time but also at that speed down a straight. Stupid. Glad to see Brad OK and it could have been a lot worse for driver or crowd.

Anyway, great race overall

[Hoss Ghoul]

Quote of the week for the second week running goes to Montoya:


“I'm sure a lot of people wanted to pay him back,” second-place finisher Juan Pablo Montoya said of Keselowski, with whom he tangled last year. “Looking at the TV, somebody did.”


Gotta love JPM, he doesn't mince words in general, and he's a real prick when he's mad!

[slorydn1]

Yep, really enjoyed that one - not seen many of these live due to sporadic UK coverage which now looks to be all sorted

Great job by some of the less fancied guys today - Menard, AJ, Speed, and Regan Smith (who wasn't on it but hung in there for a solid result for a small team). A few unlucky stories too - Gilliland looked good and of course Denny Hamlin deserved better. Was hoping Juan might have got that first oval win but he messed up the final green slightly, although should still be happy with third. Decent job by Kurt and Kasey too, they looked the fastest all day really and Matt Kenseth snuck through.

Carl and Brad: I did see Talladega last year which clearly wasn't Brad's fault, ditto the contact early in this race which just plain unlucky pack racing. Although I understand that Brad has got into some trouble with Denny Hamlin (who is an entirely reasonable guy, and worth a follow on Twitter) and others in the Nationwide races so I guess there is some friction to resolve. Even so, that was an extremely boneheaded move from Edwards who should know better, not least because he's 150 laps down at the time but also at that speed down a straight. Stupid. Glad to see Brad OK and it could have been a lot worse for driver or crowd.

Anyway, great race overall

Glad y'all got your viewership difficulties sorted......it was a great race for sure

[Lee Roy]

Way to go Kurt. Hope you have a good run for the championship this year.

Carl, you need to sit out a few races.

[Sparky1329]

Well, 2 gwc's, that went 16 laps past distance...as for Edwards vs Kes, Nascar did the right thing by parking Edwards. But i would not be happy with any further penalty because Nascar said they were going to let the drivers take care of things, and Keslowski is a punk that has been wrecking everyone he can to get past them, several more drivers still owe him now everyone is going to be nervous about paying him back.
Nascar opened this door with their statements all winter long, can't hammer someone now, or overreact because the car went airborne.

Denny said it best last year...he was the first to pay window, now Edwards was the second

I'd call it six of one, half a dozen of the other. Carl's done his share of running over people in both the truck and Cup series so he has no room to talk. He's less of a punk than he used to be but the term could be applied equally from where I sit. Neither Carl nor Brad would be racing in the Cup series if they were wallflowers. Like Carl did, Brad will learn to choose his battles and practice some give-and-take on the track. Otherwise he'll be taking a few exciting rides in upcoming races.

Carl absolutely deserved the black flag and an invitation to the phone booth. It will be interesting to see how NASCAR will handle this. Carl will probably shell out a few bucks and points, get double secret probation and carry on.

Overall I thought it was the best race I've seen so far this season.