Up in the Air

Congratulations, Carl Edwards, you are the first victim of Charles Oakley’s wrath.

Brad Keselowski gave the fans a scare as his car flew towards the grandstand at the Kobalt Tools 500.

On Sunday March 7, Edwards intentionally drove his 3,500-pound metal vehicle at 190 miles per hour into Brad Keselowski, sending his car soaring through the air and crashing upside-down into the pavement.

Edwards ended Keselowski’s chance at winning the Kobalt Tools 500 auto race and risked seriously injuring, if not killing, Keselowski and the fans in the grandstand.

Earlier in the race Keselowski bumped into Edwards, sending him to the pits and preventing him from competing in the race. Keselowski’s aggressive driving habits are well known and Edwards obviously felt the need to send a message.

Edwards, frustrated by the earlier incident and from previous races with Keselowski, was 153 laps off the lead when he re-entered the race, and three laps later crashed into Keselowski, who was five laps from the finish line.

Is this the first time a NASCAR driver intentionally crashed into a fellow competitor? Of course not, and it probably will not be the last incident, but that does not justify his actions.

Whether or not Keselowski is a “dirty” driver, Edwards had a chance to demonstrate his higher sense of morality and be the bigger man.

Edwards could have accepted the fact that his day at the racetrack was over and his opportunity to win the Kobalt Tools 500 ended the second he spun out of control. Instead, Edwards retaliated by intentionally crashing into Keselowski, sending his car soaring through the air and putting his life at risk

NASCAR slapped Edwards with a three-week suspension, but also promotes the daredevil stunts the drivers perform on a weekly basis. Crashes draw interest, and the more attention NASCAR garners the more revenue they generate.

While there may not be an easy solution regarding drivers deliberately wrecking other vehicles, there is one certainty: Oakley is coming for you Edwards. Pray to baby Jesus, Carl. Pray to eight pound, six ounce baby Jesus—doesn’t even know his colors yet—that you can evade his mighty backhand.

Rest assured, not even Carl’s Ford can elude Oakley’s mach-speed slap.

Watch the crash here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_-_y7f_wnE