Things got a little wild at the end of the NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday night thanks to a little
hard racing between Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth and their
tempers bubbling over afterward.
After Kevin Harvick had taken the checkered flag as the race
winner Keselowski and Hamlin got into a little banging back and forth before
heading into the pits. Upon heading into the pits Keselowski and Kenseth then
showed their displeasure with each other after making contact on a restart
earlier in the race.
Keselowski’s retaliation toward Kenseth on pit road got a
little out of hand and led to the No. 2 driver accidentally slamming into the
back of Tony Stewart’s Chevrolet. Stewart, taking umbrage to this, threw his
car in reverse, gassed it and slammed into the front of Keselowski’s Ford
causing significant damage.
Both Hamlin and Kenseth wanted a piece of Keselowski after
the race ended with Hamlin being corralled and taken away by a crew member and
Kenseth tackling Keselowski in between haulers in the garage area, before a
small fight took place between crew members of each team.
While Keselowski, Hamlin and Kenseth engaged in the “fun
stuff” after the race I believe that everything they did fits into what NASCAR
likes to call “boys have at it.”
What Tony Stewart did on pit road was a little bit more than
“boys have at it” and something that doesn’t help his “hothead” reputation
within the sport, especially given the tragic circumstances between him and the
late dirt track racer Kevin Ward Jr. in New York in August.
NASCAR likely won’t do anything to punish Stewart, because they are probably more concerned about the actions of Keselowski, Kenseth and Hamlin, as are the NASCAR media and fans. But, I believe what Stewart did during this post race incident was the most unacceptable moment of the whole melee.
Drivers throwing their vehicles into reverse and gassing
them into parked cars behind them is incredibly dangerous and should not be
accepted in the sport. Not only is it incredibly dangerous, but this action
(whether rightfully provoked or not) shows that Stewart is quick to anger,
which is the exact thing that he doesn’t need to be seen as at this moment,
even if he wasn’t charged in the death of Ward.
Keselowski, Kenseth and Hamlin are going to get the
headlines after tonight’s race, but it’s the momentary lack of judgment by
Stewart that really should take some of the focus.
