Following another run-in with Brad Keselowski during Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Phoenix, Dave Burns of ESPN asked Denny Hamlin if NASCAR needed to get involved. Hamlin responded: “No, no, I’ll take care of him. It’s no biggy. I got him.”
Anybody else looking forward to this situation heading to Homestead?
In his ascension to the Cup Series this year, Keselowski has often used his bumper and some aggressive driving to get the job done. And it seems as though he’s done it more often lately. He has been called out by a few drivers including Hamlin and the brothers Busch. But strong words and threats from competitors haven’t slowed him down. Maybe a little retaliation will.
Hamlin and Keselowski have had on track incidents before, but fuel was added to the fire on Saturday. Following a restart, Hamlin’s Toyota got into Keselowski’s Chevy into turn one, sending the #88 car up the track. On the same lap, Keselowski attempted payback into turn three, but missed. Then in the center of three and four, Brad K. caught Hamlin and laid the bumper to him, sending Hamlin’s GameStop Camry around in front of the field.
After the warning from Hamlin during a post race interview, and the comments from other drivers, Keselowski was called into a meeting this morning with Cup Series directory John Darby and NASCAR’s CEO, Brian France. Keselowski told reporters the meeting “went real well.”
I certainly can’t fault Brad for being aggressive, as he is out there to win. And a little bumping and banging, along with some flared tempers always makes for some good racing action. But Keselowski needs to be a little more careful about who he roughs up. If he continues to cause problems with some of the sport’s top drivers, they can make life very difficult for him. He will be entering his first full season of Cup competition in 2010, and in order to be successful, he’s going to need at least a few friends. A driver that doesn’t respect him won’t give him room on the race track and they won’t help him out when he needs it.
Hopefully though, he is able to find a balance between being aggressive and also respectful. Mending a few fences along the way probably wouldn’t hurt either.
But no matter what happens, it sounds like things could get interesting this weekend at Homestead.
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on Nov 16th, 2009 at 6:10 am
You really need to cool it with the these Keselowski conspiracies, isnt this just normal racing.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 7:32 am
Garry: I’m not really sure what you are referring to. There is no conspiracy with Brad K. He has been driving aggressively this season, and I’m not the only one that has noticed. As I said in my post, I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing that he is doing it, but his fellow competitors might not agree with me.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 8:53 am
TC, it appears that Hamlin and both Bush Bros have forgotten their first years in NASCAR, for that fact Kyle still drives agressivly, its just he has gotten better and he’s not bouncing off of every one on the track. Remember this year, Kyle either would win or crash. BK will mature, I can remember a few years ago when using your bumper was just racing. Think about it, Jeff G and Dale Sr, Rusty and Jeff, so on and so on.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Does Bk drive aggressively? Sure. Sometimes too aggressively? you bet! I do, however, find it quite ironic that Hamlin is the one calling him out on it. After all, wasn’t it Hamlin that pulled the bonehead move at the front of the field on the restart at Fontana last month when he ill attempted to block Martin on the lap 195 restart of a 250 lap race? You betcha. Only reason he wasn’t called on the carpet by NASCAR and Martin was Hamlin self destructed and took himself out. How’s that for the pot calling the kettle black?
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Joey Logano probably has twice the talent that Brad has, but you haven’t seen him do the old aggressiveness trick. Maybe Brad thinks he’s Earnhardt Sr. all over again. Sorry Brad, that’s not going to work this time around.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
A lesson in selective journalism: Par: Hamlin and Keselowski have had on track incidents before, but fuel was added to the fire on Saturday. Following a restart, Hamlin’s Toyota got into Keselowski’s Chevy into turn one, sending the #88 car up the track. On the same lap, Keselowski attempted payback into turn three, but missed. Then in the center of three and four, Brad K. caught Hamlin and laid the bumper to him, sending Hamlin’s GameStop Camry around in front of the field.
Notice in Line 3, Hamlin’s TOYOTA got into Kes’s Chevy….now Hamlin didn’t get into Kes…just his Toy. However, in line 5, Kes attempted payback, and in line 6 Brad caught Hamlin and laid the bumper….actually Brad was staying in his line when Hamlin came down and he barely tapped Hamlin. Hamlin wasn’t wrecked. He didn’t hit the wall, went in and changed tires, and came back out. Watch the replay.
You are dollars short and hearay long on this story. I have watched every race Brad has run in NNS. Have you? This all started last year when Hamlin intentionally drove into Brad’s left front fender tearing it up under caution. Then in his interview, he spoke these words, “you throw a rock at me and I’ll throw a concrete block at you”. Now this is a Cup driver invading the NNS series and acting like the most important driver in Nascar. He further said “you hit me once and I’ll hit you twice”. Big man on campus! He never apologized, and has fed the fire in every NNS race he’s run since then.
Now he is threatening to wreck Brad while he is trying to pass Carl for second place in the NNS. Hamlin should not be allowed to run that race after this threat. And if you haven’t watched all the races that Brad has run, you don’t have the right to just take Hamlin’s word for all that’s gone on. He has proved that he is not above lying to make himself look bigger and better than he is. And as far as saying all the drivers in the garage hold a grudge against Brad, he will find that most of them hold a grudge against himself. Just sayin’.
I have read your column since you started it, and it pains me to disagree with you so strongly. I have really enjoyed both your and Journo’s articles. But when I see such obvious bias, I will call you out. It’s getting more and more obvious that members of the media have a knee-jerk reaction to some issues. Without investigating thoroughly, I see stories daily that don’t even resemble the truth. Don’t blame the fans if we get a little fed up after a while. BTW, this is the first time I have ever truly disagreed with one of your articles.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Oh, btw, Brad has learned from the best. LOL He has been wrecked by Mark Martin, Kenseth, Biffle, Lagano, and there are some others. I just can’t remember the names now.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
So he drives aggressive. Isn’t that what we want to see. The good ole boy club should respect that he is willing to push and shove when needed and get out of the way. By my way of thinking if you are getting pressure from behind it is time to move over or get moved over. Hamlin bumped BK first and then hamlin got a bump ran up the track and tried to drive down in front of BK and got taken out. All the talk about respect is kind of silly. If you have the talent and drive like that sometimes you win and sometimes you loose. But at no time are you a looser.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Let Brad do what he wants to. He’s coming to Cup full time next year. He WILL be taught how to behave on the track. I don’t like it when NASCAR gets involved..let them race.
Will it make me want to watch at Homestead?…No.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Hamlin sure has a short memory. He has bumped and wrecked so many since he started in cup and always whines when he is payed back. He is the one that bumped Brad 1st on Saturday but Brad must be the better driver as he saved his car. For the remarks Hamlin made after the race I think Nascar (as usual) called the wrong driver to the “traler”.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
i just feel bad for roger penske because he is going have a lot of wrecked cars to fix next year.brad wont stay in cup if he doesnt cool it
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Just another young gun making his mark. Kurt & Kyle Busch went through this.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
While I agree with T.C., alot of people including you have to relise that Denny Hamlin does start these things. and Brad does take responsibility when he makes a mistake.
Examples: August Bristol Nationwide race where he got into #12 Justin driving the Penske Racing Dodge, he took responsibility, Memphis with Carl Edwards, he took responsibility, and even Dover with Denny Hamlin, he took some responsibility, i think at Dover, Hamlin left the door open.
However at Phoenix, Brad had no need to say a word, Hamlin started it and Brad finished it.
But point blank, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch both think the Nationwide Series is there play ground and anybody who races them hard like Brad did in May 2008, maybe 2007, Hamlin has a fit and hits Brad. I think Brad knows what he is doing and he is exactly what NASCAR needs, but Hamlin and Busch need a dose of reality, push people and they may just push back.
I have to wonder in the Cup Series, will Hamlin drive like that with Brad or will he be a little more respectful, same goes for Kyle Busch?
And don’t get me started on Kyle Busch, there is a guy who needs to stop acting like a baby and drive, that including when he gets a second place finish. Also Busch has drove worse and that has gotten Hornaday and Harvicks attention in the Truck Series.
Bottom line, Brad needs to relax a little bit, but Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch really need a does of reality…
BTW: in the cup series, Kurt Busch is Brad’s new teammate and Dale Jr. is right around the corner, I wonder who will step up next year if this continues?
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Let’s not forget Denny taking out Reut who in turn took out teammate Marcos a few races back. Denny ran right over Reut.
I don’t know why Denny didn’t get called into the hauler along with Kez. Denny was the one making threats.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Zieke – I totally agree about Brad thinking that he’s Earnhardt Sr. Unfortunately he doesn’t have the respect that Sr. had. I don’t agree with what he does, but he probably thinks that if he didn’t make something happen this year, his career would go nowhere. Every driver has made some boneheaded mistakes in their careers. It’s those that learn from them that will make it. I guess you can’t learn how to bump and run until you do it, but many drviers are going to get wrecked in the process. Laying the bumper on someone is one thing, flat out wrecking them is another.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Since Hendrick said he has Brad in reach, I would like to see him reach out for Brad and put him in the 25/88 now…and let Jr. go free.
Marybeth
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Ginger: Wow, and I didn’t even bash Brad for what he did. I can’t imagine the firepower you’d come at me with if I did actually talk a little smack about Brad.
If you want to read any sort of bias into my writing, that is fine. None exists. If you would have rather I said that Denny got into Brad, I can go back and change the post. But what you will realize, is it doesn’t change anything. Hamlin was after all, piloting that TOYOTA. And I never said Brad “wrecked” Denny, you did. The incident went down exactly as I described it, and if your bias towards Brad skewed your perspective, I’m sorry. If you watched the interviews, Brad never even denies that he turned Denny around on purpose. He was upset about getting moved up the track, so he decided to return the favor. This kind of stuff happens all the time. And I don’t blame Brad for doing it, as I would have probably done the same thing.
Also, I’m not taking anyone’s word. I’m not siding with either driver. I actually think they are both a little out of line. Brad has been driving a little over his head lately, and Denny needs to quit whining. And I don’t need to have watched every single lap that Keselowski has run to write about the subject. I know enough drivers and have seen enough racing over the years to know what is going on.
If you want to disagree with anything we write, that is absolutely okay. We aren’t always going to agree with people, and they aren’t always going to agree with us. That is half the fun. In most cases, we are searching for a little spirited discussion about issues. As long as everyone plays nice, we don’t mind getting a little heated. We certainly don’t take it personal, and we hope no one else does either. After all, it is just racing folks.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Ginger- In order for a piece to have bias TC would have had to have taken a side, he never did that. At the end of the day though, NASCAR called Brad into the trailer for a reason. That is not being disputed; Brad doesn’t dispute it. This is beside the point.
This is not the Associated Press, nor would I consider what we do here “journalism” (I think TC agrees). This is a blog where we often write unabashed opinion posts. We’re allowed to be selective. Do we have bias in some of our pieces? Sometimes. Do we tell you about the occasional rumor? Sure. Do we talk about the occasional news item? Absolutely. Are we ESPN or Scene Daily? No and frankly we’ve never claimed to be.
If there is one thing I’ve learned in my time doing this, people are going to read what they want to read. I can’t change that. In this case you’re taking your own bias and reading way too into this.
This is at best an argument of semantics.
TC made an observation today. One that frankly many others made this weekend; and one that isn’t being disputed by either of the drivers involved. Keselowski is aggressive. If you’ve watched him you know that’s true. And along the way he’s made some people angry (both in the Cup Series and Nationwide Series). Through this he’s made enemies.
on Nov 16th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
add in the many times that BK has wrecked his own future teammate (Justin Allgaier). Justin will never go back after Brad because that is just the type of person he is. No worries however that I can tell that Justin is very frustrated by it.
I see Justin possibly taking over that 12 cup car by the end of the year next year if BK doesn’t clean up his act some. Penske won’t want to pay for all the wrecked cars!
on Nov 17th, 2009 at 9:17 am
I didn’t see the incident since I haven’t been watching much racing lately but one thing sticks out here that others mentioned. Kes is sitting third in points in this series (first if you take out the Buschwackers). Hamlin has graced the Busch series with his presence six times this year. Shut up Denny.
Give Kyle & Carl respect on the track. Even though they are cup regulars, they are running the full series after all. A cup regular with six starts? Rough ‘em up & then rough ‘em up some more. That’s the price you pay to play in the Busch series.
How this will carry over to cup in 2010? I don’t know, but Kes will need to cool it next year. He will have to earn respect like every other young driver racing in the cup series does.
on Nov 17th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
TC, I have to disagree on just one statement you made.
[quote] Keselowski attempted payback into turn three, but missed. Then in the center of three and four, Brad K. caught Hamlin and laid the bumper to him [/quote]
I dont think he missed and this will show it.
If you watch this video at 2:04 it shows that Brad got into to Denny going into 3 and pushed him up the track. What it looked like to me was that Denny was going to come back down and squeeze Brad down, but Brad hooked him… Just what it looked like to me..Other than that, I 100% agree with ya.
http://www.nascar.com/video/busch/2009/11/14/nns.pho2.high.five.nascar/index.html
on Nov 18th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Interesting T. C and Journo, no comment on how Denny got the ball rolling last year and has kept the fire burning. No comment on how Brad is running for 2nd place in the championship with a threat to wreck him from Denny.
Otherwise, all is well. I know you read the comments which is a good thing. Keep up the good work, and I will continue to follow you. Go Brad. LOL
on Nov 18th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Ginger: You can’t honestly say here that Brad is an innocent party. Regardless of who started it, they both continue to add to the situation. Brad could have just let the contact at Phoenix go, but instead he chose to come right back at Denny. And what about Dover earlier this year? This could have been diffused a long time ago.
And should the fact that Brad is running for 2nd in the points somehow make him untouchable? The 20 car is racing for 5th in the owner points, but that didn’t stop Brad from turning him around.
Neither point though changes the fact that Brad continues to cause problems with his fellow competitors. My point was that if he is going to continue driving so aggressively, eventually somebody is going to return the favor. And Denny Hamlin isn’t the only enemy here.
Just to add to the discussion, here is Jenna Fryer’s (AP) take on Brad v. Denny: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=auto&id=4660942
on Nov 18th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Ginger: Have to say….I’m w/ ya on this one. BK might have made some enemies as T.C. has mentioned, but DH needs to look within.
I also take issue w/ Jenna Fryer’s article where she states “His only Cup victory came in a last-lap crash at Talladega in April, when he hooked the rear of Carl Edwards’ car to start an accident that sent Edwards sailing into the safety fence. That brought attention and new opportunities for Keselowski, but also may have created a monster.”
Ummm….Uncle Carl can drive, but Dega ‘08 was a bonehead move trying to block BK…not a hook! Maybe she has short term memory loss. Kinda like I said above of Denny’s “rookie” block on Martin in Fontana.
BTW TC and Journo, these are the best articles…a little spice!