Busch, Edwards placed on probation for Bristol antics

NASCAR announced on Wednesday that it has placed Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards on probation for the next six races in the Sprint Cup Series, as a result of their on-track incident Saturday night at the conclusion of the race at Bristol.

Busch and Edwards violated Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing; hitting another competitor's car after the race had concluded) of the 2008 NASCAR rule book.

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The probation takes effect beginning with this weekend's event at Fontana, Calif.

Executing an adroit bump and run on Lap 470, Edwards passed for the lead and pulled away over the final 30 laps, winning by 1.969 seconds over Busch.

"It's one of those deals where I couldn't get by him, I couldn't get by him, and I just had to ask myself, 'Would he do that to me?' Edwards said after doing his trademark backflip off the car in Victory Lane. "And he has before, so that's the way it goes.''

Unhappy with the way Edwards passed him for the lead, Busch bumped Edwards' No. 99 Ford after the checkered flag. Edwards bumped back, and Busch's No. 18 Toyota went spinning (watch video).

"He'll always come back and say he's sorry," Busch said. "He did it at Milwaukee and he's done it a few other times. It's just his normal fashion. That's fine. I've grown to know that now.

"You know, to pass a guy, to hit him getting into the corners ... is very tired. But that's what he did. ... I had been getting into the corner light all day, and I don't know, maybe I over-braked and drove myself right back into his nose."

NASCAR summoned Busch to the sanctioning body's transporter after the race.

"Let's make it real clear -- I'm not apologizing for it," Edwards said, citing several instances where he felt like Busch took him out of races to gain positions. "We're even.

"They keep talking about rivalries,'' Edwards added. "We might have one now.''