NASCAR places Edwards on three-race probation (cont'd)

"There has obviously been an evolution of a relationship between these two drivers, and that's why in the conversation with Roger Penske, he asked ... his biggest concern was being sure that this was all said and done and it was over with.

"But if there's a rivalry that goes on while racing, then they need to figure out how to manage that before we get more involved in it."

Driver reactions

“

I didn't think any suspension or anything like that ... was worthy of happening.

”

-- ELLIOTT SADLER

“

There's a too far in everything, and that was too far. Bottom line, simple as that.

”

-- CLINT BOWYER

NASCAR's decision seems to reinforce the loosely defined "have at it, boys, and have a good time" philosophy of more aggressive, self-policed racing.

Helton's participation in a teleconference was quickly scheduled and announced Tuesday morning less than 90 minutes in advance following the aftermath of the vicious accident in the late stages of Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500.

With two laps remaining of the scheduled 325-lap event on the high-speed 1.5-mile track -- where two days before Dale Earnhardt Jr. had clocked the fastest qualifying lap ever recorded by NASCAR's new car, 192.761 mph -- Keselowski's Dodge went airborne and flipped into the frontstretch fence following contact from Edwards' Ford.

FOX Sports' TV replays showed Edwards' white-gloved hands moving his steering wheel to the right, turning his car into the back of Keselowski's car, which caused the red No. 12 to spin backwards. The car immediately lifted into the air and turned over, striking the top of the fence, upside-down with the driver's-side corner of the windshield "A-post."

NASCAR immediately parked Edwards, who had made another lap of the race track after the contact. Upon getting the word on his in-car radio, Edwards drove the wrong way up pit road to turn into the Sprint Cup garage area to park at his hauler.

Keselowski was helped from his car and walked to an ambulance. After being examined in the track's infield care center, Keselowski emerged and promised that actions such as Edwards' would result in injuries to either another driver or to fans.

"To come back and intentionally wreck someone, that's not cool -- you could have killed someone in the grandstands," Keselowski said. "It will be interesting to see how NASCAR reacts to it. They have the ball. If they're going to allow people to intentionally wreck each other at tracks this fast, we will hurt someone either in the cars or in the grandstands.

"It's not cool to wreck someone intentionally at 195 mph."

After getting out of his car at the track, Edwards didn't deny spinning Keselowski but said flipping the younger driver's car wasn't his intent. Later Sunday evening, in an entry on his Facebook page, Edwards said "his code" dictated that he take action immediately.

Earlier in the race, Edwards and Keselowski's cars made contact when Edwards attempted to move his Roush Fenway Racing Ford from an upper lane to a lower lane already occupied by Keselowski's Penske Racing Dodge.

The contact caused Edwards' car to skitter up the track, where it hit Joey Logano's Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, causing both Edwards' and Logano's cars to hit the wall. Edwards spent more than 150 laps in the garage while his crew made repairs. (Continued)