Keselowski, Kenseth And Hamlin Reflect On Charlotte Fallout
Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
For many of the drivers in the chase Saturday night in Charlotte is now a distant memory. While the feelings that fueled some of the actions that fans witnessed might still be there, the focus has now shifted to Talladega and making the next round of the chase. Given what went down in Charlotte following the Bank of America 500 it’s obvious that the drivers involved would be asked questions about it leading up to this weekends race at Talladega.
Below you will find some comments and reflections from Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin.
Matt Kenseth
Kenseth was mad Saturday night in case you could not tell. After all, one would have to be mad to chase down a man at full sprint and throw him into a headlock. Now that some time has passed one has to wonder whether or not Kenseth upon reflection has any regrets about his actions. While talking to NASCAR.com reporters this week he revealed that he has no regrets.
"Last week it was bad enough to run bad all night and to be frustrated; then get two tires and get toward the front (near the end of the race) — Brad clearly saw me roll outside of him and he hung a right on purpose and he ran me right into the wall, ruined my night and possibly took us out of Chase contention. So I was mad enough about that. To come down afterward and have your (safety equipment) off and your net down and come and pull those high school stunts … after the race is just absolutely unacceptable."
"That definitely put me over the edge. I don’t regret my actions; I’m not proud of them or happy about them or anything like that. … But I don’t regret them. I don’t know that I’d do anything different if the same thing would have gone down again"
Brad Keselowski
When it comes to Saturday night the only person who was truly innocent in all of the happenings was Tony Stewart. Stewart was minding his own business on pit road when Keselowski smashed into the back of his No. 14 machine while trying to make contact with Kenseth. After that happened we all know that Stewart reacted by reversing his car into the No. 2 machine of Keselowski which resulted in a pancaked front end.
During a round of media questions this week Keselowski was asked about how he felt in regards to the fact that he more or less dragged Stewart into this incident. As reported by the AP, Keselowski said that it was “unfortunate” that Stewart got caught up in it but he isn’t going to dwell on “all that garabage.”
In regards to Kenseth’s comments from above:
"(Kenseth) is always entitled to his opinion as I am to mine. We are both entitled to (our) opinions. Obviously we have a difference of them or what happened Saturday wouldn’t have happened."
Denny Hamlin
Hamlin wanted a piece of Keselowski on Saturday night but he wasn’t able to get one. Despite trying to get to him right after the race and then apparently chasing his car into the garage area, Hamlin never got all that close to the driver of the No. 2 car. Following Saturday night Hamlin shared his thoughts on the fines that were handed down and whether or not he thought Keselowski deserved more of a punishment (like many fans believe).
"I really don’t believe he deserved a stiffer penalty. You hate to put a points penalty [on]. Any monetary fine is a big deal. Even though people don’t think it is, it still comes out of his pocket, so that’s a big deal. Not only that, I’m sure there were discussions in the hauler about ‘This is our safe zone’ – a safe area that fans and potentially crew members are around. It’s kind of a zero tolerance policy inside the garage and on pit road."
While speaking with NBC Sports, Hamlin also talked about how it’s hard for drivers to communicate with one another after a race in situations like these because the pit crews tend to keep drivers apart from one another. In that regard Hamlin was okay with what Kenseth did and NASCAR not fining him.
"What else short of really just blindsiding and attacking him – how else are you gonna get to him? There’s so many crew guys, they won’t let you talk to him. He kinda did what he had to do, and really, in the video you can’t see any punches or anything. As far as I’m concerned, they were holding hands."
With all three of these drivers fighting for a spot in the next round of the chase it is unlikely that we are going to see any carryover this weekend at Talladega. However, don’t expect to see Hamlin or Kenseth jumping at the opportunity to tandem draft with Keselowski because I just don’t think that is going to happen. In fact, Keselowski’s only true draft partner this weekend might be his teammate Joey Logano, which isn’t the worst thing in the world either.
Christopher Olmstead is the Editor of BeyondTheFlag.com on the FanSided Network. Follow us on Twitter @Beyond_The_Flag and “Like” us on Facebook.