Blame NASCAR for Edwards' Scary Ride

Let's face it: NASCAR's own rules nearly killed multiple spectators Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.

The scary last-lap crash in the Aaron's 499 involving Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman and first-time winner Brad Keselowski is just the concoction NASCAR has cooked up with their set of rules governing the cans and cannots of racing at restrictor plate tracks.

At issue, primarily, is the much discussed yellow line rule that prohibits a driver from going below to advance a position.

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But Sunday, it wasn't the application of the rule that changed the race's outcome, but rather the aggressive stance NASCAR is taking with it. Simply, the sanctioning body says that any driver making an advance of position while dropping any part of the car underneath the double yellows will be penalized.

No longer, according to NASCAR, do exceptions apply in any form.

Knowing that, Keselowski made a quick jaunt to the right of Carl Edwards entering the tri-oval before faking back to the left and getting a nose underneath the No. 99 in the slight curve just hundreds of yards from the finish line. Edwards wasn't about to give up a race win so easily with the checkered flag in sight and tried to pinch Keselowski and halt the run of the No. 09.

It was too much, too late.

Keselowski didn't bulge from his line in the lowest groove of the tri-oval on the edge of the dredded yellow line as Edwards cut down, sending the No. 99 arching sideways across the track over Keselowski's hood before the back end caught the rushing 190 mile-per-hour draft of air to lift the wheels off the track.

Edwards' car gained altitude, slammed the top of Ryan Newman's hood and made a beeline to the catch fence. The fence held most of Edwards' car before slamming it back to the track, yards from the finish line in a blaze of smoke and fire.


So how does the contact relate to NASCAR's hard line on the double-yellow rule?

Just take a trip back to the last October when Regan Smith made the same exact move coming to the finish line but was forced underneath the out-of-bounds line by Tony Stewart. Smith, with a surge of momentum, avoided contact with Stewart by ducking to the apron to complete the pass. [Videos available at bottom of post]

It was the safe move, but yet, it was the illegal move. NASCAR penalized Smith and stripped the victory.

And Sunday afternoon, NASCAR got exactly what it should have expected when it set a precedent saying to win at all costs without going underneath the line. And by all costs, I mean spinning out your competitor if necessary at 190 miles per hour.

What other proof do you need to realize that Sunday's brutal, vicious and ultimately far-too-close-to-being-deadly wreck is directly connected to NASCAR's inability to offer a gray area in the race's final lap?

Sure, there's an argument that Keselowski or Smith should have backed off and conceded that they got beat. But to make that argument to a race car driver who has made a living by winning is just simply not fathomable.

Would you tell a big league pitcher to take some steam off a fastball because it might be a little more dangerous to throw that pitch inside? Definitely not, and don't expect drivers to always carefully plan and execute every move on a race track with the checkered flag in the air.

NASCAR desperately needs to revamp the double-yellow line rules, but not abolish them after this mess. They do actually pose some good during the race because drivers tend to have a little more caution in their style and aren't as hesitant to cede a position.

But the rule needs to also include exceptions for racing to the finish line.

Establish a zone on the track that on the last lap will be a legal area to pass below that line or make an amend to say that a driver who has position on another driver has the right to use the apron if forced below the yellow line.

Something -- anything -- is needed to make drivers not have to resort to a tactic that is dangerous for both the stars of the sport but also the spectators paying to watch a race.

The yellow line rules were put in place to make racing safer and prevent drivers from making risky moves entering a corner, but it's awful, awful tough to see that process as a success after watching a 3,200-pound race car come entirely too close to landing in a spectator area at 190 miles per hour.

Did the rule cause the wreck? No, but the way it forces drivers to handle last lap situations did, and if this is NASCAR's version of making things safer, you've certainly got to wonder what baseline they're coming from.

Video: Brad Keselowski's pass in the Aaron's 499



Video: Regan Smith's pass in the Amp Energy 500