Veteran says Keselowski needs to "think about what is going on''; Also, twist in Mayfield case

I was at Richard Childress Racing this morning with some other reporters today. Naturally, the talk turned to the Edwards-Keselowski incident at Atlanta and how NASCAR responded. Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer didn't want to talk about the issue at length but did discuss it briefly. Jeff Burton spent more time on the issue and talked about what Keselowski needs to do.

 

JEFF BURTON

 

(IS THIS JUST A CASE OF SELF-POLICING FOR KESELOWSKI. THIS ISN'T HIS FIRST INCIDENT)

 

"Brad has got to learn that he doesn't need to prove to the world that he's a tough guy. He's made the decision that he's not going to cut anybody any slack. He's made the decision that he's going to race aggressively all the time. Those are the decisions he's made, and he's going to have to live with the consequences of that. There' nothing wrong with giving a little bit, and there's nothing wrong with taking a little bit. But if you're going to only take, then you're going to come out of the short end of the stick more times than not.

 

"I like Brad. I think Brad is a good person. I think he's a good race car driver. I think he's learning the hard way, and I don't think he's doing a good job of stepping back, learning from his situation and learning how to do it better vs. having his feet dug into the sand, saying this is how I'm always going to do it. He will look back four or five years from now and realize that he could have made things a lot easier on himself and still, by the way, have success. No one is suggesting that anyone doesn't have the same right to go win a race. No one is suggesting that people shouldn't race each other hard, that people shouldn't do whatever they have to do within a certain parameter to win a race or to finish well.

 

"He consistently has been willing to cross that threshold in order to get a better finish. Well, there comes a point where you have to be willing to lift because there is a bigger picture. I'm not suggesting you don't race hard. I'm not suggesting that. When you're front bumper is constantly making contact with other people, that gets old. I've said this before, people watch. I watch every race. Drivers watch these races and when the same driver constantly gets involved with a lot of people, then you're already convinced that he's willing to do that to you. I think Brad needs to step back and look at the big picture a little bit and really think about what is going on, which by the way, Sunday's incident, the first incident was as much Carl Edwards' fault as it was Brad Keselowski's fault. I was right there with them. Carl did nothing wrong. He was trying to get in the spot. Brad did nothing wrong. He was trying to protect his spot, but they were both wrong because of what happened. Carl didn't have to squeeze himself in there, Brad could have done a little better job of fitting it. Both of them could have prevented that first incident and because of their relationship, they didn't.

 

"If I would have been where Carl Edwards was and Mark Martin would have been where Brad Keselowski was, that incident would have never happened. And that's the kind of respect they need to show each other.''

 

(AS A VETERAN IS IT YOUR ROLE TO TALK TO KESELOWSKI ABOUT THIS?)

 

"I've spoken to Brad. I've told Brad how I feel, not about this situation, but how you should race people in general. Brad came to talk to me about it. It's not my place to tell somebody what to do. It is my place, when it affects me, to tell them what they should have done. I fully take advantage of that. It's their right too. When I do something that affects somebody, it's their right to come approach me and let me know what they think I should have done.

 

"I honestly don't go into Bristol thinking anything is different. Everything is the same.''

 

(ON THE PENALTY)

 

"I wouldn't have been surprised if NASCAR had made the penalty harsher, but I'm not surprised they didn't at the same time. I do believe it's consistent with what they've normally done. At the same time, I think it should be noted that those kind of things don't need to happen at mile-and-a-half, 2-mile racetracks. It's really not cool if it happens anywhere. The drivers need to handle it off the race track. That's my opinion. I will tell you that one of the reasons why people don't spin out each other every week because you know they have the ability to spin you out the next week and that deterrence is not a bad thing.

 

"Sunday was scary. If you look at that car, that could have been a lot worse than it was. In no way did Carl Edwards mean that to happen. I know Carl. I know that he didn't mean that to happen. I'm sure when Carl looked in the mirror and saw what was going on, I'm sure he wanted to throw up. I'm sure he felt awful. Those guys need to sort that out. It impacted the race in a lot of ways. If you start backtracking it, something affected the next thing and the next thing you know we ended up getting a caution, we ended up getting another caution, we ended up getting another caution. That started the ball rolling and people need to be aware of those things.''

 

(THIS HAS GIVEN NASCAR LOT OF PUBLICITY CAN'T BE ALL THAT BAD CAN IT?)

 

"No. I don't think any exposure is good. I don't agree with that. Our sport needs exposure for the right thing. The thing is, we talk about having better racing and we talk about having more aggressive racing. That's not racing. That's not the definition of racing. That's what anger and trying to stand your ground, that's not racing. Our sport wants to have better, more aggressive, more fun racing, more exciting to watch in that isn't we want to have better wrecking. That was never talked about this winter.''

 

(YOU WORRIED ABOUT GETTING CAUGHT UP IN SOMEBODY'S PAYBACK AT BRISTOL OR MARTINSVILLE?)

 

"I don't think anything has changed. I think that, for me, the only thing that comes out of all of that is that you have to remember there's a consequence to your action and that's what comes out of it for me. I don't think anything changes. It's pretty clear to me that if I run into the corner and I knock somebody out of the way, that it's a real good chance that I need to get the hell out of the way the next corner or they're coming back at me. That's OK. I'm OK with that. I think that the drivers need to be smart.. What happened Sunday wasn't smart.''

 

(CONCERN OF SEEKING KESELOWSKI'S CAR GO UPSIDE DOWN)

 

"That was a majority of it. We got to fix that problem. It's been blamed on the wing. Maybe the wing is the problem, I don't know. I'm not very versed in that science. We do need to figure that out. Having the cars get upside down is not a good deal.''

 

 

 

CLINT BOWYER

 

(WHAT DO YOU TELL YOUNGER DRIVERS ON HOW TO RACE BASED ON THE ACTIONS OF EDWARDS AND KESELOWSKI)

 

"Since I was 16 years old, that situation has happened. I've been racing cars since 16 and that situation has happened, but I've never seen anybody get hurt, maybe a fight afterwards. But I've never seen anybody get hurt. I've never seen a situation where  it could have hurt somebody. I saw a sitaution that could have hurt somebody and there's a point where it's too far. It's too far. Period. There's a line drawn. There wasn't anybody that saw that, you, me. Everybody knew that was too far. Every action has consequences, some consequences you know beforehand, before you have that action. Unfortunately, you don't know the consequences of your actions sometimes. It was very scary and could have killed someobdy and very stupid.''

 

 

KEVIN HARVICK

 

(ON THE PENALTY)

 

"It's a different era from when I got in trouble. I wish I would have gotten in trouble now because it would have been a lot cheaper. That's what it is. As long as the consistency is there, I think everybody is good with it.

 

"I just got in trouble in the wrong era. The world is totally different then it is now.''

 

 

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In case you missed it, one of the two crewmembers NASCAR suspended indefinitely Tuesday for violating the substance abuse policy was the ex-brother-in-law of Jeremy Mayfield.

 

William David Keith claimed in a deposition for NASCAR last fall about seeing Mayfield allegedly take methamphetamine.

 

Now this.

 

NASCAR spokesperson Ramsey Poston said in a statement about Keith's suspension: "It says that anyone can be tested at anytime. A failure, regardless of who you are, results in immediate suspension.''

 

Keith had been a spotter for David Gilliland. He was a contract employee for Front Row Motorsports and did  not work at the shop, according to a team spokesman.

 

As for the Mayfield situation, Keith claimed in his deposition on Aug. 19, 2009, that he observed Mayfield taking methamphetamine and that he saw the usage increase over a period of time. "I remember it was a regular thing,'' Keith said in the deposition.Keith said he recalled the usage being a "daily, weekly deal.''

 

Asked when this happened, Keith could not recall the exact time period but suggeted it was between 1993-95. He also said he only witnessed Mayfield's alleged meth use only once. Asked how he knew it was more than that, Keith said in the deposition: "I think it was a given.''

 

Keith also later says he recalls seeing Mayfield's alleged meth use in 1998 through 2000 but adds: "I don't know a specific time. I don't know a specific place. It seems like it was around that time.''

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