Top storylines of 2009: Brad Keselowski wins first Cup race, wrecks Edwards to do so

Talladega was the sight of one of the scariest scenes of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season to date. On the final lap of the Aaron’s 499 Carl Edwards led youngster Brad Keselowski to the finish. What happened next was unexpected, breathtaking and nearly deadly. If you’re a NASCAR fan, and most likely even if you’re not, you’ve heard about the wild and wacky chase to the checkers where Edwards’s car flew through the sky and ripped apart the catch fence, injuring a few fans.

The next week as the Cup Series moved on to Richmond, all the talk focused on the finish at Talladega. What should NASCAR do? Who was to blame? Should NASCAR eliminate plate racing? Are the drivers too aggressive? Was Edwards right? Will NASCAR keep doing this until someone pays the ultimate price, whether that be a driver or a fan?

I still have yet to render a verdict on that last lap incident. I think Carl Edwards was at fault for blocking. I think Brad Keselowski was at fault for blatantly wrecking him to win. It’s tough to put blame on the people who made that fence though. It miraculously held the 3,500 pound hunk of metal that lunged at it.

Kenny Wallace said on “Raceday” the next weekend that NASCAR should remove seats from the first ten rows to ensure fan safety. Right. Because they did that after Bobby Allison flew into the same catch fence in the late 1980s. In fact, I bet they added seats since then.

I checked a ticket for the Brickyard 400, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, often times referred to as “The Racing Capital of the World” has this disclaimer on the back of each ticket: “Notice: Speedway management regrets that its efforts as to spectator safety do not eliminate risk of injury to spectators. Your participation in this racing event as a spectator is at your own risk.”

At your own risk. It’s too bad most people don’t read the small print before they want money to pay for a lawsuit. And, although I don’t know if any claims have been filed yet against Talladega Superspeedway, I bet that a clause like the one above was on the back of each ticket, so there’s little chance that a fan would win a suit.

Most people who don’t follow NASCAR will tell you that the only way they’d tune in is for all the wrecks. Those people who are casual followers—at best—would have loved Talladega. Two big wrecks took out many contenders, including series points leader Jeff Gordon, who was wiped out when he wrecked—and brought along some friends—on lap seven.

Even though Talladega will be remembered for the finish, one kid will remember it as the day he won his first Cup race. Brad Keselowski, driving a Hendrick powered car for James Finch, won his first Cup event in five tries. Many people—yours truly included—blew this win off as luck, at best.

But now, Keselowski feels he’s entitled to a full-time Sprint Cup ride next season. Guess he should file a lawsuit and wait in line behind the former owners of Kentucky Speedway (more on that later this week). Keselowski is brash, ego driven and very outspoken (in a bad way, think Kyle Busch).

There’s no doubt he deserves a shot, but until he can show the world that his great finish at Darlington was more than a one-shot deal, he doesn’t deserve a full-time ride. Ever heard of Joey Logano? He’s still struggling in his rookie season. We all know that Brad Keselowski’s ego couldn’t take being like Joey Logano. Maybe he should bide his time and wait a year or two. Then he might be ready to take on a full-time ride.