Turns out the confrontation between Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth was more than just a clash in the heat of the moment.
It's been festering for a while.
Following Sunday's race at Martinsville, Edwards grabbed Kenseth, from Cambridge, Wis., pushing him down pit road. In videos posted on YouTube, the two are seen arguing before Edwards climbs over the pit wall.
Before walking away, Edwards balled his right hand into a fist and raised his arm as if to strike Kenseth, who noticeably flinched.
During a conference call Tuesday, Edwards quickly went into damage control.
"First of all, I was definitely wrong for showing my anger and putting on an aggressive display towards Matt Kenseth after the race at Martinsville," he said. "I definitely want to apologize to my fans, to Office Depot, to Matt Kenseth, to DeWalt, to everyone at Roush Fenway for letting it come to that. That was definitely the wrong thing to do."
Then Edwards got to the root of the problem.
"What led up to the deal that happened after the race of me confronting Matt, it was not a one-day deal," he said. "It wasn't just Sunday's on-track incident where I bumped into Matt and he bumped into me harder and I got madder all day. You know, as a team, we need to do a better job working together.
"I've won three races this year in the Nextel Cup Series. When I win, people call and congratulate and people are happy for me. It's just the wrong people. I've got Jimmie Johnson calling me every time I win to say good job. And my teammates aren't the ones doing that."
The confrontation between teammates, who are struggling in the Chase for the championship, looks particularly bad in contrast to the good will exhibited between Hendrick Motorsports teammates and friends Jeff Gordon and Johnson, the drivers currently out front in the title battle.
Edwards agreed with that assessment.
"Hendrick Motorsports, and those people that we compete against do a better job of having team spirit than we've done lately at Roush Fenway," he said. "I'm just as guilty of that as anyone. "
There is precedent for Sunday's blowup between Roush Fenway teammates.
Previously this season, Edwards and Kenseth argued following a Busch Series race in Kansas.
"I don't really feel like I did anything wrong," Kenseth said at that time. "My job's not to get out of his way all of the time. We're supposed to race each other like we always race each other, and race each other with respect."
Teammate Greg Biffle agreed when asked about the undercurrent on Monday night's Inside NASCAR Cup show on SPEED, saying at one point: "... If you dish it out, you got to be able to take it."
Edwards said he hopes the team, including teammates Jamie McMurray and rookie David Ragan, can work on mending fences and getting along, both on and off the track.
"I think that, obviously, leadership from somewhere is needed, but I think most importantly it comes from within," Edwards said. "You know, (former teammate) Mark Martin was very good at communicating when he wasn't happy with something. Trust me, I've been on the receiving end of that deal. But somehow we managed to work through it.
"I think it's more up to us drivers, you know. It's very frustrating for me that it came to this. I know, for me, I'm going to do everything I can to make it work."
Labels: Nascar, Roush Fenway Racing
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 1:44 PM
