There is a bit more to it than that.
I did watch it while it happened.
First, there is a bit of context missing. Brad Keslowski is a reckless person. You need to go back a few weeks and see how he behaved AFTER* the race
at Charlotte to see only the latest example. There are many,
many more.
Yes, racing is highly competitive but it is also extremely dangerous...people get killed. NASCAR is one of the only sports I can think of where they publicly pray before the race and most of the participants take that seriously. So, you drive hard but you don't do things that purposefully put your fellow drivers, pit crews and spectators in danger of losing life or limb. Keslowski does not seem to understand or care about this distinction.
Here is what happened as I saw it:
Gordon made a tactical mistake on restart. He was in the lead and could have chosen to be in either the inside or outside lane. He chose the outside lane. That was a mistake. He compounded that mistake by immediately going up (to his right) so that he could dive down in front of Jimmie Johnson who was driving the other car at the front of the line. Keslowski tried to drive into the gap that Gordon left open with that maneuver. Keslowski knew what Gordon was doing and didn't care, he took the opportunity to get between Gordon and Johnson. Whether or not that was a legitimate move is open to debate. When Gordon came back down (ostensibly to get in front of Johnson on the inside) Keslowski was partially occupying that space. It took fractions of a second for that to occur. When the cars collided it was Gordon's tire that got cut which went down immediately and put him into a spin.
My personal belief is that Gordon will look at the tape and see that Keslowski's move was not out of line. But that's today. Yesterday the emotions were in charge and given Keslowski's history of stupid, immature and dangerous driving Gordon was completely justified in getting in his face after the race.
What you may not have noticed when you saw the replay of the "fight" was that Kevin Harvick came up on the other side of Keslowski and literally shoved him into Gordon. To Gordon that probably looked like Keslowski was lunging at him and after that it was a complete mess with the two drivers and their pit crews going nuts.
Someone is GOING to punch Keslowski's ticket. That much is undeniable. Keslowski has been a reckless douchebag for far too long for it not to happen. Next week in Phoenix it will all be on the line. The four drivers with the most points will move on to the final race with the championship at stake. I would not be at all surprised if someone (and there are at least a half a dozen who aren't in contention who have a legitimate beef) puts Keslowski hard into the wall with fifty or fewer laps to go. A DNF would eliminate him from any possibility to advance. It may not happen but there is a pretty good chance that it will.
I am pissed at Jeff Gordon for making the mistake of selecting the outside lane and I wish that he hadn't gotten into a fight with Keslowski but the circumstances that precipitated that confrontation have been brewing nearly all year long.
*Remember this is only the most recent incident
this year...
--On a restart with 63 laps to go, Keselowski and Kenseth had a racing incident while vying for the lead. Keselowski thought Kenseth was pushing him and didn't leave a lane up high toward the wall for Kenseth, who had decided to try and pass. Kenseth was squeezed into the wall and bounced off it into Keselowski, damaging both cars.
--Later, a caution came out with six laps to go. Kenseth, who had gone a lap down after his damage, was the beneficiary of the free pass. On his way around the track, he drove across Keselowski's nose and damaged the front end of the No. 2 car.
--On the restart with two laps to go, Keselowski pushed Hamlin into Turn 1. Hamlin felt Keselowski plowed into him and was angered when he bobbled and fell to 11th. Keselowski lost his top-10 spot and fell to 16th due to his damaged car.
--After the race, Hamlin slowed down and jammed on his brakes to show his displeasure with Keselowski. As a result, Keselowski tried to spin Hamlin.
--Keselowski drove to pit road and chased Kenseth [trap-in his car, on pit road, after the race was over], who by then was undoing his safety belts (a common practice for drivers at that point after the race). He sideswiped Kenseth, then inadvertently hit the rear bumper of Tony Stewart.
--Stewart stopped his car, put it in reverse and rammed into Keselowski, destroying his front end. In an effort to get away from Stewart, Keselowski backed into Danica Patrick's car.
--Keselowski drove past everyone into the garage and Hamlin followed. Their cars made contact in the garage and were stuck together; Keselowski gassed his car up to get away -- leaving a burnout mark in the garage -- and drove across some equipment laying on the ground to reach his team's hauler.
--Still incensed, Hamlin climbed from his car first and attempted to move toward Keselowski's car, which was parked immediately in front of the No. 11 Toyota. A Hamlin crew member led him away from the cars, but, after Keselowski climbed from his car, Hamlin threw a towel and hit him in the helmet. After a few moments of pushing and shoving between crews, Keselowski walked to his hauler.
--Kenseth, livid at Keselowski hitting him on pit road, followed Keselowski and attacked him from behind in between the haulers. Crew members intervened after Kenseth put Keselowski in a headlock; Keselowski crew chief Paul Wolfe put Kenseth in a choke hold and pulled him away.
Garage areas are usually open to the public who purchase a pit pass. Driving around like this in the garage area is just plain nuts. It's lucky that no one was run over while he was in maniac mode.
