1. Not only did NASCAR not really punish Carl Edwards for his hit on Brad Keselowski, but it’s essentially encouraging others to do the same. We briefly talked about it on this week’s show (and that should be available late Monday afternoon), but when I heard the penalty, the first thing that came to mind was a quote from Hans Gruber, the villain from the original “Die Hard.”

“Hit it again!” (If you haven’t seen the movie, you owe it to yourself to do so.)

Essentially, Mike Helton told everyone is his best German accent: “Hit him again!”

As I mentioned last week, I don’t think Edwards was the only one at fault in this situation. Keselowski ruined Edwards’ day early by not giving him enough room on a restart, and based on practice times and Edwards’ history at Atlanta, he probably was on his way to another top-10 and maybe top-five finish.

And unfortuanately for Keselowski, Edwards had the free time during the race—while his car was being repaired—to take more looks at the contact that ended Edwards’ day early.

As he said on his Facebook page later, Edwards was left with three choices: get his revenge then, wait until Bristol or just hope Keselowski would learn on his own.

Based on what we’ve seen from the Penske Racing driver, he isn’t likely to change his style anytime soon (and he told The Associated Press as much earlier this week). So that left Edwards with the decision on whether to act now or wait.

In that regard, Edwards chose wisely. With less than 10 laps remaining in the race in Atlanta, he had absolutely nothing to lose by evening the score that day. By contrast, if he waits until Bristol, maybe something goes wrong and he suffers another devastating points day. This way, the only one who paid was Keselowski, and considering that’s what Edwards wanted, it couldn’t have worked out better for him.

Some called for Edwards to be suspended and have additional driver points penalized. But it’s clear NASCAR was never close to enforcing that.

And yet Helton saying Edwards suffered a real penalty by being parked isn’t accurate, either. How is parking a guy who could not have gained another spot on the track any kind of punishment? It isn’t. And the three-race probation is almost nothing compared to the useless seasonlong probations it used to dole out like Winston cigarettes in seasons past.

As a result, expect to see more retribution as the season progresses. Let’s just hope they can keep the cars on the ground in the process.

2. It’s time for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to help out crew chief Lance McGrew. Each week, I like to take time to listen the drivers’ audio during the race. It really adds to the event and gives you a better feeling for how everything is unfolding.

When Earnhardt is running well, his audio is among the best in NASCAR. He’s very candid (and those with small kids probably shouldn’t be listening, because it can get salty), and he’ll talk about a wide range of topics.

But the past few years, with a team that missed the Chase in 2009, you can hear the frustration in his voice. And his feedback with McGrew often sounds less than helpful.

By contrast, listen to Mark Martin converse with Alan Gustafson, Jimmie Johnson with Chad Knaus and Jeff Gordon with Steve Letarte, and you can hear a mutual respect between the drivers and crew chiefs. Sure, they become frustrated with their competition and even each other from time to time, but you can tell they’re generally on the same page.

I just don’t hear that with Earnhardt. His feedback is generally very vague, and he seems very quick to criticize the changes made. If anything, it’s sounding similar to his radio discussions with former crew chief Tony Eury Jr., and that’s not a good thing. And it seems a step back from when McGrew took the job early last summer, when Earnhardt made an effort to be more positive in the car.

Now, it’s obvious Earnhardt isn’t comfortable with the Car of Tomorrow. He’s won only once since it was rolled out in 2007, and that was on a fuel-mileage gamble at Michigan two years ago.

However, his equipment is getting better. That’s why his team has qualified in the top four in three of the first four races. And with the late restarts at Daytona and Atlanta, he’s put himself on the brink of the top 12 in the points standings.

But he can’t count on getting those breaks all year. Eventually, Earnhardt has to prove he wants to be the championship driver he said he did when he joined Hendrick Motorsports two years ago.

And that means finding a way to show McGrew more respect than he did Eury. That means being a bit more of a cheerleader in the car and having some faith that McGrew can do this job.

Because if he can’t, Earnhardt may not be around Hendrick Motorsports much longer, and he’ll have nothing but three wasted years to show for it.

3. Racing fans around Richmond won’t want to miss Denny Hamlin’s annual race at Southside Speedway this year. According to Hamlin’s Twitter page, the 250-lap Late Model race at Southside Speedway on April 29 is scheduled to include Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Elliott Sadler, Marcos Ambrose and Jeff Burton. (A confirmed list of drivers should be released soon.)

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here. Proceeds will benefit the Denny Hamlin Foundation.

———————————————

NASCAR speaks volumes with its “penalty” for Carl Edwards.