Matt Kenseth goes after ‘idiot’ Keselowski as tempers flare following Charlotte
CONCORD, N.C. — A livid Matt Kenseth put Brad Keselowski in a headlock and tried to punch him after the Bank of America 500 as he felt Keselowski was reckless driving down pit road following the event Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
After hitting Hamlin’s car on the cool-down lap, Keselowski hit Kenseth’s car on pit road, knocking it into the car of Tony Stewart, who then backed up and hit Keselowski’s car.
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In the garage, the typically calm Kenseth ran at Keselowski, sparking a melee between Kenseth’s Joe Gibbs Racing crew and Keselowski’s Team Penske crew.
“I went after him because I don’t want to get hurt or killed on pit road,” Kenseth said. “Everybody is vulnerable there. … Yeah, I’m mad.
“He could have put something through my door and I could be going to the hospital right now because he’s an idiot.”
Before Kenseth got to Keselowski, Hamlin and Keselowski had to be separated. Keselowski made contact with the cars of both drivers on late restarts and was particularly angry over contact from Kenseth before a late restart, which damaged Keselowski’s right front. Keselowski finished 16th and will need help at Talladega Superspeedway next week to advance to the third round of the Chase.
“He’s just out of control,” Hamlin said. “He’s desperate obviously and it’s either four or five of us are wrong or he’s wrong because he’s pissed off everyone.
“It’s just disappointing. … Just acting like a dumbass instead of a champion.”
Keselowski said many people made bad moves after the race but he felt he had a reason to retaliate. NASCAR called Keselowski and Kenseth crewman Jesse Sanders to the hauler afterward, and any penalties would be announced most likely Tuesday.
“After the race the 11 (of Hamlin) stopped in front of me and tried to pick a fight,” Keselowski said. “I don’t know what that was all about and he swung and hit at my car, so I figured if we’re going to play car wars under yellow and after the race, I’ll join too.
“Those guys can dish it out, but they can’t take it. I gave it back to them and now they want to fight, so I don’t know what’s up with that.”
When told that the other drivers said he was reckless after the race, Kesleowski sarcastically replied, “Yeah, that’s me. … The 20 car (of Kenseth) and the 11 car (of Hamlin) both hit me under yellow and once the race was over, I hit them back and they couldn’t take it.”
Keselowski said after the race that he rubbed Kenseth’s car and that Kenseth gassed his car and got into Stewart. Kenseth, the 2003 Cup champion, had a different view of what happened with the 2012 champion.
“I see him trying to wreck Denny in the middle of the corner,” Kenseth said. “He’s out there doing donuts (on other cars). I’m trying to get back to pit road and we’re all the way on pit road with pedestrians and people with their helmets off and everything, and he comes in there 30 miles an hour faster than me and just annhiliates my car, runs me into Tony.
“It’s not a safe situation sitting there with no belts on. I should know better and make it all the way back to the garage but the race is over, so I don’t think there’s any place for that. It was extremely dangerous and it was in really poor judgment.”
NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said that the safety of everyone on pit road and the garage would be taken into consideration when determining if any penalties will be issued.
“We’ll look at everything,” Pemberton said. “We’ll continue to gather the facts, the tapes and the video and things of that nature and talk to some other people that were around. … Everything plays into it. We’ll just have to gather the information. We”ll look at the scope of things after the checkered flag to what went on between the haulers.”
Keselowski tweeted:
Rough night. Understand a lot of folks may not understand everything that happened and that’s ok. I’m not perfect but also not the only one.
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) October 12, 2014
“I’m not saying what I did was right,” Keselowski said. “They hit me and I hit them back. That isn’t the lesson you want to teach your kids. But this isn’t the schoolyard. This is serious stuff here. We’re all just trying to stand our ground.”
Kenseth just couldn’t believe Keselowski’s actions.
“If he wants to wreck me on the racetrack, that’s one thing,” Kenseth said. “He’s already done it three times this year. He’s good at it. But when you’re on pit road after the race, and cars aren’t running and people are standing there and your belts are off and stuff with everything that’s been going on.
“There’s just no excuse for that.”
Hamlin agreed.
“Matt was nearly out of his car and he just plowed into Matt and then ran into Tony and then went in through the garage and cleared out transmissions and did burnouts in the garage,” Hamlin said.
Kenseth said there is a difference between what happens on the track and off the track.
“People can live by their own code,” Kenseth said. “It was the third time he’s wrecked me this year. I didn’t have much position, but I had position.
“He’s a champion driver. He’s the first one to tell you he’s the best out there. He knew I was there and ran me into the wall because he didn’t want me to pass him. Obviously I wasn’t happy about that.”
Is it over? Keselowski is 10th in the standings, 19 points out of eighth, with an elimination race at Talladega next week.
“My guess is that (Keselowski) will probably try to wreck everyone,” Hamlin said. “That’s his only shot. He’ll just be out of control like normal.
“We’ll do what we have to do to get in and that’s the big picture. Luckily, (he) didn’t cause us to wreck (tonight). If it would have caused us to wreck, I’d be waiting for him right now.”
Daniel McFadin contributed to this story.
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