
Now that the dust has settled on the whole Carl-Brad altercation, here's what we know.
At least for now, NASCAR is going to stick with "have at it boys". That is the new prime directive.
When NASCAR will let Carl Edward go unpunished for his tanking of Brad Keslowski, we realize that NASCAR is serious about letting the drivers police themselves. This fits with the whole retro movement that NASCAR has made the past season in their attempt to capture the magic of yesteryear.
This is a logical progression of NASCAR's recent tweaking of the rules: the dual file restarts, and multiple green white checkered restarts, standardized starting times, and now taking the handcuffs off. It's really a journey to the past for the most part.
You can fully expect to see more of what we saw in Atlanta because NASCAR has shown that you almost have to be caught with a hood mounted uzi before you're punished.
A lot of folks are going to like that...until it bites their favorite driver.
I must admit part of me is excited about the new NASCAR attitude. I'm also looking forward to the moment when a driver finds the new ceiling tolerance.
I just hope there isn't a sad to story to go along with that discovery.