Gateway Incident Adds to Carl Edwards' Dark Side

Carl Edwards certainly has been full of what marketing-types like to call "crossover appeal."

He's been the star of AFLAC's main Olympic commercial. He's glanced the cover of Men's Health magazine while becoming a spokesman for healthy fast food chain Subway.

And, of course, he's become a favorite of the "SportsCenter" highlight reels with his trademark backflip after a win.

But Edwards, ever the effervescent spokesman and intelligent thinker when asked questions in news conferences, has obviously shown to have a much darker side on-track at times -- with none more evident than what he was penalized for Wednesday by NASCAR.

Edwards lost 60 Nationwide Series driver points, earned a $25K fine and will be on probation through the end of the calendar year for wrecking Brad Keselowski on the final lap of Saturday night's Nationwide race just outside St. Louis.

Keselowski also earned probation for the incident.

Here's a few of the more notable incidents involving Edwards in his NASCAR career:

Edwards vs. Keselowski, Round 1

Thanks to an incident earlier in the race, Carl Edwards was more than steamed about an injustice he felt that Keselowski had exacted on him. Therefore, albeit 156 laps down, Edwards returned to the track bent on fulfilling his desire for revenge.

Edwards spun Keselowski intentionally on the straightaway, and watched -- likely horrified -- as Keselowski's car tumbled roof-first into the outside wall. Consider it the shot heard 'round the world for these two, as all of a sudden the two were locked in the single-biggest drama of the young 2010 season.



Edwards vs. Keselowski, Round 2

Edwards earned a three-race probation for the first incident, and little did anyone in NASCAR think that he and Keselowski would lock horns as brutally as they did in St. Louis so soon. Obviously, they did.

Thanks to contact Keselowski levied in turn one of the final lap, Edwards lost a bit of traction and washed up the hill. All was not lost, though, as the two sailed through turns three and four side-by-side. Keselowski then held advantage with the checkered flag waving, but Edwards was to have none of it -- leading to the subsequent mid-week penalties.

Edwards vs. Earnhardt Jr., August 2006

If nothing else, this incident proves that Edwards isn't a man to change his mind. Edwards said afterward that he was "sickened" to have someone beat him because they wrecked him -- much the same as he said after dumping Keselowski for the win Saturday night.

This race -- a Nationwide Series event at Michigan -- was about the first time we saw the angry side of the always-smiling Edwards, and his on-track move that well could have endangered Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s hand outside the window seemed to be some shocking conduct.

Well, it was shocking.

Edwards vs. Kenseth, October 2007

Watching this video enough times may give those who can truly psychoanalyze a person all the fodder they need to make a sound judgment. Me? I'm not expert, so I'll say it means one thing to me: I don't want to find Carl Edwards in a bad mood after a race in a dark alley.

Already a buff and in-shape guy, Edwards showed somewhat of a bully side in this video shot during an interview with his teammate Matt Kenseth following the Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway in 2007. One could say it was some kind of joke, but the look on Kenseth's face seems to indicate a sense of seriousness..

Is this the real Carl Edwards? A guy who likes to win and be up front so much that his personality and off-track actions can take a turn for the worse in the right situation? It's hard to tell, really, especially with how easily Edwards can win you over with the way he communicates with each and every person he meets..

Teammate Greg Biffle may have described Edwards' personality the most accurately following the Kenseth situation: "His aggressive style is just go all of the time," Biffle said.