If one of the other “hotheads” on the track had done this, they would have been parked for a race or two, but not Mr. Smile.

Carl Edwards has been placed on three weeks’ probation by NASCAR for intentionally wrecking Brad Keselowski’s car during last weekend’s race at Atlanta.

NASCAR president Mike Helton said Tuesday there are two separate issues: the wreck itself, and the fact that Keselowski’s car went airborne.

Ugh.

Asked following Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway if Goodyear took a step in the right direction with the type of tire it brought to the 1.54-mile track, driver Ryan Newman pulled no punches.

“No, we blew tires,” he said bluntly. “Last time here, we didn’t blow tires.”

And Newman was far from alone, as several cars suffered blown tires or shredded tires throughout the day.

What do you think? Were the tires bad or did some drivers just have a bad day?

In January, NASCAR VP of Competition Robin Pemberton loosened the reins on drivers with an instant-classic phrase: “Boys, have at it.” On Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards sent Brad Keselowski’s No. 12 Dodge flipping into the air – and with it, all of NASCAR’s hopes for the first controversy-free week of the young season.

Keselowski’s flight was a terrifying inversion of the wreck on the final lap of the spring race at Talladega a year ago, the infamous wreck in which Keselowski sent Edwards pinwheeling into the fence at almost the exact same position on the track.

Whoa. One of the more frightening wrecks I’ve seen in a long time. Bad Carl. Bad, Bad, Carl.

Kurt Busch won two races Sunday: the Kobalt Tools 500 and the Carl Edwards 25.

In a race that went 16 laps — nearly 25 miles — past its scheduled distance, after Edwards retaliated against Brad Keselowski for an incident earlier in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Busch took advantage of a strong restart to grab the lead during the second attempt at a green-white-checkered and crossed the finish line .482 seconds ahead of runner-up Matt Kenseth.

Congrats Kurt!

The good times kept rolling for Dale Earnhardt Jr. during Saturday’s final practice session for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

One day after admittedly spending most of his practice time in qualifying trim and having that pay off with his first pole since April of 2008 — 68 races ago — Earnhardt remained wicked fast during Happy Hour with a top lap of 185.517 mph at the 1.54-mile track. The only one faster during the final tune-up session was Mark Martin, Earnhardt’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate who posted the fastest lap of the day at 185.524 mph, making the circuit in 29.883 seconds — just .001 quicker than Earnhardt’s top lap.

I bet he was happy he didn’t hit the wall in practice. I’m actually looking forward to a great race tomorrow.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. captured the pole for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a blistering speed of 192.761 mph.

Earnhardt’s lap on a cool Friday evening was faster than any pole-winning speed for a Sprint Cup race in 2009. Mark Martin was the pole-sitter last year in the spring race with a speed of 187.045 mph.

Who knows, this could be a non-Johnson win race. Hey! Shut up! It could happen!

Ryan Newman can look at the bright side: he’s not off to as bad a start as last season.

Newman, 32nd in points after three consecutive finishes outside the top 15 (two of which were outside the top 30), actually is having a better start to the 2010 season than he did in 2009. After three races last season, Newman was 33rd in the points.

Not a problem. He’ll bounce back.

NASCAR is finally about to lose its wings.

“We’re hoping within the next two of three races that we’ll be able to be at a point where we say it’s time to take the wings off and put the spoiler on,” NASCAR president Mike Helton said Monday.

While Helton didn’t provide a specific date for the expected removal of the wings from the cars, that timeline coincides with the March 28 race at Martinsville that most teams have expected to be the first with the more traditional-looking rear spoilers.

I honestly don’t see why they need to regulate anything as far as the body of the car goes. If the guys want to race a car, let them race a car. At least it would be interesting to see what happens.

Perhaps much of America’s racing fraternity is sick of hearing about Jimmie Johnson. Perhaps they are tired of watching him and crew chief Chad Knaus cavort about in Victory Lane. Heck, shortly after they did so for the second consecutive Sunday at sold-out Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a uniformed police officer and genuine race fan in far away Charlotte, N.C., actually approached me out of the blue and implored that “something had to be done” about it.

I was trying to figure out how to squeeze in more time for other stuff on the weekends anyway.

Jimmie Johnson won his second straight race by passing teammate Jeff Gordon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to claim NASCAR’s Shelby American.

Gordon led 218 of the 267 laps, but he took just two tires on the final pit stop and it cost him the victory.

Johnson took four tires and restarted in fourth, but rocketed onto Gordon’s bumper as soon as the race resumed. He chased Gordon for 17 laps, finally scooting past him with 17 to go.

So… How many races should I plan on missing? I’m serious. They need to do something, because I know I’m not the only one.