Carl Edwards’ retaliatory move against Brad Keselowski two weeks ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway might have caught some people by surprise, but for many inside NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series garage, the incident was anything but unexpected.

Right or wrong, it was the sport’s version of hazing, in a sense. It was a “wake-up call” for a driver that is trying to feel his way around in a new series.

Keselowski isn’t officially a rookie because he made more that seven Cup starts in 2009. But this is his first full season in Cup for Penske Racing. And just like nearly everyone else has done when making the transition, the 26-year-old is quickly discovering how to race with, and around, others. And how not to as well.

“I think every rookie goes through moments, whether it’s just getting beat, or somebody takes them to school in a way that shows them something that they didn’t know, or knocks them out the way, or points their finger out the window, or whatever,” four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon says. “I think every rookie goes through that, and that’s what makes being a rookie so tough. You feel the pressure. You feel out of your element.”

For Gordon, such a moment came in 1993 at Phoenix International Raceway. He recalls the teacher – “Dale Earnhardt Sr.” – and the result – “me backing into the wall.”

“Yeah, I remember it well,” Gordon says. “At the time I was pretty mad, and didn’t think I was deserving of it. About six years later I was like, now I get it. I was racing way too hard for 10th place, too early in the race, and I had it coming to me. It was the perfect time to teach me a lesson from the best guy to do it.

“I never forgot it, obviously, but I did learn from it.”

Gordon might have gotten off easy. At least the Hendrick Motorsports driver kept his feet on the ground. Jeff Burton, on the other hand …

“Jack Ingram taught me a lesson I’ll never forget,” the Richard Childress Racing driver says. “Although I have to admit, I didn’t heed it as well as I should have. I went down there and ran that little mouth and he let me know right quick that wasn’t going to be tolerated.”

Burton was competing at South Boston Speedway in what’s now the Nationwide Series. He was young and brash. Ingram, known as the “Iron Man,” was grizzled and already a legend. Differences on the race track between the two were settled outside the car.

“He physically, literally picked me up off the race track,” Burton says. “I was behind his trailer. He literally had my feet off the ground. His son, I remember his words like it was yesterday, were, ‘Daddy, put Jeff down. He’s a good boy.’”

And that, Burton says, “was like music to my ears, man. ‘Yeah, put Jeff down.’

“Honestly, it was a good experience for me. Because here I was … these guys were racing to put food on the table. I never had to worry about where my food was going to come from. My father could afford to feed me. I never had to worry about that. Here’s a guy who was making a living, putting food on the table, doing something I thought was just a hobby. It was an eye-opening experience for me.”

That Dale Earnhardt and Jack Ingram doled out lessons on the race track isn’t surprising. That Mark Martin did as well might seem a bit out of character for the highly respected veteran driver.

“It was my only DNF of my rookie season,” Denny Hamlin says. “At Martinsville I was racing Mark Martin I think pretty hard, probably midway through the race and he just ran right up into me and cut my left rear tire on purpose.”

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver spun out and says he “tried to cause a caution” to get to pit road. “And I ended up backing into the fence and ended our day.

“We got a DNF; I was pissed so I talked to Mark on Monday and he was like, ‘Why were you even running me that hard?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know to be honest with you.’

“But I feel like all the mistakes I’ve made, I’ve at least made a conscience effort to try to correct them or learn from them. I think that’s the biggest difference people have seen from the guys that are like that today versus back in the days. Sure everyone had a little wild hair in them at some point in their career, but they got over it and they were a little more humble about it.”

It’s not always the older, more experienced drivers that offer a bit of advice. Jimmie Johnson had yet to make his move to Cup when Matt Kenseth, just a two-year veteran of the series, dumped him while working his way through the field.

“I was running sixth or seventh and he had dominated all day long and something went wrong and he was coming up through and there were just a few laps left,” Johnson says. “And he turned me around in (turns) 1 and 2 and I hit the fence.

"I was sitting down on the inside of the track waiting for him to drive by … I had the engine running and I was just going to door him, and when I dropped the clutch to take off, the bumper bar had wrapped up under the race car and had the rear tires off the ground. So when I tried to take off I couldn't go anywhere! And I was like, ‘Damn it!’”

Just as memorable, he says, was an on-track altercation he had with driver Ward Burton at New Hampshire. And the following obligatory phone call to try and smooth over any ruffled feathers.

Both drivers were working their way through traffic when Johnson says he got into Burton, turned him around, and Burton “hit the fence.”

“He got back on track and spent like four or five laps trying to crash me,” Johnson says. “So then I was pretty nervous about what went on and started tracking him down. I called his office but that didn't work and somehow I got his home phone number.

“And I don't know what made him more mad actually, whether it was me calling him on the phone or calling him at home. I think he was cussing at me because it was a little tough to understand him. But he went on for 30 seconds in just four-letter words and he finally calmed down and we talked it out from there.”

Give and take is expected, Gordon says, and newcomers should expect no less. But there is a limit.

“If somebody does something and pushes you out of the way, or does something that is sort of a ‘hey rookie, this is your lesson,’ then you kind of give them that,” he says. “But if it happens over and over again, then you realize that this person isn’t respecting me and if I continue to let them get away with that, then they’re never going to respect me.

“You kind of get to your limit and you have to push and shove back. Even with the hazing … of a rookie, they’re still trying to accomplish the same thing that the rest of us are out there and you can only get away with so much.”

SceneDaily.com•Dale Earnhardt Jr. says Brad Keselowski has ‘awesome talent’ but ‘terrible confidence’ and a lot to learn

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

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