Here are some of the most recent quotes from Brad Keselowski in the aftermath of his Atlanta tussle with Carl Edwards:

"To be honest, that's probably the best revenge there is — to not let it get to me one bit, to not change."

"[W]hatever I'm doing is working, and it's gotten me to where I'm at."

"I wish I could sit down one day and just show somebody an in-car camera tape of how I drive a race and you would see that I give as much, if not more, than any other racecar driver out there."

Here's the problem with all that: It's not what almost every other driver in the garage thinks.

It's not that Keselowski sets out to wreck people. It's just that most drivers in the garage think he's a taker, from the green to the checkered and on every lap in between. And when you find yourself upside down at 190 mph, perception has very clearly become a painful reality.

Jeff Burton, a driver Keselowski says pointedly that he respects, describes it like this: "He's made the decision that he's not going to cut anybody any slack. He's made the decision that he's going to race aggressively all the time. Those are the decisions he's made, and he's going to have to live with the consequences of that."

But why should a driver give his competitors a break at all? Quite simply, it's just good strategy. If giving another driver a position, or backing off when he makes a mistake doesn't hurt, doesn't cost anything at the finish, a driver should do it. Make a friend and not an enemy. And if a driver finds himself in a faster car or a vulnerable position down the line, he ought to get a break, too.

If a driver doesn't do it enough, well, we've seen what can happen.

A lot of times fighting a faster car for position actually hurts a driver's cause, because while he races side by side, both cars lose time to the leader or to pursuers. If it's early, and a faster car overtakes someone, it might be more beneficial to let the faster car go, fall back in line, and work on the car during the next pit stop. A driver may lose one position but actually save a few more and some time on the racetrack as well.

Veteran drivers understand this intuitively because they manage the race with the end in mind. They plot their way to the final mile of the race, as opposed to looking at every lap as a race in and of itself.

Hanging madly onto 14th place on lap 82 of 267 has no real benefit in points. Mercilessly running a driver who makes a mistake into the wall as opposed to letting him in line doesn't move anyone up in the standings if it's only lap 15.

But both of those things do create enemies, additional obstacles preventing a driver from getting where he wants to go. Racing is hard enough without an added degree of difficulty.

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Bristol is a perfect time to take a good look at give and take. Early in the race drivers in the back will be fighting like hell. On lap 10 everyone will still believe if they can just make it to the last 100 laps on the lead lap they'll have a chance to win. There won't be much giving at the tail end of the field, and that will lead to some wrecks.

As the race progresses, however, drivers will get a pretty clear idea of how their cars are working that day. The drivers that are clearly slower will give. Lots of guys will go a lap down, and they'll have to try to manage their way to the best finish they can. We may even see a nice long green flag run. Then, in the final 50-100 laps, the taking will pick up again as drivers fight each other for the positions that really do matter: those at the finish.

For Brad Keselowski, Bristol becomes even trickier. At 33rd in owners points, the last thing he can afford to do is end up in another wreck, or he may find himself forced to race his way into the field at Martinsville. Then again, he doesn't want to become the guy everyone thinks they can take advantage of.

But for this week at least, and maybe for the next few, he needs to focus on the joy of giving. When in doubt, let up just a little. No matter what he says to the press, he needs his fellow drivers to believe he's learned a lesson and that he's willing to pay his dues to earn the benefit of the doubt. Right now, he certainly doesn't have it.

Bass Masters is a co-host of Rowdy.com. For the best NASCAR community on the internet go to Rowdy.com.

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