Brad Keselowski fined $25K for in-car tweeting

Here's a clear case of NASCAR being shocked, shocked to learn that one of its most popular tweeting drivers carries his phone with him at all times ... even during races.

On Sunday, with the rest of NASCAR focused on the sprawling Jeff Gordon-Clint Bowyer fight and the race red-flagged, Keselowski whiled away the time by taking out his phone and tweeting a few thoughts, responses and jokes with fans. It was reminiscent of the Daytona 500, where Keselowski did the same thing during the Juan Pablo Montoya-incited fireball. The publicity from that netted him hundreds of thousands of new followers.

Alas, NASCAR was not nearly so amused, fining Keselowski $25,000 for his offense. Drivers are not permitted to carry electronic devices in their cars, and that includes smartphones. Keselowski has said that he carries the phone to notify his family in the event of a wreck. (He also tweeted a picture of Victory Lane in Bristol in March, though a defense attorney would note that there's no proof Keselowski wasn't handed that phone as he climbed out of his car.)

Anyway, this might be one of those fines that NASCAR should just kind of forget to collect. As long as Keselowski isn't actually tweeting under a green flag, where's the problem? We mean, it's not like he's smoking or anything:

Keselowski races for the Sprint Cup championship on Sunday, and if he wins, you can bet there'll be some tweeting going on.