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Talladega means different things to different
people, but one thing that comes to mind is the bump draft.
Today’s Busch race showed that bump drafting can be used
effectively without causing the damage and mayhem that has
become an overwhelming part of restrictor plate races for the
past few years.
The drivers in the Aaron’s 312 continued to bump
draft, but they did it the right way. Is there a right
way and a wrong way? Definitely. And the right way was seen
today. Two factors in bump drafting the “right” way are the
approach and the location.
The approach is how you get to the car ahead of
you. The right way to do it is to slowly inch up on the car,
and lightly bump into their rear, using your speed and
theirs to combine for a faster run. The wrong way is what’s
been happening more and more recently, which is to slam into
them, causing damage to your front fender, their rear end, and
possibly spinning one or both of you out of control.
The location is just as important. When both the
front and the rear car are headed straight, on a stretch of
track, bump drafting can be a very effective tool. Bumping into
someone in a corner, however, is most likely going to cause a
spin.
So what happened today at Talladega? The drivers
used the bump draft the way it should be used. And they
did it with great success. Several times during the race, a
pair of cars locked nose to tail got a great run on a car
running alone. That’s what the bump draft is supposed to
do for you.
Yes, there were wrecks in today’s race. A three
car crash brought out the yellow flag about half way through the
race. A single car wreck sliding across the track failed to
collect any “innocent bystander”, as usually happens in
restrictor plate races. The scariest wreck was when Tony
Stewart’s day went topsy turvey, and he wound up sliding down
the track on his roof. It can’t be a good feeling when you
can’t stop because your wheels are off the pavement. But that
wreck, and the few others that occurred, were the results of
good ol’ fashioned hard racing. Bump drafting wasn’t a factor
in any of them.
Amidst the few wrecks, and limited cautions,
there was a fitting triute to Dale Earnhardt on what would have
been his 55th birthday. In the third lap, NASCAR
asked fans to hold up three fingers in honor of the late 7-time
champion. And the race ended with a car owned by Dale Earnhardt
Inc, and painted with Earnhardt’s color scheme, winning the
race. What better tribute could there be for the 10-time
Talladega winner? |
