[media-credit name=”Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”249″]
[/media-credit]It is time to stop accepting that it’s “just plate racing” or “it’s just what you get at places like this” and start doing something about it.
“There is no right way to do what we do out there. And there is no wrong way to do it other than being the one that runs out of talent. I can’t even say that my teammate (Tony Stewart) ran out of talent. He was just doing everything he could to protect himself. And so it’s a different kind of racing, if they call it that.” Ryan Newman said after the race.
Talladega and Daytona is not racing! Both are a product of NASCAR misguided way to solve safety issues that have just created a big pile of BS, just like the 20+ cars were on Sunday. Parity is not always a good thing. Drivers need to be able to separate themselves from each other. Too many rules and regulations. The yellow line rule is just another simple example of too many rules and things have gone bad. That rule only places the drivers in a smaller box. If you don’t want them to drive there, don’t pave it!
As Dale Earnhardt Jr. said after the race, “If this is what we did every week I wouldn’t be doing it I will just put it to you like that. If this is how we raced every week I would find another job.”
Did you find this exciting? Earnhardt Jr. did not. “Really? It’s not safe. Wrecking like that is ridiculous. It’s blood-thirsty if that is what people want. It’s ridiculous.”
Greg Biffle’s view of the entire event sounds cool. But what a different story it would have been if someone was hurt or even killed? This is not a movie or a reality show…. It’s real, with real consequences. Wake up NASCAR!
“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. Unbelievable. I was probably 20th and five-wide up against the wall and then cars started wrecking. A car flew over the top of my car as I turned to the bottom and missed guys by three inches. It was like Days of Thunder coming through the smoke and the grass and just kept it going straight. That’s all I did and once I was clear of all the stuff I kept going to the start-finish line, but it was the craziest thing I’ve ever been involved in, in my life.” Biffle said.
Rant, chant, ask for Harry Gant… we can’t keep going in this same direction. This has to end.
“It’s really not racing. I don’t know it’s a little disappointing how that all went down. That cost a lot of money right there. If this is how we are going to race and that is how we are going to continue to race and nothing is going to change I think NASCAR should build the cars. It would save us a lot of money.” Earnhardt Jr. said.
This is precisely what would solve the issue and very quickly. What do you think NASCAR would do if they had to fork out the money to build these cars for restrictor plate racing and then bring home nothing but scrap metal? It wouldn’t be long before changes were made. If the bottom line was red, things would change!
Right now they are the benefactor of presenting the “Great American Race” or the so called “wildcard race”. For now, the best nicknames should be, “Scrap metal of the south”.
A good commercial could be, “Come and see whose Sprint Cup Series Championship chances end and maybe their life to”.
Fell free to comment below. I’d really like to hear the difference of opinions.
regardless how this particular plate race transpired, the plate racing in general in the COT era have resulted in the same insane pack racing of which there is little to no way a separation can occur. this has become an iroc race with near identical cars. there is no engineering advancement these teams can make within the current rules that allows one team or another to truly accel. nascar could fix it, but their priorities are off-base. we should send a message and boycott the plate races until they make some solid change. the 2013 cars probably won’t fix what we’re used to seeing
This is the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Nowhere does it say only the cup level pioneers go in early. Richie Evans was a hell of a race car drvier in the FIRST division sanctioned by NASCAR. That means cup or anything like it came later. And BTW! Balls cut his teeth in a modified as did Bobby and Donnie Allison, Geoff and Brett Bodine, and many, many more. To try to make anyone believe that the Modifieds are anything less of a division is silly. If NASCAR had focused on excitement and popularity and tried to develop the division instead of coming up with new revenue streams (pick-up trucks that were used for towing the real race cars to the tracks) there may have been some opportunities for the Evans of the racing world to move up. Hell! Half these kids breaking into the sport on their daddy’s name couldn’t carry Richie’s jock strap. NASCAR has done a tremendous job in marketing down the Modified division and most weekly racing and you clearly aren’t old enough or smart enough to see past the big three push by the sanctioing body since RJR and T.Wayne lwnt by the wayside.
Imagine if Kyle had been blocking Jr., instead of Tony blocking Michael,with all else the same. Kyle would have been parked,fined,etc.and if Jr. was hurt, everything would be changed instantly–by nascar, the media,and the fans. It still comes down to who does what to whom.
I agree with your take on the significance of this win to Tony, Jr. Watched his tears and my heart broke for the bad times he has had. However, this race pieordvd vindication. Loved watching him and Dale, Jr in the press conference. Their happiness was a WOW moment.
Amanda this is the best article written about the Talladaga mess. as a 50 year race fan and former racer this is not racing it is dangerous . At some point in time a 3600lb missile will make it into the stands at 200mph and that will be the end of Nascar. I think the idea of Nascar furnishing the cars for this race is a good one.what do they care if millions in equipment is destroyed, it does not effect their bottomline. Bulldoze the place and start over, at least Bruton Smith has enough sense to do that when needed.Last but not least this race makes a joke out of the chase format which i really like. Now Bucky Brad has big lead with Extremely good gas mileage and a free pass from 28th to sixth during the wreck.
I think that every weekend. I wodenr why Kasey can’t have the luck everyone, mostly Jimmie, has. Why does everything work out for Jimmie and not anyone else. (I could go on and on, but I’ll refrain lol)
Nancy 13. Sorry for your warped opinion of Larry Mac. He has forgotten more than Petty and others ever knew.
If NA$CAR lets this race continue, they should plan on a driver getting killed or several fans when these missiles take wings into the stands.
They toot their horn about safety. They never promoted safety until after they let Dale Sr. get killed. Their best safety now would be to plow up their 2.66 mile monstrosity and plant corn.
Ask Larry McReynolds how to fix it, he knows everything. On the hub he said Dale Jr. never complained when he was in victory lane. He forgets that was before they started using this COT car and were allowed some adjustability in their cars. He is always sucking up to nascar so he can keep making that almighty dollar. The racing stinks, they still had to pair up to go anywhere.
Larry Mac liked to run his mouth about Dale Jr all the time. He thinks he knows it all. I think he has never forgiven Dale Sr for getting him fired.
No difference of opinion from this fan. I felt like I had digressed to Roman times when the Christians were fed to the lions. NASCAR can and should put an end to this. If they don’t, and another casualty or severe injury occurs, the blood will be on their hands.