Surprising and Not Surprising: Aaron’s 499 at Talladega
At one of the longest tracks on the NASCAR Cup circuit, 2.66 miles to be exact, where lead changes abound and Dale Earnhardt still rules with ten wins, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.
[media-credit name=”Steven Iles” align=”alignright” width=”300″]
[/media-credit]Surprising: Whether you call it the two car tango, dancing with the cars, friends with benefits, flying united, or Noah’s Ark racing, it was most certainly the pairs competition at ‘Dega this year. In comparison to the Daytona 500 to start the season, it was also most surprising how committed the pairs were to one another at Talladega.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet, summed it up best. “We all had commitment phobia in the past. But in this situation, you had to commit and make sacrifices, just like in a relationship.”
Not Surprising: There was no doubt that overcoming that commitment phobia was key to the race finish. Channeling their inner Talladega Nights characters Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton, Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Jr. pushed his teammate Jimmie Johnson, in the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, to the checkered flag, scoring the closest margin of victory record at just .002 seconds.
As both drivers shouted “Woo hoos” on their radios, congratulating each other and even sharing the checkered flag, Johnson scored his 54th career victory, tying Lee Petty, NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, for ninth on the all-time Cup Series win list.
Johnson’s win moved him two spots ahead in the point standings. He currently sits in the second spot, just five points behind leader Carl Edwards.
The other half of that tandem duo, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also surged forward in the point standings. Junior moved up three spots to claim the third position, just 19 points behind Edwards and 14 points behind Johnson.
Surprising: While it was surprising that there was technically no ‘big one’ and thankfully no cars went airborne, there were a few spectacular wrecks and even more amazing saves. Ryan Newman, in the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, laid claim to the biggest saves of the day, two of them in fact, calling on all of his dirt track racing experience to do so. After his first save, Newman was not so lucky on his second save, flat spotting all his tires and relegating him to a 25th place finish.
Not Surprising: While some drivers were busy saving their cars, other drivers not usually at the front got their chance to shine. Dave Blaney, behind the wheel of the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet, almost had to make good on the sponsor’s offer to let kids eat free if he finished in the top ten. After leading several laps, Blaney unfortunately got turned by Kurt Busch, lost the draft and finished 27th.
Andy Lally, rookie driver of the No. 71 Interstate Moving Services Ford, also had a big day. Known primarily for his Rolex racing skills, Lally found his place in the draft and finished 19th for TRG Motorsports.
Surprising: After running so well together and finishing first and second respectively in the Nationwide race, it was somewhat surprising to see how badly Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Pretzel Toyota, and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano, behind the wheel of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, fared while working together.
On lap 140, Logano tapped Busch, sending him spinning and bringing out the fourth caution. The impact was so intense that Busch’s right side tires lifted before spinning, landing him driver’s side against the retaining wall.
“Joey (Logano) and I worked great all day,” Busch said. “I got spun out – it was nothing Joey did wrong.”
“It’s just a product of what we’ve got,” Busch continued. “So far, at every restrictor-plate race, I’ve been spun out.”
Not Surprising: Since dynamic duos were all the rage, it was not surprising that other pairs fared well together. Clint Bowyer, in the No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet, and Kevin Harvick, behind the wheel of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, both out of the Richard Childress stable, pushed each other to top-ten finishes.
In addition, Hendrick Motorsport teammates Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet while battling a nasty cold, and Mark Martin, piloting the No. 5 Carquest/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, also were committed to each other to finish third and eighth respectively.
Finally, Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards, point leader and expectant father, and Greg Biffle, who just re-signed with sponsor 3M and RFR, were also locked together throughout the race. Edwards finished sixth and Biffle came in right behind in seventh.
Surprising: Red Bull had a most surprisingly bad day at the Talladega Superspeedway. Brian Vickers, in the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, spun and hit the wall as a result of contact with Landon Cassill, bringing out the first caution of the race.
Teammate Kasey Kahne, in the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, got involved in the second wreck of the day, caught up in an incident started by the collision of teammates Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski. Kahne’s car burst into flames from the oil and the driver was still reeking of smoke in the infield care center before being checked out and released.
Not Surprising: It was not just the drivers that had to dodge and weave in order to stay out of harm’s way this weekend, with tornado warnings throughout the area prior to the race. But in typical NASCAR fashion, the drivers, fans and all their families stuck together, looking out for one another and working together to ensure everyone’s safety.
And in that spirit of camaraderie, happy Easter wishes to all, that is until the next race at Richmond, the Crown Royal 400, on April 30th.
What It Was, Wasn’t Racing
Way back in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s, comedian Andy Griffith put out a comedy record. On that record was a monologue called, “What It Was, Was Football.” It was a satire on someone attending their first football game and the narrator’s description of the action. It was a funny look at what we considered the norm for the sport. I can only imagine what that routine would be if Griffith described what we saw on April 17, 2011 at Talladega, Alabama.
Steven Iles
What it was wasn’t racing. In racing, every man is for himself. For some reason (safety for the fans being the most quoted reason), the powers that be have created this monster that requires two cars to run in tandem. In tight formation, the car in the back must push the other driver to go fast. Everyone does it because they have to so they can keep up. The driver behind can see nothing ahead of him and must trust the driver in front to let him know what’s going on. They switch—car in back to the front and the front car to the rear—for cooling purposes, but that’s the way the run for 500 miles. It’s madness.
I firmly believe the fastest car probably didn’t win at the end, but we don’t really have enough information to know. No one ran alone all day unless they lost their partner to a wreck, which did happen on Sunday.
I’m sure the fans loved it. If you did a poll, I guess most would say that it was the most exciting race of the season, but I don’t consider that racing. Sure, it was fun to watch and there was an exciting, close finish to boot, but it’s so contrived that doesn’t even resemble what racing is to me. If you happen to be in the front of the two car pack, you win. The only time you can pull out to try to pass is for it to be the last lap. In the tri-oval.
It’s like a lot of things that has bastardized our sport. There is a long list of things that have bothered me for years, and the top of the list is the Lucky Dog. You don’t have to race to make up a lap. I thought this was racing. Sure, it’s done for safety, but what about restrictor-plate racing? Is that safe? Another is the pass around. Sure, it’s less confusing for fans, but is it racing when you get to make up almost a lap because you’re in front of the leader? Isn’t that rewarding mediocrity most of the time? Once upon a time Bill Elliott made up multiple laps at Talladega by being fast. That apparently doesn’t matter anymore in the name of a close finish.
So, as you can now tell, I’m a traditionalist and a grouchy old man. I didn’t see a race on Sunday. I saw an entertaining spectacle. To each his own, I guess, but if I were NASCAR, I’d be looking for solutions like Matt Kenseth and others mentioned today.
Of course, I’m not NASCAR and with the fans cheering wildly, don’t look for any changes.
Questioning the Relevance of NASCAR’s Evolving Form of Plate Racing
It’s exciting! It’s thrilling! It’s NASCAR Sprint Cup plate racing!
During the week long build up to a race at Daytona or Talladega, this is undeniably the theme from the majority of writers covering the sport. And who can blame them? Forty-three cars mere inches at each from one another at 200 miles per hour for almost four hours?
[media-credit name=”(c) CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”236″]
[/media-credit]A man’s heart can start racing merely from the thought of it.
But at what point does the entertainment value of the racing detract from the quality of the product? When do we have to step back and look at things from a much broader perspective, with long term implications?
For the casual or even non-fan, Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway was beyond thrilling. The new tandem style of racing, like it or not, produces spectacular images for television. Paired cars bob and weave through others, often with a noticeable difference in speed. It can seem like a real life game of Mario Kart, minus the banana peels and turtle shells.
This article, however, goes beyond the most recent incarnation of plate racing. In fact, this goes back to one of NASCAR’s most beloved words; parity.
Now let’s look at some of the stats NASCAR and the media like to throw out there to demonstrate how ‘great’ plate racing is for the sport.
- In the last eight Talladega races there have been eight different winners
- In the last seven Daytona races, there have been seven different winners
- Roughly half of those races had a last lap pass for the victory
- Talladega is averaging over 80 lead changes over the past three races
- Daytona is averaging over 50 lead changes per race
Spectacular, is it not?
Looking past sexy tidbits of information like this, you have to begin to wonder why this is happening. Are there simply that many spectacular plate drivers on the Cup series now? Are the cars so evenly matched that there is virtually no competitive advantage anymore? Is parity so great that luck is often the deciding factor in outcomes?
It’s that last question that poses the most interesting possibility. Prior to the 2005 season, it was quite easy to name the ‘great’ plate race drivers of the era. It didn’t matter if their car was torn to bits or if they hovered at mid-pack with just a handful of laps to go. You knew that as long as they were out there, they could find a way to the front.
In a lot of ways it was because they possessed a skill set that not every driver had. Much like there are great short track racers and great road racers, there were great plate racers.
Some would argue that that was due to the quality of the cars they were driving at the time and the lack of the parity we enjoy today. But how else do you explain then a driver like Sterling Marlin scoring top fives at Daytona and Talladega with five different teams over the 1990s? Did Marlin just happen to end up with five teams with spectacular plate programs, or could it perhaps be that his skill is what put him above others during that time period?
That skill set is now no longer needed in current evolved form plate racing. The victor is typically one who was merely shuffled up to the front in the most recent round of frantic pushing and drafting. It has become almost a game of chance, devoid of any input by the driver as to the outcome rather than the game of chess we have seen in years past.
Sure there was the occasional surprise winner here and there, but that was the nature of the track. We like the occasional under-dog sneaking through with a victory. That was part of the appeal of the races, the unknown. Drivers like Dale Jarrett enjoying one last hurrah with a victory or Bobby Hillin, Jr. shocking the sport with a lone victory. Much like the old Bristol Motor Speedway, it gave the fan a sense of intensity and anticipation as to what may happen.
What happens though when that unknown because a regular occurrence? What happens when the unknown becomes a defined prescience?
And finally, what does it say when the crown jewel event of the sport, the Daytona 500, can now seemingly be decided mostly by chance? It’s been five years since the winner of the Daytona 500 finished in the top ten in points, a remarkable stretch which underscores the lack of relevance of a 500 victory.
In fact, the four races of as a whole could almost be considered detrimental to the season long points battle. In a lot of ways one could gather the same outcome by merely drawing names out of a hat. Winning at Talladega or Daytona doesn’t make you a championship contender, it just means you were up front at the right time.
Don’t get me wrong, I find plate racing as thrilling as the next fan. It is not a recent occurrence as this fact has been building for the better part of the last decade.
At some point, someone has to question what price we pay for the excitement. Clearly I do not have a solution to this possible problem, nor am I sure there is any good solution. One possible solution would be to remove Talladega from the Chase if this continues. Keeping there would be like asking teams during the MLB playoffs to play a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who gets credit for a series win.
It’s not fair and it takes away from the meaningfulness of a championship.
Who knew NASCAR’s quest for parity would have such a surprisingly, and worrying, outcome?
Did Jimmie Johnson Technically Win?
[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”227″]
[/media-credit]Many have already begun to question Jimmie Johnson’s close win at the Aaron’s 499 yesterday. It tied as the closest finish since 1993, when electronic score keeping came to be. Anybody will find something to speculate, and in this case they are speculating whether or not, Jimmie Johnson’s move was actually legal.
Several camera angles proved to be that Jimmie Johnson’s #48 Chevy appeared to have been right on the yellow line, but never crossing it. The only camera angle that appeared to be questionable, was the blimp camera. From a birds eye view, it looked as if it was just past the yellow line slightly. But whether or not he crossed the forbidden yellow line, is not the question.
In 2008, Regan Smith crossed the yellow line as he passed Tony Stewart, in what we thought would be his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory, but instead we saw Tony Stewart celebrating in Victory Lane. This rule was widely criticized but nothing seem to have changed. Granted, Regan Smith was clearly over the line in 2008, but was Jimmie Johnson? And if he was over the line, was it even relevant?
The rule clearly states, that a driver can not advance his position if he were to cross that forbidden line. If you might recall, Jimmie Johnson did not advance his position, as he had a slight lead over 2nd place finisher Clint Bowyer coming out of the front-stretch tri-oval.
My opinion is the same as the other 42 NASCAR drivers that day, who did not challenge the call, Jimmie Johnson won fairly in one of the greatest finishes in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history.
