Mind of Montgomery
A NASCAR BLOG BY Lee Montgomery
Strange happenings in Talladega Cup race
Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway sure was strange. We saw a lot of single-file, follow-the-leader stuff before one of the craziest finishes I’ve ever seen.
In between, we saw a frightening accident when Ryan Newman flipped and slammed the SAFER barrier upside down. Thankfully, he was fine.
So what do we make of the Talladega race? A lot of fans complained about the boring racing through the middle portions of the race, but they must’ve been somewhat appeased with the wild finish.
Then again, nearly every driver was critical of the racing at Talladega, saying something must be done to fix it.
We all want to see good racing, but we don’t want to see anyone flip or get hurt. So what does NASCAR do?
The sanctioning body is truly in a nearly impossible situation at Talladega. Do something to separate the cars, and fans complain that the racing is boring.
Don’t do anything, and drivers complain louder and louder.
My feeling is NASCAR has to listen to its drivers, since they are the ones who put fans in the stands.
If they don’t, we’ll keep seeing these wrecks, and one of these days, something terrible will happen. And no one wants to see that.
Lee Montgomery
Lee Montgomery started covering NASCAR in 1989 and has been at NASCAR Scene since January 2005, covering what is now called the Nationwide Series.
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Comments
6 responses to "Strange happenings in Talladega Cup race". Post a Comment.
sweetthings88 said:
Nov 2, 2009 at 9:36 AMSo true...My feeling is NASCAR has to listen to the drivers, since they are the ones who put fans in the stands. So NASCAR isn't this telling you something?
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» Confirm Abuse Reportjuniorbb88 said:
Nov 2, 2009 at 1:31 PMTHAT WAS THE WORSE RACE I'VE SEEN IN A LONG TIME. YOU NEED TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE RACE TRACK AND STOP TELLING THE DRIVERS HOW TO RACE. WE DON'T PAY MONEY TO GO TO A RACE AND WATCH THEM RACE SINGLE FILE UNTIL THERE ARE 20 LAPS TO GO. NEWMAN'S ACCIDENT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH BUMP DRAFTING OR HOW HIGH THE CATCH FENCE IS. DO SOMETHING BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED.
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse Reportphillipwafford said:
Nov 3, 2009 at 6:02 AMpenalize crashalotski for rough driving and you would cut the wrecks in 3/4 next year he wont be in a Hendrick satellite car and you will be able to do that
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This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse Reportjgrey said:
Nov 3, 2009 at 3:07 PMNASCAR has been getting ripped for their bump drafting rule that produced not so exciting racing, but their goal was driver safety so how can you fault them for that. It's easy to sit in the back seat and criticize the driver (NASCAR), there's pro's and con's to any change, may it be a rule or car change and there is no perfect fix. But one thing I've heard a lot is visibility being a problem, drivers can't see through the car their following, so it's hard to see hand gestures and what's going on in front of the car their following. If they can't see either of these they have no reaction time therefore a higher chance of getting caught up in a wreck. But if you increase the driver's visibility they have more time to react and hopefully avoid a wreck.
Report as AbuseNow on another note, if you want to have more exciting racing you need to get rid of the Chase and in doing so you get rid of points racing. NASCAR will never get grid of it and it does give a fans driver at another chance at the Championship but what do you want another chance or more exciting racing.
Report Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse Reportjgrey said:
Nov 3, 2009 at 3:08 PMNASCAR has been getting ripped for their bump drafting rule that produced not so exciting racing, but their goal was driver safety so how can you fault them for that. It's easy to sit in the back seat and criticize the driver (NASCAR), there's pro's and con's to any change, may it be a rule or car change and there is no perfect fix. But one thing I've heard a lot is visibility being a problem, drivers can't see through the car their following, so it's hard to see hand gestures and what's going on in front of the car their following. If they can't see either of these they have no reaction time therefore a higher chance of getting caught up in a wreck. But if you increase the driver's visibility they have more time to react and hopefully avoid a wreck.
Report as AbuseNow on another note, if you want to have more exciting racing you need to get rid of the Chase and in doing so you get rid of points racing. NASCAR will never get grid of it and it does give a fans driver at another chance at the Championship but what do you want another chance or more exciting racing.
Report Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse Reportjgrey said:
Nov 3, 2009 at 3:10 PMNASCAR has been getting ripped for their bump drafting rule that produced not so exciting racing, but their goal was driver safety so how can you fault them for that. It's easy to sit in the back seat and criticize the driver (NASCAR), there's pro's and con's to any change, may it be a rule or car change and there is no perfect fix. But one thing I've heard a lot is visibility being a problem, drivers can't see through the car their following, so it's hard to see hand gestures and what's going on in front of the car their following. If they can't see either of these they have no reaction time therefore a higher chance of getting caught up in a wreck. But if you increase the driver's visibility they have more time to react and hopefully avoid a wreck.
Report as AbuseNow on another note, if you want to have more exciting racing you need to get rid of the Chase and in doing so you get rid of points racing. NASCAR will never get grid of it and it does give a fans driver at another chance at the Championship but what do you want another chance or more exciting racing.
Report Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse Report