Bump-drafting, potential for another last-lap crash on drivers' minds at Talladega

By SceneDaily Staff

Saturday, October 31, 2009

NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers are wadded up in a big pack during practice on Friday at Talladega Superspeedway.

David Griffin
NASCAR Scene

RSS Feed
Email to a Friend
Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size RESIZE
Share
- Facebook
- Del.icio.us
- DIGG This
- Reddit
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
9 Comments

TALLADEGA, Ala. – The last two NASCAR Sprint Cup races at restrictor plate tracks have ended with the leader being punted by the second-place driver and crashing hard on the last lap.

Is more of the same on tap for Sunday’s Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway? Drivers aren’t willing to bet against it.

Even though NASCAR’s reduction in the size of the holes in the restrictor plates used this weekend should lower speeds and lessen the chance of a car going airborne, indications from practice are that the dropoff in speed isn’t very noticeable.

The change in the plates from the previous Talladega race could keep cars bunched in even bigger packs. And the close-quarters racing could once again breed an accident between drivers going for the win.

When the series last visited Talladega in April, two or three cars were able to hook up and pull away from the field at points in the race. That happened on the last two laps, when Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards stormed past Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. before contact between the two drivers and then Newman sent Edwards’ car flying into the frontstretch catch fence coming to the finish line.

“I wouldn't be surprised, even with the restrictor plate change, if we see it come down to that again,” said Hendrick Motorsports’ Jeff Gordon, a six-time Talladega winner. “I'm not saying there has to be a wreck … but I think you're going to see the cars be able to do the same thing. If two guys time it perfectly like they did, then it's going to come down to the leader and is he OK being second? The only way he's going to win the race is to block that car. And that's what's going to cause a wreck."

Could a plate with smaller holes have altered the violent nature of Edwards’ crash?

“A smaller plate has its plusses and minuses,” said Red Bull Racing’s Brian Vickers, who scored his first Cup victory at Talladega in fall 2006. “The plusses, maybe you’re going a little bit slower. Going a few miles an hour slower, I don’t think would’ve changed that particular situation that happened to Carl. I’m not an engineer, so I couldn’t tell you that, but I doubt it.

“What a smaller plate will do is it will make the drivers feel like they have less power and they have to protect the position more. They’re going to be less likely to lift off the throttle. They’re going to be less likely to give that up, so they’re going to be driving and blocking that much more aggressive, and probably less willing to lift now with the smaller plate than they were before. That’s the negative.”

In another safety measure, Talladega has raised the height of its frontstretch fence from 14 feet to 22 after analyzing the track’s safety barriers following Edwards’ wreck. Daytona plans to have the same changes completed to its frontstretch and backstretch fences by mid-January.

Are the higher fences enough to prevent a car from going into the stands as Edwards’ nearly did at Talladega? At least eight people were treated by medical personnel after debris from the accident flew into the stands, but none of the injuries were life threatening.

No one was hurt when Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch tangled in the final turn of the July race at Daytona, but Busch shot head-on into the outside wall and was then struck by several more cars.

Roush Fenway Racing’s Greg Biffle supports the decision to adjust the restrictor plates and raise the fences in an effort to enhance safety at Daytona and Talladega.

“They’re gonna make a difference in that they’re gonna keep people from getting hurt – definitely,” he said. “Anything can happen at these races. What if there had been two cars beside Carl when he got hit and shoved him up higher in the air or something? Anything can happen and better to err on the side of safety, which they did here, so that’s good.”

Despite the changes to the restrictor plates and the Talladega fence, Sunday’s 188-lap event figures to be a wild race with plenty aggression among drivers jockeying for position.

NASCAR has already shown a low tolerance for bump-drafting this weekend, black-flagging Michael Waltrip in Friday’s final practice for not leaving enough space between cars in the corner.

Waltrip was warned twice, and on the third time, NASCAR black-flagged him - meaning in this case that he had to go to the garage. Penske Racing’s Kurt Busch called bump-drafting a “necessarily evil.”

“We can’t run around here without restrictor plates because we would have the cars running 230 mph and they would have a better change at hurting the drivers and the race fans,” he said. “That’s the reason for restrictor-plate racing. The [current car] is a more comfortable car to draft with, therefore bump-drafting is more aggressive with these cars and that’s just what we have to deal with.”