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Mike Hembree: Paint over those yellow lines at Talladega Superspeedway
By Mike Hembree - Associate Editor
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
COMMENTARY
The tempest of discontent that has followed Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway was as predictable as night following day.
Hey! Regan Smith got to the finish line first. He should have won.
No! He went below the yellow line to pass. That automatically knocks him out.
Hey! Tony Stewart forced Smith down there. So Smith should have won, anyway.
No! It doesn’t matter. You go below the yellow line, you get the death penalty.
And so it goes.
And so it will continue. This will happen again at Daytona or Talladega, and there will be more controversy about it. As long as NASCAR remains inconsistent in its rules enforcement and allows areas to be even slightly gray, there will be controversy.
Although NASCAR stressed that the yellow-line rule is black and white, some past decisions have fallen somewhere in between those colors.
The solution is simple. Buy a bunch of asphalt-colored paint and do away with those yellow lines at Talladega and Daytona. Let the big dogs eat.
Racing is all about risk and reward. If there’s room to race on the deep inside on the last lap at Daytona or Talladega, let those who want to take a chance by making a move there do it.
True racers are going to take advantage of every available inch of the race track, particularly on the last lap of one of the biggest races of the season and especially when that first career win is oh-so-close to being a reality. Put yourself in Regan Smith’s shoes at Talladega and try to imagine that victory being an instant away. Given NASCAR’s history of making rules interpretations that are convenient to its causes, Smith had to go for it and hope for the best.
Stewart, too, did everything right Sunday. He blocked and blocked and blocked, and that’s what a smart driver in his position does on the final lap at Talladega. There was no clear evidence that he “forced” Smith below the yellow line. NASCAR says that is a judgment call anyway, so it’s open to wild interpretation.
The answer, clearly, is to do away with the yellow lines. Yellow means caution. The last lap at Talladega, which remains one of stock -car racing’s most exciting tracks despite the limitations of restrictor plates, should be about everything but caution. Throw caution to the wind and race away.
Another solution would be to build inside walls near the yellow lines to more concretely define the inside no-man’s-land, but that isn’t likely to happen, for an abundance of reasons.
Paint is cheap.
Mentioned Drivers: Regan Smith
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the AMP Energy 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6248 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -184 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -192 |
| 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -239 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -279 |
| 6 | Kurt Busch | -312 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -340 |
| 8 | Ryan Newman | -402 |
| 9 | Kasey Kahne | -414 |
| 10 | Carl Edwards | -437 |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | -448 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -556 |
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Comments
15 responses to "Mike Hembree: Paint over those yellow lines at Talladega Superspeedway". Post a Comment.
Ron Mon said:
Oct 7, 2008 at 12:23 PMAs good as that sounds, we all know that's not going to happen. Plus, it might get a bit hairy in the corners.
Report as AbuseHow about the middle ground? I say you paint the stripe white (okay to cross) from pit entrance to pit exit. Anyone looking to make a ballsy move can straight line the tri-oval and the apron stays clear for anyone coming in or out of the pits.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportchris welch said:
Oct 7, 2008 at 12:26 PMhow do you define "force"? if you watch the video, regan smith had to go under the line. if he doesnt, then tony stewart gets spun and probably a big crash follows. that is force. stewart was going all the way down to the line whether smith was there or not and i think its was very reckless on his part to block sooo hard. but shame on regan for not trying to pass him sooner, he had two laps which was plenty of time to get it done. i was yelling at my tv the whole last ten laps when no one would get out of line, it was pathetic. i dont know why he was so scared with his team mate right behind him, he had it made.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportchris welch said:
Oct 7, 2008 at 12:30 PMthey have to keep the rule. most of the wrecks before the rule were caused by drivers going on the apron on the straightaway and trying to force their way back in line before they got to the corner. sometimes the drivers wouldnt let them back in line and that was big trouble. remember the 1999 daytona 500? if rusty didnt let the 24 back on the track, it would have been a huge crash and ricky rudd would have been seriously injured. its a good rule and its prevented a lot of crashes.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBillie Ellis said:
Oct 7, 2008 at 4:05 PMseriously???? you cannot be serious?? I mean dude, think about what your saying, it makes no sense. They told them in drivers meeting right before the race, same way they have done it since 2001, he knew, took the risk, and lost. And as for Tony blocking him, I thought that is what they are suppose to do in a race. Anyone else, this would not be an issue. whatever.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJoshua Rainier said:
Oct 7, 2008 at 4:08 PMAfter chris's explanation about reentry into the pack at turn 1, the line makes sense for the first 187 laps. but let them go below on the final lap and race for the win, they can all then move up the track and let anyone on the apron back up. it neuters them on the final lap when a great finish gives the fans their money's worth
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» Confirm Abuse Reportsteve murray said:
Oct 7, 2008 at 6:18 PMI would like For Nascar to explain to me the differance between Joey Lagano going below the yellow line,for the pass, in the Arca race Friday night than Regan Smith did on the last lap on Sunday? They were both forced! Joey did'nt get penalized, but Regan did.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportTim Duval said:
Oct 7, 2008 at 7:03 PMTime for some guys with $$$ to start a new racing league. One that has less rules and more emotion. One that doesn't have a corporate logo over ever inch of the tracks, cars, and TV screens. NASCAR/tracks even sell sponsorships on sponsorships...3M Performance 400 presented by Bondo...Camping World RV 400 presented by AAA. Doesn't NASCAR (read France family) have enough money?
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» Confirm Abuse ReportScott Hall said:
Oct 7, 2008 at 7:55 PMI fully agree with the writer. Either get rid of the yellow lines and let em race anywhere they want to or put a wall down there where they CANT run that low. NASCAR has some of the stupidest rules, in my opinion. Some of the ones I feel should be done away with are the no passing below the yellow line rule, the past champions provisional, and the top 35 rule. As for the yellow line rule, if its a part of the race track a driver should be able to use it to win a race if hes got the guts.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportbill thompson said:
Oct 7, 2008 at 8:04 PMleave the lines, get rid of blocking. stewart blocked the high pass then forced smith below the line. no blocking,no problem!!!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportKeith Johnson said:
Oct 7, 2008 at 10:49 PMLet them race below the yellow line. So what if it causes a crash. They crash every race anyway not going below the yellow line so what would be the difference except we would know who won when they got to checkered flag.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJohn Stark said:
Oct 7, 2008 at 10:53 PMEvery team sport I can think of has set bounds to the playing area. Track and field baseball, football, soccer, hockey, basket ball, swimming, skying etc.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportScott Baker said:
Oct 8, 2008 at 9:18 AMFirst one to the finish line wins!!! No restrictions, No excuses. That's my take. Smith was forced down by Stewart. Stewart should have been the one penalized. I say take away the judgement call. FIRST ONE TO THE FINISH LINE WINS.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportDuane said:
Oct 8, 2008 at 9:57 AMWhy don't one of you fine reporters in the know poll the drivers, the ones actually out there in the cars at 190+ mph, and see what their common opinion is???
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBenita Rodriguez said:
Oct 8, 2008 at 10:49 AMMaybe some of you can help me... but, why is it that you can pass-and win- below the line at some tracks and NOT at others? Just wondering... some consistency would be great! No wonder we can't get some consistency from Goodyear... NASCAR, as a sanctioning body can't provide any, so why should the vendors they do business with!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportCathy Rooks said:
Oct 8, 2008 at 3:14 PMI was there and to me it looked like with Regan Smith went down on past the yellow line and then Paul Menard cut Smith off and he had no where to go but to get back up beside Tony for the win. Which did not work. That is just my opinion.
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