Talladega Recap

It was a wild weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, and those looking for storylines certainly got them in not just the Cup Series, but in all three races held at the mammoth track.  The title of my blog is racetrack ramblings, and as I begin to write this entry off the top of my head, I’m thinking it’ll be just that- a rambling.  Here are some of my thoughts and reactions after this weekend’s events.

I’ll start with Friday’s ARCA International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250.  I always make a point to watch this series when they run on the restrictor plate tracks, as they usually put on a great show, and Friday’s race didn’t disappoint.  What I like about this series is, not unlike the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, there is a mix of mostly young drivers trying to make a name for themselves and also some veterans who have tremendous experience, such as Frank Kimmel and Bobby Gerhardt.  The race looked like a 90’s Cup Series race, with a mix of single file and pack racing, with very little tandem racing or bump drafting since in the ARCA Series you can’t push another driver in the turns.  It also featured some hard crashes, the most dramatic of which occurred on the frontstretch when Mike Affarano flipped several times and landed on his roof.  Safety officials carefully and methodically rolled the car over using a tow vehicle and were able to help Mike out of the car, and he was able to walk to the ambulance for the mandatory trip to the infield medical center.  

The race came down to not the veteran racers, but some young drivers battling for the win, one of whom has a familiar last name.  Brandon McReynolds, son of legendary crew chief and race analyst Larry McReynolds, was able to pass Matt Lofton coming to the line for his first win in the ARCA Series, pulling into Victory Lane twenty years and one day after his dad led Davey Allison to victory in the Cup Series.  Rest assured, we’ll be hearing more about Brandon McReynolds in the future.

I thought Saturday’s Nationwide Series race was a good one.  There was a nice mix of tandem and pack racing, and the finish between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano was as great as it was predictable, as you knew Joey was going to pull out and try to pass in the tri-oval.  Obviously the two main stories people are talking about though are the Danica vs. Sam Hornish post race altercation, and the horrific crash suffered by Eric McClure. 

First, for those who may be new to the sport, let me tell you that Eric’s crash into the inside wall (thankfully the soft wall/SAFER barrier) was as hard a hit as I’ve ever seen.  Before he even hit the wall, I feared the worst.  When I didn’t see the window net come down, and when I noticed the urgency of the workers, it was obvious he was hurt.  At first, I didn’t realize he had hit the SAFER barrier, as the live shot of the wreckage showed nothing but a concrete wall in the background, and they weren’t showing the replay until they knew of his condition.  As it turns out, he hit the wall just a short distance before that SAFER barrier ends, and I am convinced that’s what saved his life.  In fact, looking at the replays again today I noticed that Jeffrey Earnhardt’s impact with the inside wall right next to McClure was also a very hard hit, and without that soft wall, we might have had more than one injured driver.  But for Eric McClure to be alert and talking to safety workers immediately after that collision, and to hear that he was released from the hospital and will recover from his injuries is as much a testament to the safety improvements NASCAR has made and mandated over the last several years as it is a miracle.  Way to go NASCAR, and get well soon, Eric.

So then there’s the Danica Patrick and Sam Hornish incident.  What I know about what happened:  After the race was over, Sam Hornish said he had a tire going down as they raced to the line.  Danica pulled to his outside and appeared to try to side draft on him slightly, but never made contact.  As they reached the apex of the tri-oval, Sam didn’t turn enough (apparently he wasn’t able to), and he pushed himself and Danica into the outside wall.  They were both able to cross the line and finish the race, and as Hornish went into turn one, Danica sped up to catch him, and purposely ran into his rear bumper slightly off center to the right, forcing him nearly head on into the outside wall at an only somewhat reduced speed (as they began the cool-down lap).

Now, I’m an old school fan, and I enjoy it when drivers rub fenders, stand up for themselves and show their emotions.  In this case, however, I think Danica used extremely poor judgment in the timing, location and execution of her retaliation.  There’s a reason we see this kind of retaliation at local short tracks all the time… they are SHORT tracks.  Hitting another driver on the cool down lap at a short track likely means you are doing about 60-70mph at best.  But doing it just a few seconds after crossing the line at Talladega when speeds are still high is questionable at the least.  Running into the back of another car and causing it to turn into the wall nose first is reckless and dangerous.  I won’t say that retaliation wasn’t necessary, and I won’t say you shouldn’t retaliate at a place like Talladega (it’s happened many times before), but that wasn’t the way to do it.  Pull up next to him, tell him he’s "number one", swerve into his door or wait until the backstretch and put him down into the grass, but don’t send him nearly head-on into the wall in turn one, especially after a driver has just been injured in a head on collision with the wall.

Should NASCAR fine or penalize Danica?  I don’t think so.  That may sound contradictory, but as many people have said, she doesn’t necessarily have a history of this kind of conduct in NASCAR, though you could certainly argue she’s done her fair share of finger pointing.  NASCAR is doing what they should… talk to her the next weekend at Darlington.  What they will say we’ll never truly know and who knows, they could still penalize her in some way, but history has shown that what is said in the NASCAR hauler usually makes an impact.  How she reacts to what they have to say, and how she decides to handle similar situations in the future will dictate how the sanctioning body deals with her down the road, and I’m fine with that.  

There are those who say what she did was no different than what Kyle Busch did at Texas last year, and while I initially said the same thing when it happened, if you take a step back and think about all the facts and history of the two drivers, I think you realize just how different the two incidents were.  That said, the mere fact that her actions are being compared to those of Kyle Busch should be enough to encourage her to take a different approach the next time this happens.  On a side note, I grew up playing tennis and idolizing Andre Agassi, who early in his career was known for his attitude and flashy appearance which prompted the camera commercials featuring him touting the slogan, “image is everything”.  Tennis fans will tell you that his greatest success on the ATP Tour came when he stepped out of the spotlight and just focused on winning tournaments. Perhaps she could learn from his experience. (Read my post on why I think Danica should go away from Go Daddy here).

Finally, there was Sunday's Cup Series Aaron's 499.  The biggest question going into this race (besides the old "is this going to be the race that gives Hendrick Motorsports their 200th win?  And will it be Junior?) was how the hot temperatures and engine cooling rules would affect the racing.  Would we see the pack, tandem draft, or a combination of both?  Would fans enjoy what they were seeing?  Personally, I thought it was a great race.  There was something happening just about all the way through from start to finish, the coverage and analysis was good, and I found it hard to stop watching.  To me, that's exactly what the TV networks are shooting for... keep the viewer entertained, and keep him/her from changing the channel, turning it off, going outside to work on the yard, etc.  I felt like it was a great mix of pack and tandem racing, and it did remind me a lot of races from the 80s and 90s.  Yes, there were some engine failures, some cooling related, some not... but that was common back in the "glory days" of the 80s and 90s (you know, back when the racing was supposedly better than now?).  

What I was disappointed about was the late race cautions, particularly the one on the restart which started when AJ Allmendinger and Denny Hamlin got together.  I can't blame either driver considering it was late in the race and everyone was trying to position themselves for a chance to win.  It was a "racing deal".  I find it exciting when there is a late race caution or green-white-checkered at some of the tracks where the field gets strung out, but on Sunday I realized just how much better it is to me when we get to see at least the last 10-20 laps under green at restrictor plate tracks.  It leaves you on the edge of your seat for an extended period of time and allows the excitement and anticipation to build up more, and it sets up the possibility of a late race charge to the front like Dale Sr. made at Talladega in 2000.  If this Sunday's race was missing anything, it was that, but as I've said before, not every race can be the best you've ever seen.  

Disappointing as the late race cautions were, we still had a heck of a finish.  Matt Kenseth was no doubt the best car in the field all day, but Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch put themselves in the right position and took advantage of the huge gap that Kenseth and Biffle opened up after the restart.  As Brad and Kyle passed them and went into turn three, I was certain that Kyle was going to be able to get alongside Brad as they came to the line, and it was just going to come down to whether or not Kyle timed the pass right, or if they made contact with each other on the way to the checkers.  The move Brad pulled to break the draft with Kyle was genius...  So smart and unexpected that I didn't even catch it until Brad talked about it in Victory Lane- I noticed that Kyle lost touch with him, but didn't realize Brad had caused it to happen.  I think this move will make future plate races even more interesting, as it appears you are no longer a sitting duck if you are the leader on the last lap, though the outcome on Sunday certainly could have been a lot different had their been a second tandem or pack within striking distance.  I can't wait until Daytona now!

This weekend, we're off to Darlington for the Southern 500 presented by Bojangles.  Last year's race was one of the most exciting I've ever seen, with Regan Smith pulling off an unlikely win and that little incident on pit road with Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.  Looking ahead at the forecast, folks attending the race will enjoy perhaps the nicest race weather so far this season, with sunshine and highs near 80 both Friday and Saturday, and racetime temperatures starting out in the low-mid 70s at the drop of the green flag and cooling into the low-mid 60s when the checkered flies.  Clouds may increase by Saturday night, but I'm going to guarantee a rain-free race weekend!