Despite Precautions, Talladega Remains Wild Ride

Depending on your perspective, Ryan Newman either had the best seat in the house or the worst during NASCAR's last visit to the mighty and unpredictable Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Carl Edwards, Sprint Cup rookie Brad Keselowski and Newman were 100 yards in front of the checkered flag, set to decide the winner amongst themselves, when Keselowski and Edwards collided directly in front of Newman. Edwards' Ford went airborne, bounced off the hood and windshield of Newman's Chevy, then flew into the fencing along the front stretch grandstands in a horrific-looking accident that led the country's sports highlight reels.

If you haven't seen the video, you will. It'll be played over and over and over all weekend as the Sprint Cup Series makes its Chase for the Championship visit to Talladega this week.

And each time you watch it, it will seem amazing that all the drivers were safe -- Keselowski got his maiden Cup victory and Newman went on to a career-best, third place at Talladega. Seven fans, however, were injured by debris that flew off Edwards car, prompting NASCAR and the track to institute some safety upgrades for this Halloween stop at the sport's largest track.

"It was a wild finish and it got a little tense at the end,'' Newman said in the ultimate understatement.

"We want exciting races, but we don't want to see cars airborne either,'' Newman said this week. "It's not safe and we need to collectively work to make sure what happened in the last race at Talladega doesn't happen again.''

After extracting himself from his mangled No. 39 Chevrolet that April evening, Newman immediately declared, "There's no such thing as an over-reaction for safety" and called the day's tightly-packed restrictor plate action, "just crazy."

Championship points leader Jimmie Johnson, involved in a multi-car crash with 10 laps remaining, was even more blunt: "It sucks racing here.''



Edwards somehow managed to climb out of his car unhurt, jog across the finish line, tell his mom in a television interview that he was "okay" and then sternly warned,"NASCAR has put us in this box and we'll race like this until we kill someone and then they'll change it.''

And NASCAR listened.

Sort of.

This weekend, NASCAR has mandated a smaller restrictor plate -- meaning there will be about 10-15 less horsepower for the cars. Talladega Superspeedway has extended the height of its catch fence another eight feet -- making it 22 feet high now -- and hired an engineering firm to "enhance" the fencing materials.

Daytona International Speedway, the other restrictor plate track on the circuit -- has also raised its fencing.

All this will at least give spectators peace of mind. Because of the pack-racing, multi-car crashes aren't going anywhere. They'll just happen at slightly slower speeds.

And let's face it, the "Big One" is part of Talladega's folklore. No one wants to see anyone get hurt, but fans love the unpredictable, from-last-to-first-in-10-laps possibilities that exist here. The baggage with that tight, draft racing is the potential for any driver lapse to create a 15-car melee.

NASCAR has had to balance the thrill of its show with the safety of its competitors and, just as importantly, the safety of its fans. Would NASCAR have reacted with new rules had fans not been hurt?

Newman not only had a front-row seat for the crash but also holds an engineering degree, making his perspective uniquely qualified. He likes the restrictor plate change and the fence modification, but thinks the real issue may be a question of aerodynamics and how to keep the cars from getting airborne in the first place.

"It's just a matter of excitement and strategy and the timing of those things in conjunction with what lap we're on and what there is to expect before the end of the race,'' Newman said.

"Realistically, you never know what to expect.''

And that's the rub ... and the attraction.

For his part, Edwards is scheduled to meet with Blake Bobbitt, the 17-year-old girl who was most seriously injured in April attending her first NASCAR race. Her jaw was broken and had to be wired shut for the remainder of her senior year of high school. After the race Edwards called it the worst feeling he's ever had in racing.

Since then Edwards has called periodically to check on her and the Bobbitt family will be a guest of NASCAR at the pre-race drivers meeting on Sunday.

"She's coming back to the track which is a great example of how passionate our fans are,'' Edwards said. "She's pumped about the race too, so that's cool.''