As you might expect, I watched the NASCAR race at Talladega on TV yesterday. It was strange, really strange. All of the cars got into a tight pack and blazed around that huge trick at almost 190 miles per hour. Drivers kept changing positions, but nobody could break away from the pack. Finally, on the last lap, the "big one' happened. 16 cars smashed. The safety devices all did their job and nobody was hurt. But the after-race interviews were astonishing. I've watched those same guys race year after year. I watched there fathers and sometimes their grandfathers race. I've heard a lot of interviews, but never like this. They weren't saying "That's racing." or "We'll get 'em next week." They were visibly shaken. They said, "We can't race like this." "We need a new rule package." "Something has to be done."
Sterling Marlin had it figured out. He said that they need to let them have the power to run at 200 miles per hour. That would string the field out around the track, so that an accident wouldn't a take out so many cars.
Johnny Benson got hit five times in one wreck. Bobby LaBonte was turned upside down. These guys don't scare easily, but I think they were scared.
I like to see races where a driver overtakes another driver and figures out how to pass him. The other driver has to figure out how to keep from being passed. If somebody wrecks, the other cars have a chance to miss them. Smart teams figure out how to make their cars faster than the other cars. But at Talladega, everybody has the same amount of power and they all travel at the same speed. The 35th place car is usually only about 2 seconds behind the first place car. What kind of a race is that?
Howard