Sheet Metal Upside The Head - Talladega Is Out of The Way

Talladega has come and gone and now, it's time to let the fervor come to settle down once again.  And again, the fans are pretty unsettled about Tony Stewart's actions on the last lap.

But as it was put somewhere out there on Twitter, no one blames any one person because this is the product of restrictor plate racing.  And this is the product of every attempt to keep the sport safer than what it could be.

Yes, safer than what it could be.

If you're a relatively new fan of the sport, despite explanations, you may not get why plates are put on the engines of cars at Talladega and Daytona.

Back in the day, way back, when I was a kid, I have some fairly vivid memories pre-plate days of these two tracks.  I have a very clear memory of those days.

When there were no plates, the strong teams would walk away from the pack, whether it be in a draft or not.  Now a days, if Jimmie Johnson were to pull down low and pass a pair or trio of drafting cars and pull away, I would bet fans would be pretty upset.

But the strong teams dominated and they didn't need a draft to pull out and pass other cars.

But then there were the speeds.  The speeds and the events or accidents that took place because of the speeds that prompted NASCAR to install plates on the engines.

During one race I watched a car hauling down the backstretch of Talladega.  When suddenly the front end lifted and the car went flipping down the track all by itself.  It wasn't a huge thing, but it was an eye-opener and things had to change.

And no matter what anyone does to keep the cars on the track, they still get airborne today.  Sure, you can use down-force tools to make the cars stick.  But inevitably someone will get into the side of a car and get it sideways at 190 mph, then the aero package gets defeated and the car flips.

It's inevitable.

Despite the desire of a segment of fans that want the plates pulled out, the potential is not a good one.  Sure, you'll get racing back up to the 220's.  Sure, the pack will thin out and strong cars will pull away from the pack.  And I'm sure fans will get in a bunch about it too.

But what we don't always think about, are the fans in the stands.  What happens when a car gets airborne in front of the stands at 215+ mph?  What happens if a car clears the fence?

And if you dare say it won't happen, you're blind to the potential.  The very potential that NASCAR wants to prevent.  Or more to the point, they want their fans to be able to come to the track, enjoy a race, and go home with good memories.

Sure, plate racing is tough.  Drivers aren't fond of it but fans do enjoy the tension.  And it's not as much of a crap shoot as you think.  Some drivers stand out above the rest, any how.

The best rated driver for Talladega, before the race was Brad Keselowski.  And he finished 7th.  (Or was in a good enough position at the time of the wreck to be given a 7th place finish.)

There always seem to be a consistent bunch of drivers contending at the front and the small fry are at the back by race's end.

And if folks think the new car is going to help this situation, well, let's think about this.  How many body types and rule restrictions have we experienced in plate racing?  And how often does it work, in a consistent fashion?

Not often.

And now some folks could use this last Talladega race to blame Dale Earnhardt Jr's concussion on, but to be honest, these guys end up hitting the wall pretty hard at just about any track on the circuit.  It's just that some of the wrecks seem much more spectacular at this Alabama super speedway.

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No, I don't think a new car body or style will help.  It will probably only give the media some hope to talk about.  But in the end, some driver will end up with more sheet metal upside his head again.  And fans will (still) be ticked off again about the racing result when their favorite driver finds himself wheels up.

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