Drivers, not tracks, cause racing’s big wrecks
Impatience, lack of respect contribute to the accidents seen at Talladega
 Dan Lighton / AP As drivers jostle for track position and try to gain spots by bumping from behind, big crashes like the one at Talladega involving Mark Martin (No. 5) are inevitable. |
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The drivers got out of their cars with tongues a-wagging after Sunday's Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The race was boring and, more importantly, dangerous and the wheelmen were not happy.
The blamed the track for the single-file racing and big wrecks which came late in the race. They blamed the Cars of Tomorrow. They blamed NASCAR. They blamed restrictor plates. They blamed blame.
I did not hear or read comments from every driver in the race, but from what I did hear and read only one person put blame where a significant portion of it deserves to be placed -- on the drivers themselves.
Talladega in the fall of 2009 was, in a broad sense, classic Talladega. That is, a huge pack of cars bouncing down the track bunched door-to-door and nose-to-tail at 195 mph in the early laps.
That was followed by long periods of boring single-file processions which at one point prompted Tony Stewart to get on his two-way radio and ask for something to keep him awake.
And then, there was the highly predictable finish -- 20 laps of insane chaos on the track resulting in two spectacular wrecks which all but handed the 2009 championship to Jimmie Johnson.
Afterward, the garage was filled with upset drivers, crew chiefs and team owners. The blame game got serious as fingers were pointed at this thing, that thing and the other thing.
But aside from comments from Ryan Newman as he exited the infield care center after having his car do a nose stand and then slam down on its roof, I did not really hear anybody say the people driving the COTs with the restrictor plates at high-banked and super fast Talladega need to undergo changes. Too bad.
Wrecks are usually caused by drivers. The wrecks get started at Talladega when one driver bumps another from behind.
The drivers are, of course, just attempting to better their position on the race track and in life.
But part of their job is to do all that by exercising precise driving skill and by making correct decisions.
Easy? Nope. I can't do it. Heck, I once broke of a side mirror pulling into my garage. But that is why they get to call themselves the best drivers in the world.
Newman kind of addressed the situation.
He said, "Drivers used to be able to respect each other and race around each other. Richard Petty, David Pearson and Bobby Allison and all those guys have always done that."
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Hey, neither tracks nor cars nor officials cause wrecks. People do.
And a stern warning from Mike Helton is not going to fix that.
Jim Pedley is managing editor of Racin' Today. Read more NASCAR news at racintoday.com.
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