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In what can only be called a “race” in the most loosely based sense of the word Dale Earnhardt, Jr. continued the Earnhardt legacy at the fastest track on the circuit. Although he clearly had the car to beat all day the fact that he won was only a shake of the dice, a lottery drawing… let’s just call it sheer luck. |
I’m sick of Talledega. Sick of the restrictor plates. Sick of NASCAR’s “easy fix”. If they don’t change it before Daytona I only pray that the driver’s boycott the race and force NASCAR to do something about this sheer madness before we lose another driver. To put it plain and simple for the “powers to be”… “You’re gonna get somebody killed in the name of excitement!”
The “race” at Dega is no longer a race. Unless you have a stronger car like Jr. and can stay near the front all day you are completely at the mercy of the pack. It’s all the luck of the draw. Which line of traffic do you get in? Which line has somebody bobble a tad and send those 12 cars in that line form top 10 to bottom 10? Where’s the racing when you HAVE to depend on other cars to do ANYTHING? Get behind the wrong row of cars and it doesn’t matter if you have a fast car. Every car in that lane is going backwards. You can’t move. There are cars above you, below you, in front of you, behind you. You are stuck with doing what everybody else is doing.
Racing? Hardly! That is 187 laps of bravery followed by 1 lap of terror. Just hold onto the wheel, hope nobody makes a mistake and then on the last lap do something incredibly stupid because you’re stuck in a mass of 35 cars and can’t do anything with YOUR car. Sure it might be strong. Sure you might have a “little bit left” for that last second dash. But you can’t use it. You’re totally surrounded by 35 cars doing the exact same thing. Sort of like watching a cattle stampede. Them cow’s aren’t fighting for the top spot. Just trying to keep from getting run over by somebody from behind. You aren’t going anywhere. There’s a cow in front of you, two alongside and one up your butt.
Not a race. Just a bunch of cows heading in the same direction at dangerous speeds and hoping none of them get killed by getting caught under the hooves of others. Cow in the front doesn’t have to worry. He’s got a little room to move sideways. So does the 2nd one. And the third. But before long you just have one big lump of cows looking for a cow to crash.
That’s just not exciting to me. I want to see the best car or driver win. That happened today. But I want to see the rest of the field gain or lose positions and points due to their car or driving prowess. In these restrictor plate races the first few cars usually do get the chance of racing for the position they deserve. The rest of the field? Might as well just put their names in a hat and draw out finishing spots. Put all the drivers left after you let the top 3 fastest run a heat race for positions 1-3 then start drawing finishing spots. With enough driver participation with cheering, friendly jibing and the occasional push and shove and you’ll have about as much excitement as you have in that big bundle of cars rushing through that last lap.
Just going to save a whole lot of injuries or deaths to drivers, money for car owners and worry for driver’s families.
I’m sorry, I just don’t like Talledega anymore. Just draw numbers from a hat and put them where they fall. The driver’s will have the exact same chance they have now. The racing there has nothing to do with skill anymore. Just luck. And nobody’s been killed yet drawing a number from a hat.
Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and crew. You won fair and square. Kudos to every driver on the track. You won, too. Nobody got killed!
Keep The Shiny Side
Up!