Talledega

[War Wagon]

Did anyone see that finish?

Just. fucking. Wow.

I bet those fans who were sitting in the front row just about had a coronary. Heard there may have been some injuries, hopefully only minor.

They definitely got their monies worth today.

[Goober McTuber]

That was an amazing finish. Edwards was totally classy after the race, as well he should be after cutting across the bow of Keslowski. Did Kyle have anything to say after his back and forth attempts to block the entire track took his own car off the track?

[trev]

I saw the race live. Pretty exciting stuff. Then pretty scary stuff. I don't think Edwards was classy at all. He was dumb, disrespectful and quite the idiot. Running on the track like that is stupid. And afterward although he admitted he was in the wrong, he went on to complain about Nascar and someone getting killed for them to change. I think he should quit if doesn't like the rules. Someone is sure willing to step in and take his place. He came off as a sniveling immature bastid.

[War Wagon]

trev, you are clueless. I don't know what race you were watching.

Jogging the last 1/4 mile to cross the finish line was pretty cool, and the fans went apeshit giving their approval. You know, the real fans who were actualy at the track. I don't know what you call yourself, but YOU weren't there.

Edwards was nothing but class and he's right about somebody getting killed in these restrictor plate races, be it a fan or driver... before they change.

[trev]

I was watching a race in which the fans loved the racing and wrecking. For Carl to complain about something he signed up for, which the fans loved is not what I would call class.

[War Wagon]

You wouldn't know class if it smacked you.

What, drivers are just supposed to put their lives at risk and not complain because they "signed up for it".

Even JJ was bitching, saying he hates racing there under those conditions. Rack him for saying what every other driver is thinking, but doesn't have the balls to speak about.

As exciting as the wrecks may be to you, that's not racin'. Running in restricted packs at 180 mph where if one driver slips up he takes out half the field, that ain't racin'.

Some scrub I never heard of and will probably never hear of again, winning his first NASCAR event, when he had never finished higher that 19th before at the Cup level... that's not racin'.

Time to take off the plates. It can't be any more dangerous than it already is.

[BSmack]

Time to take off the plates. It can't be any more dangerous than it already is.

Yes it can. Imagine a car going 50 mph faster than the 99 hitting that fence.

That being said, the way to reduce speed is to reduce the banking. Make the guys have to think about holding their car on the track. But it ain't going to happen. That crash was the single most talked about highlight on Monday. It may not be racin' to you, but it's a trailer load of cash to the France family in publicity.

[trev]

Wags, you aren't being even a bit classy right now. You sound delusional as well. And how is it you know what every driver is thinking? I said the wreck was scary. Not exciting to me. Your redneck perspective isn't the only opinion out there. There are actually non-necks who watch this sport. Carl is a self-absorbed classless wussy for what he did. As a matter of fact, he was on Larry King tonight and said it's just a good thing no one got hurt. Didn't a few fans get hurt? Oops, he slipped up on that one. He also back pedaled on his admission that he was at any fault. I can't help it if you can't see thru his facade, you bleeping bumpkin. Carl's little display took away from the win, in my opinion. It's not all about Carl. Unless you want to talk about his stupid move that caused himself to wreck. To then come on and whine about getting killed while driving a race car at 200 mph is assine. Racing used to be dangerous. Racing is still dangerous. Racing will always be dangerous. I do not want to see another millionaire prima donna driver come on again and complain about it. Get out of the sport or shut up. Rack that no name rookie for punting Carl out of the way.

[MuchoBulls]

Time to take off the plates. It can't be any more dangerous than it already is.

Yes it can. Imagine a car going 50 mph faster than the 99 hitting that fence.

Yes, the speed wouold be dangerously high, but you wouldn't have all the cars racing so closely together. You take the plates off and you would get a race like what you see at California, Michigan, and Texas.

[BSmack]

Time to take off the plates. It can't be any more dangerous than it already is.

Yes it can. Imagine a car going 50 mph faster than the 99 hitting that fence.

Yes, the speed wouold be dangerously high, but you wouldn't have all the cars racing so closely together. You take the plates off and you would get a race like what you see at California, Michigan, and Texas.

You want a race like California, Michigan or Texas, then you had better build a track like California, Michigan or Texas.

Here's some numbers for you. This year, at Texas, the highest qualifying speed was 190.516 with no restrictor plates. 5 years ago Rusty Wallace ran some laps at Talladega without a restrictor plate or the benefit of any previous testing and busted off a 221 average lap with a top speed of 228. It is absolutely not a stretch to imagine that with practice, testing and some good old fashioned tweaking of the setup that someone could push a top speed in the 235-240 range. Yea sure, they would be running further apart. But when a big one did happen, it would be at speeds 40-50 mph faster than they are now unless they drop the banking down to a more reasonable level.

http://www.nascar.com/2004/news/headlin ... index.html

[MuchoBulls]

I heard about the Wallace testing session last year. If they took off the restrictor plates and had more open racing, then wouldn't it stand to reason that there would be less of a chance for "the big one" to occur?

[War Wagon]

I heard about the Wallace testing session last year. If they took off the restrictor plates and had more open racing, then wouldn't it stand to reason that there would be less of a chance for "the big one" to occur?

Exactly, Mucho.

IRL cars routinely click off laps in the 210-220 mph range on 1-1/2 mile ovals.

Bri, I don't thinks it's feasible to reconfigure the track.

trev, you remain clueless.

[BSmack]

I heard about the Wallace testing session last year. If they took off the restrictor plates and had more open racing, then wouldn't it stand to reason that there would be less of a chance for "the big one" to occur?

Exactly, Mucho.

IRL cars routinely click off laps in the 210-220 mph range on 1-1/2 mile ovals.

Bri, I don't thinks it's feasible to reconfigure the track.

No, especially not in this economy. It's also equally unfeasible to have cars turning laps at Talladega at 235 mph. As the 99 car just demonstrated, it is quite possible to get a Sprint Cup car airborne. And you could have just as easily had that kind of a collision w/o plates. Ask Bobby Allison.

[War Wagon]

No, especially not in this economy. It's also equally unfeasible to have cars turning laps at Talladega at 235 mph.

235 is a stretch, but I'll concede the point. Takeoff speed for a 747 is slightly over 200 mph. Put wings on those cars, and they could practically fly home after the race

So what's the solution?

Going to 6 cyl. engines at the plate tracks?

Improving the downforce?

As the 99 car just demonstrated, it is quite possible to get a Sprint Cup car airborne. And you could have just as easily had that kind of a collision w/o plates. Ask Bobby Allison.

I remember that and several other similar incidents over the years. There's a fine line between speed and safety. Speed is what sells the sport, but safety is what keeps people coming back for more.

Being a fan of a dead driver sucks, as would having dead fans.

[DELSDAD]

Biffle suggested the other day that if the wreck had occured in heavier traffic, Edwards could have gotten even more air underneath him. That could send the car or at least more parts over the fence.

[MuchoBulls]

How'd you like the be the flagman seeing Allison's car coming at you like that?