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TALLADEGA, Ala. — NASCAR drivers have pleaded with series officials for years to change the racing at Talladega Superspeedway, but Sunday's finish -- overshadowing Brad Keselowski's first career Sprint Cup victory — might alter what fans eventually see at this track.

Seven fans were injured when Carl Edwards' car flew into the catchfence after he and Keselowski hit while racing for the win. Edwards' crash was eerily reminiscent of when Bobby Allison's car soared into the fencing and ripped a large segment of it down, injuring fans at this track in May of 1987.

NASCAR responded to the Allison incident by mandating restrictor plates at Talladega and Daytona as a way to slow the cars. By doing so, it packed the cars in a tight bunch, increasing the chances of multi-car crashes.

Edwards was uninjured Sunday — he ran across the finish line so he could say he completed the race — but he continued his criticism of restrictor-plate racing.

"I guess we'll do this until someone gets killed and then we'll change it,'' he said moments after walking out of the infield care center.

Others weren't as lucky as Edwards. One fan was airlifted, although that was mainly to avoid the traffic jam after the race. That fan suffered a possible broken jaw, according to Dr. Bobby Lewis, the track's medical director. He described the other injuries as minor, adding there appeared to be a couple of minor fractures.

Six of the seven injured fans were treated and released at the track's facility. Another fan, suffering from medical problems, also was airlifted.

While Edwards' flying car will be replayed and even romanticized on TV and YouTube, Dale Earnhardt Jr. says that attitudes must change about such incidents.

"For years we have had wrecks like this every time we come to Talladega, ever since the plate got here, and for years it was celebrated,'' said Earnhardt, who finished second

"So, there's a responsibility with the media and the networks and the sanctioning body itself to come to their senses a little bit and think about the situation. We have been saying this for years, racing like this is not a whole lot of fun.''

That no fan was seriously injured makes it easier to discuss the wild finish where Keselowski went from 10th to first in the final two laps and the 14-car wreck early in the race that collected three former champions.

Many might argue that any thought of changing the cars or rules is an overreaction to an incident where a driver walked away and no fan suffered life-threatening injuries.

"There's no such thing as overreaction when it comes to safety,'' said Ryan Newman, who finished third despite the left rear tire of Edwards' car smashing into his windshield. "Whatever we can do to make it safer for everybody, that's what we need to do.''

So, what is that? For years, NASCAR officials have looked at ways to slow the cars by something other than restrictor plates, which limit air to the engine and reduce horsepower. Nothing has worked.

Newman, who has an engineering degree, isn't sure what can be done. Car owner Jack Roush, also an engineer, is stumped, although he blames the high-banked track that allows the cars to run at top speed all the way around.

"If they were building race tracks from scratch today, they would not be configured like this,'' Roush said, noting Talladega and Daytona. "They're such pillars, they're such anchors to the sport &ellipses; I don't know if they could ever be changed.''

Said NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter: "Obviously, if we thought there was a way (to make the racing safer), it would be in play. We'll have our accident investigators review the accident and see if there's anything we can do to make it better.''

Yet, that element of danger attracts some fans. Just as daredevils draw attention, racing at Talladega often produces some of the sport's top TV ratings and draws some of the largest crowds.

"There has to be some element of danger in it,'' Keselowski said of racing. "No different than a football player. Who doesn't love watching football players hit head-on as fast as they can?

"If we would have run all race without a single lap of contact, everyone in the media center would have wrote about how boring of a race it was. Instead, we ran one of the best races you could ever watch on TV with full contact the whole time.''

Depends on who you ask.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com