news-record.com

SPORTS

NASCAR creating chaos on the track

Article
Comments (7)

Monday, July 6, 2009

(Updated 12:49 pm)

By Dustin Long
Staff Writer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- When do finishes like Saturday night's at Daytona International Speedway become unacceptable? At what point does a fan's need to be thrilled cross the line? What happens if the driver doesn't walk away?

Another restrictor-plate race and another breathtaking, relive-it-on-Youtube finish -- this time with Kyle Busch as the stunt pilot. While fans marveled or shrieked as his car careened to the finish, the question needs to be addressed -- Is this really necessary?

Saturday's finish marked the second consecutive restrictor-plate race that the leader wrecked within sight of the checkered flag. It also marked the fourth time since last season that a plate race ended with a multi-car crash.

TNT's broadcast Saturday showed spectators cheering as cars crashed, smoke and debris trailing like a comet's tail. If fans want that, then just turn the races into thrill shows and eliminate any illusion that this is a sport.

Once the cars stopped ricocheting off each other at the end, it was hard not to recall the words of Carl Edwards, who had a similar acrobatic trip at the finish of this spring's Talladega race.

"They put us in this box," Edwards said then of NASCAR's rules at Talladega and Daytona, "and we'll just race like this until we kill somebody and then they'll change it."

Busch and others walked away this time. Credit the NASCAR's safety improvements and some luck.

The chaos Saturday started when Tony Stewart, hounding Busch on the final lap, looked for an opening. Stewart moved low. Busch blocked. Stewart went high. Busch tried to block but was too late.

They hit.

Busch's car spun in front of Stewart and slammed the wall on the driver's side. Kasey Kahne then plowed into the rear of Busch's car, lifting the rear wheels at least 5 feet off the ground. Teammate Joey Logano then barreled into the side of Busch's car.

Although Stewart won, retained his spot atop the points and reaffirmed his role as title contender, he admitted this victory gave him little gratification.

"You just don't want a race to be decided by this," said Stewart, in a quiet, calm voice.

"It's nobody's fault. It's just racing. It's a product of the environment."

Stewart's right.

It's the same environment that led to Edwards' car flying into the fence at Talladega this spring and injuring seven fans.

Edwards led when he went to block Brad Keselowski on the low side but Keselowski's front bumper was inside Edwards's car. They hit, Edwards spun and then catapulted off Ryan Newman's car into the fence as Keselowski won.

One can trace these incidents to last fall's Talladega race where Regan Smith went below the yellow line at the bottom of the track after Stewart blocked him and passed Stewart, taking the checkered flag first.

Smith said he didn't want to wreck Stewart. NASCAR penalized Smith, gave Stewart the win and all but encouraged drivers the way to win was through contact.

That such dangerous finishes are becoming more common only adds evidence to a need for change.

It's not that NASCAR hasn't tried. Restrictor plates, which reduce horsepower and bunch the field together, was used as a remedy after Bobby Allison's car went into the fence at Talladega in 1987 and fans were injured.

Yet, just as NASCAR made the current car a priority and put a tremendous amount of resources into it, series officials need to show the same energy toward finding a solution to restrictor plate racing.

One thing NASCAR can do now is play a greater role in officiating the races. NASCAR should state that a driver can make one move to block a competitor but if he makes two or more successive attempts to block, he'll be penalized.

With a wall on the outside and rule prohibiting passing below the yellow line at the bottom of the track, NASCAR has narrowed the field and encouraged blocking and rougher tactics at Daytona and Talladega.

While NASCAR officials don't like their calls impacting a race, isn't that better than having drivers -- or fans -- injured? Or worse?

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

Accompanying Photos

Glenn Smith (Associated Press)

Photo Caption: Kyle Busch hits the wall after he was involved in a crash with Tony Stewart.

Comments

View Comments

This article has been closed to new comments. Comments are generally closed after 14 days. However, comments may be closed earlier at the discretion of the News & Record.

Inappropriate content? Please report abuse.

daveasphalt

July 6, 2009 - 7:16 am EDT

Carl Edwards is probably too young to remember that a driver has already died at Daytona due to Nascar's policies. His name was Dale Earnhardt.

westronandnan@aol.com

July 6, 2009 - 8:59 am EDT

I'd be surprised if NASCAR did anything to eliminate the excitment of a finish like Saturday night. After all, it's all about butts in seats.

billysue

July 6, 2009 - 11:23 am EDT

NASCAR..................LEAVE IT ALONE OR REMOVE THE RESTRICTOR PLATES COMPLETELY!!!!!!!!!!!

There are way too many rules already, prices way out of line with the economy. Why don't they take all the TV royalty proceeds, mix in the pot, drop prices at least half. Sponsor money pays most of the cost of putting a car on the track.

BUMP,GRIND, KNOCK EM OUT OF THE WAY IS WHAT BUILT NASCAR, LONG BEFORE NASCAR WAS EVER THOUGHT OF. GO BACK TO THE OLD WAYS............If you can't run with the big dogs, stay home under the porch.

What ever happened Saturday, in my opinion, was just racing like it used to be. ROCKEM-SOCKEM..GREAT.
THANK GOD NOONE GOT SERIOUSLY HURT. PAIN IS PART OF THE GAME.

Teacher

July 6, 2009 - 11:28 am EDT

Come on now. If you watched the race, you'll see that Kyle Busch tried to put the block on Tony Stewart after Tony had come in too far on the outside for that to work. The wreck was completely the fault of Kyle Busch or his spotters. Tony Stewart clearly had the best car all night and Kyle Busch and his spotters knew Tony was coming on through. The simple fact that Tony was coming around him on the outside at Daytona was proof of the quality of car Tony had.

As for the cheering fans, I would venture to say that the majority of them were cheering not because of a pile-up wreck, but because Kyle Busch wrecked. He has quickly become the least popular driver to say the least. The fans saw that Tony had "his nose" at the rear right tire by the time Kyle tried to block. Now, Tony Stewart is definitely not my favorite driver. He complains an awful lot when this sort of thing happens to him and demands that NASCAR do something to change things, but in this case, Tony Stewart was doing what he had to and Kyle Busch caused his own wreck.

america

July 6, 2009 - 5:01 pm EDT

It's interesting that you noticed some folks cheering at the sight of the crash but missed the real point. Sadly, crashes have become the "entertainment" portion of the race since there no real racing going on. Odd how you didn't even note the empty grandstands on the back straight or in at the exit to turn 4. Until recently, has anyone ever heard of a NASCAR race not selling out? NASCAR sure notices, and that's why they keep regulating and legislating to create such a mess. "Rubbin' is racin'", but let's be honest, "racin'" was a lot more exciting when there weren't restrictor plates and a car went as fast as a team could build it and a man was willing to drive it. If you and NASCAR are worried about injury in the stands, then block off the first 10 rows of seats and put up another fence. Then - TURN 'EM LOOSE. I'd pay pretty good money to see real drivers running real machines to the edge of the limits of both man and machine. Right now I find it hard to watch half a race since it's more about equality than competition. As noted above, we lost a legend because NASCAR wanted to bunch everybody up instead of letting the teams and drivers actually race. There have been deaths in the sport before and different rule changes. When will NASCAR understand that 43 cars driving 180 miles an hour in close proximity to each other is inherently dangerous. You cannot regulate the sport to eliminate the risk unless you're willing to kill the sport.... which appears to be Brian France's intentions.

buckymay

July 6, 2009 - 6:02 pm EDT

Boo hoo, let's get rid of the plates...it's dangerous. Jeez, the same old BS over and over. I guess the people who say this are worried that a driver will get killed. It happens year in and year out in racing but it happens much more at tracks that don't have plates, i.e. local tracks. If I remember right, after Carl Edwards flew his car into the fence, most people thought that he surely was injured, but wait, he not only got out of his car on his own, but sprinted across the finish line thinking that would count. Kyle Busch also climbed out of his car but since he had already crossed the finish line, all he wanted to do was, well we really don't know what he wanted to do, but had to be manhandled to go to the care center. If y'all want to see safe racing, to the the nearest swimming pool and watch the kids race there. If you are one of those diehard "real race fans", and detest plate races, there is a couple of things you can do. First you can complain, complain, and complain to NASCAR in Daytona. Or you can refuse to watch when the boys race at Daytona and Taladega. Maybe there are a few, maybe even more who enjoy watching follow the leader racing. They can't stand edge of the seat excitement or they only want certain drivers to win. Who knows, but for me and for many, I know that racing is one of the most dangerous sports in the world. And I find it absolutely amazing that they have made the sport so safe that both Carl and Kyle not only survived their crashes, but were hardly harmed at all.

Teacher

July 7, 2009 - 1:23 pm EDT

I agree. I enjoy the plate races, not because of the wrecks but because a Juan Pablo Montoya or an Elliott Sadler can be competitive with Hendrick, Roush, or Gibbs. We all know that without the plates, we'd have Jimmie Johnson lapping 42 other cars or running 30 seconds ahead of everyone else. That's not the most important thing. Have you noticed since plates racing, there have been fewer deaths in NASCAR than before? How is that if the cars are all bunched together making it more dangerous? Well, the cars are also built safer with more safety gear inside. Would a car running 220 mph be safer than a car running 185? What would happen when Jimmie Johnson running 220 began lapping other cars from racing stables not so wealthy running 185? That's even more dangerous. As overly aggressive as he is, think of Kyle Busch doing that. We'd have far more wrecks. I do have my favorite drivers and my least favorite but regardless of who wins, I enjoy watching a race that keeps you with "edge of your seat" finishes like the Coke Zero 400 this past Saturday.