The Spotter Stand – NASCAR News | NASCAR Notes | NASCAR Blog

It’s the Monday following another race at Talladega and the same guys are saying the same thing. Carl Edwards told the media during his Friday afternoon press conference at Talladega that he felt the banking needed be leveled to avoid the current style of racing at Talladega. Jimmie Johnson echoed Edwards’ sentiment while addressing the media following his 6th place finish Sunday afternoon:

“I mean, we go through this every year. You guys try to find new ways to have us answer the same question about the restrictor plate racing.Yeah, we have the steering wheel, gas pedal, brake pedal and all that kind of thing. But until somebody really has a chance to sit in these cars and understand how tough it is, it’s easier to say these things from the outside.  Inside the car we’re racing. We’re doing our thing. We mind our manners during the race, single file, and everybody was probably disappointed in that. Then we get racing in the end, and you have the big wrecks. So I don’t think that it’s worth finding. There is not a new angle. The only way we avoid this, if anybody wants to avoid these big wrecks and this type of racing, is to eliminate the need for restrictor plates. That means get the tractors out and knock down the banking. We have to let off in order to avoid this. At the end of the day, the restrictor plate is still here because it’s a good show for the fans.  So at some point when the fans dislike it, I guess we’ll make a change, and we won’t have this stuff. But until then, we’re a product of what the fans want to see.”

Denny Hamlin has a somewhat different opinion when it comes to Talladega and the type of racing that goes on at the East Alabama track. He believes this type of racing falls more on NASCAR and their constant rule changes at plate tracks rather than the track itself. In his comments to Foxsports.com, right before he left the track following his blown motor on lap 137, Hamlin had this to say:

“Let us race! They give us a car to race, now let the drivers handle it,” Hamlin said. ” The one thing I noticed today that was different was that we were hitting each other hard on the straight aways. You’ll see when the big one happens today, it will be because someone hits someone too hard on the straightaway. It’s because we can’t push each other. They say you can hit each other and that’s what you have to do do on the straightaway, but you can’t push all around the racetrack. Pushing each other in the corners and all the way around, that is the safest driving you can possibly do because that’s eight tires.”

Look, the banking isn’t the issue here and neither is the track; it’s the rules package. It appears NASCAR has lost faith in the drivers and their ability to handle the type of racing at Talladega. By painting the drivers into a corner, shrinking the plate size, and enforcing “out of bounds” areas, NASCAR is basically telling these guys how they’re supposed to race. It’s become a recipe for disaster with the track taking the majority of the criticism rather than NASCAR itself….and that’s wrong.

Drivers shouldn’t be immune to criticism either.

How many times have we seen blocking cause the big one? How many times have we seen a guy make a mistake while bump drafting and cause a big wreck? Perhaps the drivers should look in the mirror when it comes to racing at Talladega and Daytona. They’re the ones out there on the track. They know the rules and the parameters for which to work so unless NASCAR makes drastic changes to the cars and/or the rules package surrounding restrictor plate racing, drivers need to shut up and deal with it. Maybe they should address each other and voice their displeasure about how they race one another rather than complain about the track and its banking. Leaning on the ”knock down the banking theory” is getting old and rather annoying.

If they don’t want to race at plate tracks then stay at home. Find a way to lobby NASCAR for mulligans to use during the year that way a driver can choose to stay home rather than race at tracks such as Talladega or Daytona. If NASCAR won’t let you do that then you better find a way supplement the points you are going to lose when you choose to stay home instead of race. If that still doesn’t satisfy the problem, then quit griping and learn how to deal with it. Let’s face it, we all know racing is a sport that is built on danger and speed. And even though the race yesterday at Talladega, and those in the past, look exciting and look thrilling we see how it can be nerve racking for the drivers. I’ve never sat in a race car and raced against 42 other drivers during a race at Talladega and Daytona so I couldn’t even begin to imagine how intense it is. But until NASCAR steps in and changes what we see at plate tracks then we all must learn to deal with it.

This talk of leveling the banking has gotten out of hand. Talladega isn’t a new facility nor is it the newest race on the circuit. It’s been around since 1969 and for years the high banks of the Talladega Super Speedway have never changed. It’s been repaved a time or two, had its share of face lifts and repairs, but the size and the degree of banking have never changed and it should stay that way. It is what it is. The fans know it, the drivers know it, and those who cover the sport on a daily basis know it as well. It was built for speed and good, fast racing not carnage and chaos. “Big” Bill France had a vision 40 years ago when he introduced the world of racing to Talladega Super Speedway. That very same vision has been reduced to nothing more than silly rules, ridiculous limits, driver displeasure, and on-track carnage that once again has Talladega at the center of controversy.