#3WideBlog Race Review: Talladega #PACKisBACK

     The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is made its first stop at the Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. Superspeedway racing in NASCAR is one of the most exciting spectacles in the sport. 43 drivers take the green flag in what turns out to be a rolling chess match at upwards of 200 Mph. Two and three wide action almost all the way through the pack keeps fans on the edge of their seat throughout the entire race, and multi-car accidents are almost inevitable. This is just what some NASCAR fans were clamoring for, Talladega delivered.


     Throughout the entire race one story line that definitely became a big one was the rule changes. Alterations to the restrictor plates and the front grille openings on the superspeedway cars were made prior to Speedweeks in Daytona, so this was the first visit to Talladega with this rules package. With air temperatures reaching close to 90F at Talladega, this weekend was much different weather wise than Daytona. 

Pic via NASCAR.com

    Many drivers complained about overheating during the race. Hendrick Engines seemed to run especially hot, but there were complaints from many drivers in the field about running hot all race long. There were engine issues associated with it aswell, notably early departures of Regan Smith (lap 16), Ryan Newman (lap 44) and Jimmie Johnson (lap 110). 


    The new rules package was in an attempt to break up the two car tandem racing seen at the Superspeedways in the past, and replace it with the traditional pack racing. What resulted is a sort of hybrid pack racing, where yes the cars stay in what looks like a pack two and three wide, but you can see tandems throughout trying to gain that extra edge. Other than the overheating issues NASCAR seems to have done the trick because it certainly didn't come down to a tandem for the win. 


    Another thing Talladega saw that fans have been talking about is multi-car wrecks. It had been since Martinsville that NASCAR fans had seen a multi-car crash, and Talladega made them wait too. At lap 141 it happened, cars around the track were off the pace running out of fuel and there's a big wreck in Turns 3 and 4. Landon Cassill, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Juan Montoya, Terry Labonte, Aric Almirola and Dave Blaney are involved. Bunch of wrecked race cars. A restart at lap 184 (that looked like a restart in the mini-stock division at a local short track) causes a big mess. Paul Menard, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Michael Waltrip, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Robert Richardson Jr., Tony Stewart, Joey Logano, AJ Allmendinger and more are collected. There you go NASCAR fans, I'm not sure the team owners wallets are as happy.

via NASCAR.com

   That joke of a restart lead to a Green-White-Checkered finish in which Brad Keselowski passed and then pulled away from Kyle Busch by a little over three tenths of a second for the sixth victory of his Sprint Cup Series career. Tony Stewart had some interesting comments in a post race interview. They include: "The racing was awesome," "It's fun to be able to race and have to watch the (overheating) gauges at the same time. It just adds that much more." and "I'm upset that we didn't crash more cars," "That's what we're here for. I feel bad if I don't spend at least $150,000 in torn-up race cars going back to the shop. We've definitely got to do a better job at that." (Quotes via Jeff Gluck) Stewart also made mention of a Talladega figure 8 race track. Totally ridiculous, but the words of a frustrated driver/owner. I would fully expect his comments to be different had he come out with a top-5. 

    Its off to the "Lady In Black" this week for a Saturday night show at the track "Too Tough To Tame" Darlington. 


    Until Then Smitty OUT