It's Talladega

Those were the words most commonly said in the paddock through the race. It was nothing short of a nail biting, pulsating afternoon of racing that had me on the edge of my seat. 68 lead changes amongst 28 drivers, a record - and that was only the officially timed ones at the line.

Tony Stewart snapped a winless streak stretching back to Watkins Glen last season, after Nascar cancelled out Regan Smiths below the yellow line move. It was an unfortunate end to a great race that caused some confusion. As far as I was concerned, racing below the yellow line is a no-no for all the race, so why should the last lap be any different.

During the first half of the race, it looked like there could have been another Indy on our hands. A succession of tire blows out, accumulating in the first ‘Big One’ of the afternoon, had me thinking were we going to see another set of sprints coupled with competition yellows. Whether the issues were with the tires themselves, debris, rubbing or high pressures, they at least disappeared into the second half of the race to let them run for it.

The day saw a mix of strategy, with some of the Chasers sticking to the back to avoid any entanglements. It cost Jimmie Johnson early. The reigning champion lost the draft and fell a lap down. Johnson regained his lap later on via the Lucky Dog. Biffle and Edwards adopted a similar strategy, the latter even employing a unique pit stop strategy to keep himself out of trouble.

When the time to come forward came, it all went sour for the Roush cars. Edwards tipped into the back of Biffle, causing the catalyst for the second ‘Big One’ of the afternoon. Unlike Big One #1, which the Chasers avoided, #2 saw more than half the Chase field receive damage.

Watching Talladega is always a treat. Forget two wide, we had three wide racing for the majority of the race. Four and five when guys felt gutsy. The day saw a number of young guns, like Ragan, Smith, Almirola giving solid drives on the day. The track easily lived up to its tag as the wildcard in the Chase.

That, was pure racing enjoyment.

Chase Update

After the third race of the Chase, I seriously wonder why I bother with Formula One as much anymore. Nascar, plain and simple is a better spectacle. Of course, like any sport, it is capable of producing a snore-bore, but they are few and far between.

Kansas was no different. The top three in the championship duked it out for victory and we saw the difference from a man who wants to win to one who is glad to settle. With a few laps to go, Carl Edwards could easily of decided to settle for second position. But nope, the #99 chased down leader Johnson and took an overly ambitious move to try to take the victory.



It didn’t work out, but at least he tried, even if he did mash his car up some. The icing on the cake? Edwards goes and has a chat with Johnson afterwards, wondering how much he had cleared him by when he jetted by to ensure he didn’t come close to hitting him. Now there is class.

It would still be easy to question the merits of the Chase format. On one hand, it draws everyone together and spices up the last ten races. Anyone looking at the tables after race 26, would think Bush had it in the bag. Then came the Chase, and Rowdy’s luck evaporated like Joe Gibb’s reliability.

It is pretty shocking to see a championship contender fall from grace so quick. After two events, he was more or less out. His third mechanical issue in the three races put the exclamation point on it. Busch-haters are having a field day with it. I have to feel for him. End of the day, you want the best people competing for it. Like him or not, Busch was the best in the run up to the Chase. Of course, that doesn’t explain nor excuse JGR’s shocking problems. After such a great season, it is a shame that it will end like this.

It’s a case of six of one, half dozen of the other in the Chase. Suddenly, everything is mixed up. Greg Biffle, who had horrid luck during the year when in a race-winning car, has sprung up with the opening pair of victories in the Chase, replacing Busch as the main contender to Johnson and Edwards.

Talladega next weekend, a race I am licking my lips with anticipation for. The first race of the season was an awesome spectacle. I expect no different this time around.

'Dega Lives Up To The Hype

Ooh what a race. I have to say that Talladega was edge of the seat watching racing.

The COT provided the perfect platform for the bump racing that occurs at the Super-Speedway. We had cars running two, three, four and at times even five wide. It was an accident waiting to happen and the fact that the ‘big one’ came in the final few laps is a testament to the driving qualities of the field. It had everything including slingshot overtaking moves that fans of Ricky Bobby would know all about!

Kyle Busch picked up his second win of the year on a day where he didn’t necessarily have the best car under him. He was not without his problems on his way to victory lane. Busch went a lap down after missing his pit-box under green-flag pit’s, forcing the young contender to come around again to make his stop. He took advantage of the lucky dog on a caution which allowed him to return to the lead lap. A driver of his calibre took full advantage and quickly found himself up amongst the mix.

His team-mates both had cars capable of winning, with Stewart and Hamlin leading on several occasions. Stewart’s day took a turn for the worse with a cut tire before been involved in first of two late crashes. Hamlin pushed everyone and their mother to the front but didn’t appear to have a car capable of leading on its own.
The top ten featured unfamiliar faces after Busch, with Montoya pushing him to the line for second. David Ragan and Brian Vickers ran up front all day and were rewarded with fourth and fifth respectively. Robert Yates driver Travis Kvapil came home sixth, a great result for the team which for many a race has come to the track sponsor-less. Fan favourite Dale Earnhardt Junior finished tenth having been involved in the same incident with Stewart. The accident put paid to his own hopes of breaking his own winless streak.

It was an awesome race to watch. Within a lap you could fall from first to twentieth and back up again the following lap. It was that sort of race. We had familiar faces intermixed with new players to the front. If there was ever a race to sell NASCAR as a sport – this one would be it.

PC’s Driver of the Day: Kyle Busch. He appeared to a touch behind his Gibb’s team-mates. Busch fell off the lead lap after missing his pit stall when boxed in. ‘Wild Thing’ kept his head, stayed with the leaders and got his lap back before moving his way to the front. After a few races where he was off the boil, Busch firmly reminded the establishment of his ability.