Following Sunday’s wild finish to Aaron’s 499 at the Talladega Superspeedway, many outlets appear to be overreacting to the outcome of the latest restrictive plate race, but there are clearly some things that need to be addressed.
Safety has always been a concern at Talladega, including the track’s first event. Fearing that the tires would not hold up to the speeds being produced, many drivers, led by Richard Petty, boycotted the event. Since then NASCAR and track officials have been keeping an eye on safety, but unfortunately, it generally takes an incident like the Carl Edwards spin on Sunday for the wheels to turn seriously.
When Bobby Allison blew out a tire and flew back toward the safety fence in 1987, NASCAR implemented the use of restrictive plates. When Rusty Wallace slammed past the start and finish line in 1993, the grass was paved to prevent a car from sinking and rolling over. When Jimmy Horton flew over the wall at turn one in 1993, the track installed fences around the track; Ricky Craven then put that fence to the test in 1996. When Dale Earnhardt Sr. flipped against the exterior wall in 1996 and was hit on the roof and windshield of several other cars, NASCAR introduced the Earnhardt bar, a roll bar located on the middle of the windshield.
With Edwards’s car flying through the air and toward the fence, NASCAR should take a closer look at the incident to see where improvements need to be made. For this writer, several things stand out about the incident that need to be addressed.
First, it’s clear that Edwards was throwing the block at Keselowski to push him below the yellow line. We saw Regan Smith go through the platform lead at last October’s event after being forced by Tony Stewart, only to be penalized by NASCAR and stripped of the victory.
With this precedent, Keselowski was doomed and determined not to give in and not to move below the yellow line. When Edwards released the block, Keselowski was there and the rest is history.
“Regan did the right thing last year,” Keselowski said after the event. “He did the smart thing. He did the great thing. And he did, he did something I’d be proud of if I was him. You know, he took the bullet. To be honest, I didn’t. I wasn’t. I’m not going to take the bullet. No I am in a situation in my career where I can afford to take the bullet and I have nothing to lose. “
The second thing that stands out is the fact that Edwards’ car flew off first. With safety innovations like roof fins and the new car itself, it came as a surprise to many that the No. 99 soared into the air in the first place.
Sure, Matt Kenseth pitched his No. 16 during Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide race, but that was a Nationwide car, not a COT. Those types of bodies look more like the old Cup car than the COT, understandably one of those cars would flip over and fly through the air. However, when Edwards swung down through Keselowski’s nose and his rear wheels immediately shot up into the air, there is a problem there. This new car was designed to be as safe as possible, but when a car’s rear tires rise into the air after turning, NASCAR must step in and find ways to keep cars on the ground.
“I really don’t understand why Carl’s car did what it did,” Keselowski noted. “I think that’s something we have to investigate. Those cars shouldn’t fly like yours did, and I think that confused me a bit. I just thought his car would turn into the triangle. I think we should look at that and do some tests. in the wind tunnel to see if we can’t fix it. “
Third place Ryan Newman agreed with Keselowski that NASCAR needs to keep cars on the ground at all times.
“The only thing that stands out in my mind is two days in a row, as I said, we have [seen] a car rolled over and turned upside down, “Newman explained.” We need to go back, not to the drawing board, develop some flat roofs or something to keep the cars on the ground; that’s something not only for the drivers, but also for the fans. That’s something that stands out. “
Finally, one of the most surprising things to emerge from the debris was the fact that both Edwards and Newman, who collided with the No. 99 flyer at a speed of nearly 200 mph, were missing sections of the windshield. Of course, Edwards hit the fence almost head-on and Newman got the brunt of Edwards’ car on the hood and windshield, but with the technology available today, this should never be a problem. When running at speeds close to 200 mph, drivers must be sure that their windshield will not break in the course of an accident, regardless of the severity.
“NASCAR has to do its job to get the cars on the ground and its job to make the cars safer. I noticed the windshield pad moved away and Carl Edwards’ windshield pad moved away,” Newman added. “Anything that we can do to keep making cars safer, because I’m pretty sure we’ll go back to Talladega, and I’m pretty sure we’ll go back to restrictive plates, and I’m pretty sure we’ll go back to three of wide and four wide for most races.
Also, there is no denying the danger that was posed when Edwards’ machine flew towards the fence, sending debris flying through the crowd. NASCAR and the track officials have come a long way in the twenty-plus years since the terrifying Allison incident, and thanks to those innovations, Edwards’ car did not end up in the stands and injuries, while unfortunate, were kept to a minimum. .
This problem is more difficult to tackle. Sunday’s incident clearly demonstrated that when a car is sent flying into the crowded crowd, there are safety devices in place to keep damage to a minimum. Fans who attend any sporting event are subject to the dangers posed by that particular sport. Flying baseballs, hockey pucks and broken bats have been sent into the crowd injuring innocent bystanders. In a sport where 43 cars drive past thousands of fans at speeds close to 200 mph, NASCAR has done an incredible job protecting those in the stands from injury or death.
“You have to understand that, for years, we have had accidents like this every time we come to Talladega since the plate arrived and for years it was celebrated,” said runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr. “The media celebrated it, the network celebrated it, calling him the big one, just trying to get attention and trying to draw people’s attention to the race.
“So there is a responsibility with the media and the networks and with the sanctioning body itself to come around a bit and think about, you know, the situation,” Earnhardt Jr. added. “But I mean, you know, you can’t. sit here and jump in and say, wow, what I saw today was crazy. I don’t think that’s right, unless you’re a host, because the media and the networks and everyone has been celebrating it for years. “
Clearly, Sunday’s terrifying incident has drawn attention to the fact that there are still gaps in safety that NASCAR must address. However, Carl Edwards stating that “we will run like this until we kill someone” might take him a bit too far. Note that Edwards was not only able to climb out of his wrecked race car, but he raced across the finish line afterward. Edwards is fit now, but that anyone can climb out of an accident of that magnitude says a lot about NASCAR’s effort in terms of making the sport as safe as possible.
“There is no overreaction when it comes to safety,” argued Newman. “Not only, as I said, not only for us, but also for the fans. The bottom line is that whatever we can do to make it safer for everyone, that’s what we have to do. And yesterday and today were two things. I’m sure NASCAR will spend some time watching, playing some videos and seeing what the cars are doing and letting their engineers figure out what we can do to try to help the situation. “
Security is never a finished project, it is something that constantly needs to be adjusted and worked on every day. However, I do not agree with Newman’s sentiments. Now, it is true that I am not behind the wheel of one of these machines, but I think NASCAR should only be careful to overreact to this incident in the name of safety.
In 2000, when Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin died at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, NASCAR implemented the use of restrictive license plates on the one-mile track in an effort to prevent more tragic incidents. The result was a terrible race in which there was not a single pass for the lead.
What NASCAR needs to make sure is that there isn’t a knee-jerk reaction to all the media protests after Sunday’s event. Certainly steps must be taken in terms of keeping cars on the ground and ensuring windshield durability, but there is a fine line between overreacting and overreacting.