DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
When do finishes like Saturday night's at Daytona International Speedway reach the point of becoming unacceptable? At what point does the fans's need to be thrilled cross that imag inary line? What happens if the driver doesn't walk away from the next one like Saturday's?
The Coke Zero 400 provided another breathtaking, relive-it-on-YouTube restrictor-plate race 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 kind of racing really necessary?
Saturday's finish marked the second consecutive restrictor-plate race that featured the leader wrecking 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 and NASCAR decides to give the fans what they want, the solution is to just turn the races into thrill shows and eliminate illusions of auto racing being a sport.
Once the cars stopped ricocheting off each other, it was hard not to recall the words of driver 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 for that.
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, and Busch's second attempt to block 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 back wheels at least five 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'. They hit, Edwards spun and then catapulted off Ryan Newman's car into the fence as Keselowski won.
These incidents can to be traced to last fall's Talladega race, when 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 went that low because he didn't want to wreck Stewart. NASCAR penalized Smith, gave Stewart the win and all but instructed drivers that 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. After all, restrictor plates, which reduce horsepower and as a result tend to bunch the field together, were used as a remedy after Bobby Allison's car went into the fence at Talladega in 1987 and injured fans.
Yet, just as NASCAR made the current car style a priority and put a tremendous amount of resources into it, series officials would be wise to show the same energy toward finding a solution to the kind of racing restrictor plates have wrought.
One thing NASCAR can do is play a greater role in officiating races.
For example, NASCAR could mandate that a driver can make one move to block a competitor, but two or more successive attempts to block would result in a penalty.
With a wall on the outside and the rules 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 to impact a race in a big way, that might be better than the other option: more high-speed wrecks that imperil more fans and drivers.
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Passing Below The Yellow Line
Passing below the yellow line is not illegal, Hamlin proved this about half way thru the race when he passed Kurt Busch below the yellow line and it caught the attention of the announcers and then they dropped it real quick! Passing below the yellow line is illegal for WHO? ? ? ? ?
At least it wasn't robbie gordon
The bottom line is that Bush wrecked himself. That happens when a driver drives beyond his limit. It's not the first time with Bush and it won't be the last. He's a little too excitible.
NASCAR Restrictor Plate Rules
NASCAR has a lot of issues which it needs to deal with. After Dale Sr's
death on 2001, NASCAR came up with all kinds of safety rules so something like that would not happen again. From the safety aspect that was good, but for the fans,they want to see racing,crashes etc. I agree with those who say the restrictor plates make racing dangerous since it takes the power away from the vehicles which are built to go in excess of 200 MPH.
The Kyle Busch matter may not have happened if they had no restrictor plate to prevent Tony Stewart from passing in the first place. Kyle Busch got what he deserved, and NASCAR should penalize him for his aggressive driving. He is a hothead, and one of these days, someone is going to get pissed off at his antics and give him an attitude adjustment which he has coming. Yes, NASCAR better look at itself and make some changes.
It's not the blocking
The blocking is not the problem...it's Kyle trying to put his car in a spot already occupied by another. But that's just Kyle. He's done it before, and he'll do it again. I think he should be penalized heavily for aggressive driving. Maybe every team with a wrecked clone car will send him a repair bill.
And about "illusions of auto racing being a sport"; sorry, but we have already passed that point.
Is this racing nescessary?
One shot at blocking? Give it a break Dustin! It's called RACING not OK I GIVE UP. Maybe you should start reporting on something more safe, like perhaps gardening. I'm sure the petunias racing the pansies to see who would bloom first is safe enough and the sound of the bees rushing by your head could provide the excitement. Seriously though, racin' is rubbin' and nobody wants to see someone get hurt but it is part of the sport. Lets' not anesthetize it like they have football. If you're scared, park it.
I've heard people mention
I've heard people mention since Saturday night that if restricter plate races are gonna get someone killed if NASCAR doesn't do something. Well, when drivers strap into their vehicle before the race, they've signed that dotted line that consents to that they know anything, and everything could happen, including death. If we really add more rules, we only take away from the racing. Should Kyles block be looked at differently? I think some consideration maybe needs to be looked at, when some deliberately blocks the way he did. Kyle is a awesome driver, I would say one of the best in our times right now - he's a loose canon, but how exciting would NASCAR be right this minute if there was no Kyle Busch? Exactly. He got his punishment about .05 seconds after he made that last block on Tony Steward Saturday night. Unfortunately a lot of other teams took the fall with him. This kid is smart, and he knows very well that at speeds well over 180 mph, putting your rear fender on the left front of another car, is 9.9 times out of 10 going not play in your favor. I think he may have won that race without doing so, but that is never to be known. He could have been delirious from all t
Restrictor Plate Racing
Several reasons for what we all saw Sat night. TV ratings for NASCAR races. It's all about the money. Safety. NASCAR's initial step to increase safety was the plate. After Earnhardt was killed, they developed the COT. How many other drivers lost their lives before NASCAR really moved on safety? So the answer here is obvious. NASCAR will not change anything until another superstar is killed. I honestly don't think NASCAR will change anything if a spectator is killed. NASCAR created this situation with their "rules". Dustin, you hit it right on the head. Stewart was GIVEN the win at Dega last year when he was clearly beaten with a CLEAN pass. One of Earnhardts famous passes was in the grass, why not let others get a pass in the grass. Another issue is the car. It has proven itself to be much safer than past cars. The drivers are feeling indestructible, so they are driving and wrecking like they expect to walk away. Dangerous thinking for themselves and fans.
Racin happens
If Kyle hadn't tried to block the second time nothing happens, it was just his racing, nothing Tony did nothing to do with how they restarted tony was moving and Kyle didn't want him too. I don't think this is at all like Talladega and the yellow line. It was hard racing and could have happened anywhere. Had Tony lifted is there not still a wreck? I was thinking it Tony lifted he'd have taken out Jimmie Johnson and in turn the chain reaction happens and theres still a huge wreck but Kyle Busch wins and everyone else still has wrecked cars. They are racing hard, if they don't race each other to the finish whats the use of having a race.
It can be a double edged sword, but either they race or they just play follow the leader, the wreck sucked, it sucked Tony wasn't thrilled at winning the race but the only way a wreck is avoided is if Kyle doesn't try the second block any other scenario to me seems like a lot of cars end up wrecked.
Separate issues
The two incidents (Talledega and Daytona) need to be looked at carefully, but as separate incidents. Carl Edward's incident was caused by the Yellow Line rule, while Kyle's was caused by the "double" block attempt. Put Busch and Stewart in the same positions on any other track - even Martinsville, and the contact would be the same. This was not an issue with restrictor plates, double file restarts, or the yellow line. It was just an overly aggresive move. Actually, in my opinion, Busch may have won the race if he hadn't tried to block Stewart.
The Carl Edwards incident was caused in part by Brad not going below the Yellow Line. If there was a wall there, not a line, the incident would have been the same.
The only thing that restrictor plates and double file restarts may have caused was the other cars all running into the accidents. Too many cars did not get hard on the brakes at Daytona. NASCAR needs to put a huge yellow light on the dashboards of all cars, so there is no excuse for not immediately backing off. Also, they need to mandate huge brakes for restrictor plate races, not the smallest brakes the teams use to save weight! NASCAR also needs to move the ye
Racing is racing.
It's just racing. NO MORE "NEW" RULES!
Racing?
Sounds like Dustin would prefer to watch 43 people pushing baby strollers around the track. If he wants to take the drivers out of the race, we might as well watch a remote-control car race. Boring...