NASCAR faces a dilemma with Talladega; what must officials do?

NASCAR faces a challenge as it heads into its final three weeks of the season.

What to do with Talladega.

While I'm sure many fans enjoyed Sunday's race, there were certainly a good bit of Internet chatter from folks not pleased.

Certainly there was a good bit of criticism even from drivers Sunday about the racing. They don't like all the rule changes and the feeling of being boxed in on how they can race. While there was some single-file racing Sunday, let's be honest, that has happened here at times. Doesn't mean it's happened as much as it might have Sunday. Let's also understand that everyone walked away, including Ryan Newman and Mark Martin, who both got upside down.

Here's a couple of questions to ponder.

# With a race that features 58 lead changes, has a 13-car wreck on the last lap and features a first time winner this year, why would you consider this a boring race if you did?

# What can be done to make things better if they weren't good enough for you?

OK, so here's what some of the drivers said after the race about the racing and such:

# We'll start with Ryan Newman, among the most vocal, after his wreck.

"I wish NASCAR would do something. It was a boring race for the fans. That (wreck) is not something anybody wants to see. At least I hope not. If they do, go home because you don't belong here. It's just a product of this racing and what NASCAR has put us into with this box and these restrictor plates with these types of cars. You know with the yellow line, no bump-drafting, no passing. Drivers used to able to respect each other and race around each other. Richard Petty, David Pearson and Bobby Allison and all those guys have always done that. I guess they don't think much of us anymore.

Newman also says later: "The more rules, the more NASCAR is telling us how to drive the race cars, the less we can race and the less we can put on a show for the fans.

"It is a ridiculous situation. it is a shame that not more is getting done. I guess maybe I expect NASCAR to call me. I am the only (driver) out there with an engineering degree. I would like to have a little respect on my end.''

Asked if he would go talk to NASCAR, Newman said: "I am not going to talk to them. It just doesn't matter.''

# Here's Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the racing and what happened Sunday.

"The deal about not pushing through the corners didn’t have nothing to do with that wreck. It was just the same old stuff. Blocking. Everybody blocks and cuts each other off in trying to defend their position. You can’t blame them. What are you going to do?

"As long as we’re running 3-wide with a motor that won’t go nowhere and we’re just stuck, accidents are going to happen. When the money is on the line, we need to do something to spread us out a little bit. I’m not sure.''

       (IS THIS ACCEPTABLE OR DOES SOMETHING NEED TO BE LOOKED AT OR CHANGED)

            “I almost got in it, so I wouldn’t be very happy right now. I feel lucky that I didn’t wreck. I feel like racing here with the COT and the plate is a lottery. We show up to bust our (rear) and work hard to get our cars to handle and drive right and do right everywhere else but when you come here, you just sit in the bus and wait for the (darn) race to start and see what you’re number is at the end of the deal. It’s a lottery.

# Denny Hamlin about the racing:

(RACE BORING?)

"I'm as bored as they (fans) are sitting in the car. Wtih the race this long, it could be 15 laps and you would probably have a better show then what you would if it was 188. Superspeedway racing is that way, especially when you put us in a box and say we have to drive a certain way, then it just makes us not want to race even harder until the very end.

(ANY ORGANIZED EFFORT BY THE DRIVERS EARLY TO RACE SINGLE FILE)

"I think it's just everyone saying you don't even need to go with 30 go, so why do we need to go with 130 to go. I think everyone was just content to log laps.  It just seems like once everyone gets in a comfortable position, some guys go to the front and the back and they're sick of trying ot make it back and forth, they're just fine to settle in.''

# Carl Edwards on the racing Sunday.

(RYAN NEWMAN SAYS NASCAR PUTS YOU IN A BOX AND DOESN'T RESPECT YOU AS DRIVERS AT ALL)

"i know exactly how Ryan feels. I know exactly how he feels.

(WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN NEXT)

"What they (NASCAR) need to do, and, man I never thought I'd be saying this, but they just need to say you can't push anybody anywhere on the race track and then I think you wouldn't have the people banging down the straightaway and separating in the corners. I would not have guessed it, but I think NASCAR headed in the right direction if we're going to have to race at these places. I guess that is what we're going to have to do.''

# Robin Pemberton, NASCAR VP of Competition:

"What happened today? To be honest with you, this race is like many of the races that happen at Talladega. Lot of good close competition and, all in all, it's not uncommon, even though you don't want it to happen, but you have a green-white-checkered finish. Once in a while you get a car that gets over. it's about what Talladega is.''

(WHAT ABOUT SINGLE FILE RACING EARLY)

"That's the way Talladega (is and) how you have to race a lot of the 500-mile races. Lot of 500-mile races when you listen to the teams, they work on their cars, they get their cars to handle and then they log laps during a small porition or middle third of the race in order to have their equipment ready for the end of the race. So, it's not uncommon of any 500-mile race that you see.

(DID THE RULE CHAGNES WITH THE BUMP DRAFTING WORK)

"It might have been a little bit different but what happened today, we didn't have any major incidents in the corner. The two wrecks that happened they happened in the free zone (straights and tri-oval) where we weren't monitoring the bump drafting or anything like that.

(SOME DRIVERS WERE UPSET, SAYING they've been put in a box with the bumping rule, yet you guys said in the drivers meeting you had to do this, does it bother you drivers are complaining about it?)

"It doesn't bother us. We do a service for those guys. Many of them that come to us, say you've got to help us from ourselves and we do just that. We took away the bumping or hooking up in the corner and the incidents that happened were the free zone we weren't regulating.''

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WHAT THEY SAID:

# Race winner Jamie McMurray on his future since he won't be back at Roush Fenway Racing:

"There aren't a lot of rides available right now. Everybody knows what rides there are out there and, certainly, if a sponsor were to call me that would make it a lot easier. With the amount of teams that are shutting down, there's not a lot of options out there, so I think everyone knows the cars that are available right now. For me, I just hope that we can get it signed and then announce it whenever they want to so that will make it a little bit easier to sleep at night.''

# Mark Martin talkling about his wreck at the end of the race where he rolled upside down:

"It was just a wreck. I hope everybody enjoyed the show there. I don't know what it looked like. It felt pretty exciting from my viewpoint there. I have no idea. I don't have a clue. Don't know what happened out there. I don't know. Congratulations to Jamie McMurray and that's about all I know about the whole race. I'll find out later I guess."

# Jimmie Johnson on his expanding points lead. He's now up on Mark Martin by 184 points and Jeff Gordon by 192 points. Most you can make on a driver in a race is 161 points. Thus, Johnson could finish last at Texas next weekend and will still leave as the points leader no matter what Martin does.

"I'm not going to let up and lose focus to the job I need to do and allow the championship to be in the forefront of my mind until it's mathematically locked out. I can lose (161) points next week if I miss a shift and blow the engine at the start ofthe Texas race and Mark has a perfect day. So with all that in mind, yes, I am feeling much better about things.''

# Joey Logano on his strategy during Sunday's race:

"I was just whoever was in front of me I was going to push like heck and hope for the best.''

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QUICK HITS

# Robert Richardson Jr. finished 18th in his Cup series debut, driving for Tommy Baldwin Racing.

# Joey Logano finished third. It's his fourth consecutive top-15 finish.

# Denny Hamlin blew a motor for the second time in the last three weeks.

# Jeff Burton's 5th-place finish was his first top-10 since Pocono in June and it came in his first race with new crew chief Todd Berrier.

# Talladega spring winner Brad Keselowski finished 8th.

# Bobby Labonte's 10th-place finish was the first top-10 for the No. 71 TRG Motorsports team this season.

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QUESTION TIME

Now, it's time to hear from you.

# With a race that features 58 lead changes, has a 13-car wreck on the last lap and features a first time winner this year, why would you consider this a boring race if you did?

# What can be doneto make things better if they weren't good enough for you?

If you don't respond, you can't be heard.

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