Is fan enjoyment creating safety issues for NASCAR drivers?

Certainly there’s been a lot of discussion about safety in light of the 15-car crash that killed Dan Wheldon in the IndyCar race at Las Vegas this weekend. As this talk takes place, NASCAR is headed to Talladega Superspeedway where mentioning  “The Big One’’ conjures images of several cars crashing and even some getting up in the air at times. YouTube is filled with many such scenes from that track.

At first, fans seemed somewhat intrigued by the new style of racing on restrictor-plate racing where the field broke down into two-car drafts because that was the fastest way around those tracks. As the year has progressed, more fans seem to be disenchanted with the two-car drafts and want the large pack back at those tracks.

Just take a look at the response from fans on my Backseat Drivers Fan Council. I asked them after each of the three plate races how they would grade the races (Great, Good, Fair or Poor) and the numbers are growing that fans don’t like what they see with the two-car drafts. Check this out:

18.1 percent rated the Daytona 500 as either Fair or Poor (and it featured a first-time winner)

25.4 percent rated the spring Talladega race as either Fair or Poor (and this race had 88 lead changes)

34.7 percent rated the July Daytona race as either Fair or Poor (and it featured a first-time winner)

To see such an increase _ nearly double since February _ is staggering. At this rate, more than 40 percent of those Fan Council members could view Sunday’s race as Poor or Fair.

Now, NASCAR heads to its final restrictor-plate race of the season. Series officials have altered the rules slightly by increasing the restrictor plate by 1/64 of an inch to 57/64 of an inch. Also, the pressure relief valve on the cars’ cooling systems will be recalibrated to reduce the pressure by approximately eight pounds per square inch from April’s race at Dega. And, NASCAR is no longer allowing teams to put lubricants on the bumpers, which was used to help the cars stick together when they were in the two-car drafts.

What these changes do will be seen this weekend, but drivers are speculating that they’ll be forced to swap more often in the two-car draft so the car pushing doesn’t overheat its engine. That can create safety issues in itself as the cars swapping are so much slower than a two-car draft. Some say that drivers might just stay in a pack for part of the race. And that’s what some fans seem to want to see.

But is that a good thing?

Different drivers have varying opinions on it. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been outspoken on how he’d rather be in a big pack than pushing in a two-car draft where the driver pushing can’t see beyond the back of the car in front and is, in a way, driving blind.

“I don’t really like the two-car stuff. It’s, I don’t know; just silly,’’ Dale Jr. said in April at Talladega.

“I mean everybody thinks it is cool now 'cause it's new and it's neat and WOW, what is going on. Everybody is getting a big kick out of it. Over the long haul, man, it's not the best. It is not as good as 40 dudes in one pack racin' like hell tryin' to get to the front. It is nowhere near as good as that. Give me that any day over this. Over the long haul people will realize it and go 'Yeah, ok.' The novelty of this...once (the newness) of all this wears off (and) how interesting this is and how unique it is wears off, I think that people will start to see.’’

But pack racking also can present some problems. Here’s what Dale Jr.’s teammate, Jeff Gordon, said today in a conference call about the two-car draft and pack racing:

“I think there are pluses and minuses to both (styles of racing). I can remember being in the middle, three-wide, four rows back and now being very comfortable and not thinking this is the best situation to be in and yet that’s where you are forced to be as a race car driver. As a competitor, you’ve got to put yourself in positions at times and it doesn’t matter if it’s just you and one other car and you dive inside of him and you know you’re going to get loose inside of them at Charlotte or at another race track. You have to take risks.

“You try to make sure those risks are calculated, but on the spot at the moment, sometimes it’s a split-second decision and it can work out to win you the race or it can cause you to lose the championship. When it comes to Talladega, for me, for the most part of the race, I think this two-car draft is actually a little bit safer than what we’ve had with the big packs and a little bit less stress. But when it comes down to winning the race with 20 or 25 to go, it is as intense as it possibly can get for a race-car driver … especially if you are pushing. It’s no fun to go through there somewhat blind. You’ve got the spotter telling you what’s going on, but the cars are very safe and the track is very safe and I think that the drivers would definitely speak up louder if we felt like we were putting ourselves in a position that wasn’t safe to be out there on the race track with. If that were to be the case, you would hear us.

“We’re going to say, “Oh, we don’t like this, or we don’t like this,’ but it’s a whole another level when you think you don’t have the safest environment to be out there in. At the same time, we’re race-car drivers, we’re probably going to take a lot more risks than an everyday average person because of what we do.’’

OK, so what if there are still two-car drafts on Sunday and more fans don’t like it? Look, fans play a key role in this sport and without them, there is no sport. But does there come a time when the fans want more than is reasonable? How much should NASCAR put into what the fans say, especially when it comes to racing at Daytona and Talladega?

Certainly, this is among NASCAR’s most popular forms of racing just based on what TV ratings have been like for these races.  Gordon is right, no matter what rules NASCAR makes and what type of racing it creates, drivers are going to take risks. Of course, it’s up to a sanctioning body to do all it can to limit the chances of such risks. By listening to the fans about Talladega and Daytona, would NASCAR be doing that?

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.