Talladega: an obsolete thrill
TALLADEGA, AL - MARCH 16, 2010: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet drafts with Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota during testing for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway on March 16, 2010 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Of the 22 tracks that host Sprint Cup events, none produces the literal “edge of your seat” anxiety and anticipation that the Talladega Superspeedway presents to everyone in racing - from the drivers to the teams to the media members to the fans - twice a season.
Even when the cars line up and ride along single-file up against the outer wall for several laps, something that has been a trademark of every race run at the track since its mammoth 2.66-mile surface was repaved between the 2006 events, that anticipation builds because we just know that its a momentary lull in the action.
There have been cries - which have grown louder in recent years - by fans and competitors alike to “fix” Talladega. Unfortunately, there appears to be no fix. Removing the restrictor plates will not happen; if a car can take flight at 190 MPH, one must shudder to think what would transpire in the event of an accident at speeds of perhaps 40 miles per hour quicker.
Talladega, essentially, is an obsolete race track. Its long, high-banked layout is simply too fast to fix.
Consequently, the restrictor plates are a must, creating the thrilling side-by-side-by-side (and in some cases, one or two more sides) action that most fans seem to love. The 200-mile-per-hour chess match that Talladega events become in the late dash to the win accounts for some of the most breathtaking laps of racing action all season.
That tight, thrilling action, of course, can often lead to the multi-car pileups that are synonymous with restrictor plate racing. Fans are decidedly more split on the topic of the spectacular crashes that seem without fail to plague both Talladega races at least once. The millions of dollars, blood, sweat, and tears that are wiped out in a blink of an eye make those fans mindful of the cost of the carnage draw up and cringe, but there is no shortage of fans who watch the Talladega events purely to cheer the high-priced junkyard that inevitably litters some point of the race track.
Whether the crash, or crashes, happens or not - there have even been three caution-free events at Talladega - it will not affect the edge-of-your-seat, mental breaking point experience that the superspeedway produces. The mere possibility of a major accident breaking out at any given second, coupled with the constantly changing running order and the close-quarters competition, will make Sunday’s 188-lapper an emotional roller coaster of the most extreme proportions, the likes of which are only seen twice a year when the cars and stars of the Sprint Cup Series invade eastern Alabama.
