The finish to the Camping World 500 at Talladega provided little of the excitement and drama that many had anticipated in the preceding week. In fact, after a day of close racing and green flag action, fans across the country were left with a sour taste in their mouth and were searching for a scapegoat for the debacle that ensued.
Following the race, NASCAR reached out to its members of the NASCAR Fan Council for their input on the races at Talladega Superspeedway, as is customary after certain race weekends. Noticeably missing though was anything regarding the change in format to the finish of the race, where the series limited the number of green-white-checkered finish attempts to one, down from three at all other tracks.
As not only a writer for Last Word on Sports, but an avid fan of the sport, I provided my input in the open-ended box at the end of the survey, and am able to share with you my opinion on the matter at the end of the race.
The finish to Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega was an absolute disaster. This disaster cannot be pinned on any driver, not Kevin Harvick or Joey Logano or Jimmie Johnson. This disaster can be pinned squarely on the sanctioning body’s shoulders.
The idea of the green-white-checkers was to be able to provide the fans with every opportunity for a green flag finish, and to attempt to not end the race under yellow. On Sunday, NASCAR appeared more than content to end the race under yellow, despite seeing some of the best superspeedway racing we had seen all season. This goes back to a decision that was made on the Tuesday before the race to cut down the number of green-white-checkered finishes from three to one, for this race only at Talladega. This experiment failed miserably.
First off, it was clear that the control tower got caught with their pants down essentially when the field began wrecking before the start-finish line on the “aborted attempt”. If I recall correctly, there was a driver who called this in the drivers meeting before the race as well. If the series had thought to follow its own new rules, that would have been the final attempt, for the sake of consistency with how you have officiated past attempts.
On the “official attempt”, the drivers made it across the start-finish line, which appeared to be a miracle considering Kevin Harvick was clearly too slow to keep pace with the field. Then the wrecking began and the field was quickly put back under the yellow. I understand trying to officiate the timing of cautions is like officiating balls and strikes in baseball, but again I say NASCAR must remain consistent in how they officiate these.
The root of the issues this weekend are laid at the feet of the green-white-checkered finishes. NASCAR owes it to its fans and teams to explain why the change was made and why it was implemented when and how at Talladega. Considering how much was on the line in an elimination race for the Chase, why would that type of change be made the week before? If this was done in the name of safety, then why wasn’t it announced earlier? Many weeks and months have passed since Austin Dillon’s vicious crash at Daytona, It would boggle my mind if the smartest minds in NASCAR hadn’t thought of the idea of limiting green-white-checkered finishes until the week of the next superspeedway race.
At the same time, should the change have ever been made? These are supposed to be the best stock car drivers in the world, and they can’t handle three green-white-checkered attempts? The drivers in the ARCA Racing Series have unlimited green-white-checkered finishes, and for a series that has been ridiculed for the number of wrecks they have, they seem to get through it just fine. Furthermore, there is no denying that crashing and racing are intertwined. In fact, crashing and superspeedway racing are almost an inevitability, which will not be changed by limiting green-white-checkered finishes. If all the drivers out there drive within their abilities, then crashes like that by Austin Dillon can be avoided.
I have been a member of the NASCAR Fan Council for four or five years now. I have never rated a portion of a race in the bottom half of your selector grid. I rated the ending of the Talladega race a two. As a fan who watched the entire race on NBCSN, I couldn’t help but boo with the fans at the end of the race as the drivers crossed the finish line under yellow. And I also agreed with many who expressed their displeasure on social media. That doesn’t make me or anyone else less of a fan of this sport.
As a sport, NASCAR needs to pick itself back up and conduct itself as such, and not as a circus, side show, or entertainment show, which many have called it in these last twenty-four hours. The sanctioning body certainly owes its fans an apology for the display they saw on Sunday, from all involved.
With that said, I am excited for racing again this weekend at Martinsville. And I hope to hear someone in the NASCAR brass acknowledge the fans and apologize for this past weekend’s mess.
Fans should always be encouraged by the sports they follow and the leagues they support to express their opinions and have them heard. Anyone with an opinion about the finish to the Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway should do so by contacting NASCAR. Together as fans, this input can shape the sport for the future.
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