In less than 24 hours, the drivers of the NASCAR Sprint Cup will compete in a 500-mile chess game at the world’s fastest superspeedway. And for those 500 miles, no driver will know their true racing fate until they cross the start/finish line for the final time.
Since its first race in 1969, the Talladega Superspeedway has been the epitome of great racing and unpredictability.
The 2.66 mile behemoth of a speedway presents great passing opportunities with its progressive, 33-degree banking and four, vast lanes. But with vast open spaces comes close-quarters racing and large wrecks.
For the first two decades of its early existence, races at Talladega were all about brute, unrestricted speed, which produced lap times well over 200 mph. In 1987, NASCAR legend, Bill Elliot, set the fastest qualifying time ever recorded in NASCAR history with a lap time of 44.99 seconds, which was the equivalent of 212.809 mph. With such gut-wrenching speeds, the cars and drivers were literally at the edge of control.
But in May 1987, disaster nearly struck after Bobby Allison blew an engine and cut his right-rear tire from the debris while going through the tri-oval portion of the track. As a result, his car was vaulted airborne and damaged a portion of the front stretch catch fence. Lucky the car but did not enter the spectator area. The incident, however, made NASCAR impose a rule change to slow the cars with a rules package in 1988 that would require cars racing there and at Daytona to use restrictor plates.
The most often cited reason is that NASCAR feared the increasing speeds were exceeding the capabilities of the tires available during that era, since high-speed tire failures led to some horrific crashes at similar speeds. The restrictor plates limit the amount of air and fuel entering the intake manifolds of the engine, which greatly reduce the horsepower of the cars.
Since the implementation of this rules package more than 25 years ago, racing at Talladega and Daytona has been anything but uneventful.
Throughout the years, this racing package has produced white-knuckle racing that changed the very dynamic of what racing truly is. Instead cars being spread out throughout the speedway, packs about 35 to 40 cars deep, running three and four wide, now dominate the 500-mile marathon. With large pack racing, battles for the lead have now become highly contested with every race creating the possibility of triple-digit lead changes.
But with such close racing also comes incredible risks. Since the implementation of restrictor-plate racing, large, multicar wrecks have occurred at both Talladega and Daytona, some in record fashion.
In a 2002 Busch Series race (now the Nationwide Series), a massive wreck broke out of turn 2 on lap 14 when the 3rd and 4th place cars tangled in front of the field. The end result had one car flip over several times, with several others stacked on top of each other. The official count on that day was 28 racecars, but the real number was closer 35.
In 2003, another massive pileup broke out on lap 4 of a Winston Series Cup race (now Sprint Cup Series) when Ryan Newman had tire go down in turn 1 while running 8th and spun in front of two-thirds of the field. The result of Newman’s flat tire caused a 27-car pileup, still one of the largest wrecks in NASCAR history.
Wrecks of this magnitude have now been dubbed as “The Big One” and has labeled as somewhat inevitable every time NASCAR visits these two tracks.
Throughout the years, drivers ranging from Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. have implemented different tactics at Talladega to try to avoid the massive crash. Some have involved running at the back, on purpose, until the very end to increase the odds of avoiding the wreck. Some tactics have involved running at the very front and controlling your destiny. None have been 100 percent successful.
When it comes to Talladega, there is no such thing as a perfect strategy.
Jeff Gordon has wrecked trying to do both. He was running in 7th in 2009 Aaron’s 499 when he helped trigger a 15-car crash less than 10 laps into the race. He was also running in 30th in 2012 Aaron’s 499 and was caught up in a 13-car pileup with less than 50 laps to go.
Perhaps the best example belongs to Bobby Labonte. In the 2001 EA Sports 500, Labonte was leading when the white flag fell on the race. While racing Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and the late Bobby Hamilton for the lead, Labonte helped trigger a 16-car crash of turn 2 after an ill-fated block attempt on Hamilton. Labonte got the worst end of the deal as his car flipped over and would not finish the race; he was credited with a 22nd place finish.
Talladega has shown time after time that there is no safe haven.
Racing at this track under regular conditions can create a mentally-draining afternoon for all 43 racers. But now with the added pressure to advance to NASCAR’s next round, 10 of the remaining 12 Chase drivers might endure the most mental pressure of their professional careers.
Racing at Talladega has often been referred to “buying a lottery ticket” because there is a small chance of success with a great likelihood of failure. Perhaps this analogy is right on the money since there are so many factors outside a driver’s control throughout this race.
Talladega is one of two tracks in the series (the other being Daytona) where one can run the perfect race for 499.5 miles, and all it takes is a small mistake or a sudden move by another driver for a whole day’s work to go to ruin.
Tony Stewart knows that better than anybody.
In 2012 fall race, Stewart took the lead from Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth while coming to the white flag. And heading into turn 3, Stewart made a late block on Michael Waltrip for the win and wrecked himself and 24 other cars just a third of a lap from the finish. The late mistake caused Stewart’s car to flip and ride on the perspective hoods of Kasey Kahne and Clint Bowyer, and gave Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who was in the middle of the wreck, a concussion that would force him to miss the next two races.
Talladega has shown throughout the years that she’s no ordinary beast. Succeeding there is not a direct result from skill or strategy, but rather luck and fate.
In every year that NASCAR has crowned a champion, regardless of its format, the champion has found a way to survive Talladega, more often than not. Whether it was Jeff Gordon escaping a last-lap melee in the 2001 EA Sports 500 or Jimmie Johnson threading through a 15-car crash in the 2008 AMP Energy 500, if one is meant to win the title, he will find a way around Talladega.
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