NASCAR fiddles with 'Dega, but bump-drafting ban isn't the answer

Forty years ago, NASCAR drivers boycotted the very first race scheduled at Talladega Superspeedway.

For about 75 laps in Sunday's AMP Energy 500 there was another boycott.

Unlike the inaugural race walkout when drivers felt the track was not safe and decided to pull out of the Alabama speed plant, the recent protest at least had cars on the track.

But what most drivers did for the middle portion of Sunday's race could hardly be confused with racing.

NASCAR told drivers in the pre-race meeting it would not tolerate bump-drafting through the corners and that penalties would be assessed to anyone implementing the controversial tactic at the judgment of NASCAR officials.

The decision was rumored to be in discussions all weekend long after Friday's practice sessions saw their share of aggressive driving.

So when the edict came from the sanctioning body that Sunday's race would be viewed much differently than past restrictor-plate races and costly penalties would be imposed if bump-drafting through the turns happened, it resulted in a much more cautious approach by the majority of the field.

Rather than risk getting sent to pit road for making contact deemed overly aggressive by NASCAR, drivers simply settled into a follow-the-leader strategy for the bulk of the race. Instead of the three- and four-wide racing that has been the norm for plate racing at Talladega and its sister track in Daytona, fans were forced to watch lap after lap click off as cars rocketed around the 2.66-mile track in a single-file parade.

That is until things started to matter.

As the checkered flag grew near, drivers abandoned the play-it-safe approach and the wildness of Talladega ensued.

And as is usually the case, so did the wrecks.

First, it was Ryan Newman going for a wild flight down the backstretch when he spun around and his car became airborne. Before it was over, Newman's car had landed first on Kevin Harvick's hood before finally coming to rest on its roof after a violent impact.

Then only a few minutes after Newman thankfully crawled from his battered car uninjured, the last lap melee that ultimately ended the race and sent Jamie McMurray to Victory Lane erupted on the front stretch. No fewer than 10 cars sat destroyed in front of the main grandstands including Mark Martin's Chevrolet after it was sent through the air like a piece of paper.

"It was just a wreck," said Martin, who for years has hated racing at the two restrictor-plate tracks. "I hope everybody enjoyed the show there. I don't know what it looked like. It looked pretty exciting from my viewpoint. I don't have a clue. I don't know what happened out there."

While Martin was understandably shaken after his wild ride, the Sprint Cup points standings weren't. Despite the wild-card nature of Talladega and the day's craziness that could have certainly turned the Chase race as upside down as the cars of Martin and Newman, Jimmie Johnson moved even closer to a fourth straight title.

Johnson wound up sixth after the smoke finally cleared Sunday night and with Martin's troubles, he extended his lead to a whopping 184 points with only three races left in the season.

Even Johnson couldn't believe his good fortune.

"I'm like man this isn't Halloween this is an early Christmas present," he said. "So we got through here well. Did not expect that. With the green-white-checker restart I thought we were 20th at best and we came home with a top 10."

The outcome of the crazy afternoon was enough for even Johnson to admit things are looking up for his run at the record book.

"So with all that in mind, yes, I am feeling much better about things," he said. "I was so concerned about this race. I thought I was going to lose points with about three or four to go. So to have it turn around and lead with points over the guys, I didn't expect it. Very, very good situation we're in."

However, the 48 team won't completely coast from now until the last race of the year.

"But I just can't stop doing what I do, how the team does their thing, how we prepare, and let that in until there is no chance because racing doesn't have any feelings," Johnson said. "Racing will reach up and bite you at any point and anything can happen. So we're in a better position, for sure. Our strategy might change some moving forward until ... we can get to Homestead. But we've just got to keep doing what we've been doing and try to close this thing out as soon as possible."

For most drivers, team owners, crew members and even some fans, closing things out as soon as possible at Talladega Sunday was a welcome thing. Since its debut in 1969, the massive track has always presented a challenge.

From that fateful boycott of the sport's top stars at the inaugural race to Sunday's latest chapter of mayhem, there isn't an easy answer to the question of what to do with Talladega Superspeedway?

But it's imperative someone comes up with one.