Bump ban produces single-file Talladega
November 3, 2009
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP)—To anyone watching, Sunday’s race at TalladegaSuperspeedway looked like a high-speed protest of NASCAR’s pre-race ban onbumping in turns.
Cars paraded around the 2.66-mile speedway in a long, single-file line afterNASCAR made it clear that bump-drafting would not be tolerated.
“It wasn’t like everybody was in their cars and we were like, ‘Let’s getsingle-file and prove a point’ or ‘Let’s just follow each other,”’ race-winnerJamie McMurray said. “You had to be in the outside groove because that’s whereall the momentum was.”
McMurray snapped an 86-race losing streak after the final 10 laps weremarred by two frightening accidents in which the cars of Ryan Newman and thenMark Martin went airborne.
Newman, who was trapped in his car for almost 15 minutes before rescueworkers could shear away its roof, called it “a boring race and a ridiculousrace” afterward. But McMurray didn’t think the race was all that different.
“I remember in 2004, 2005 with the other car, Dale Jr. riding around thevery top of the race track and everybody following him,” he said. “I rememberit being really similar to that. And more than anything now, the drivers havelearned they have to make it to the end of the race in order to win the race. Somaybe they don’t take the chances that they did a few years ago.”
Kurt Busch, sixth with three races remaining for the 2009 NASCARchampionship, called the lack of risk-taking a byproduct of the restrictorplates used only at Talladega and Daytona.
“It’s been an ongoing process since they introduced the restrictor plates,as far as this Catch-22 that we’re in,” Busch said. “We have to provide forthe safety of the drivers and the fans, and yet at the same time, we have to puton a good show.”
To put on a better show at a track usually known for three- and four-wideracing, Busch suggested NASCAR increase the size of the opening in the plates atTalladega but not Daytona, where he said speed is less of an issue.
“We should go faster at Talladega and create the need for the cars to slidea little bit and put more emphasis on set-up than on bump drafting,” he said.
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