NASCAR CUP SERIES ... WHAT TO WATCH AT TALLADEGA

NEW RULES

Ryan Newman was in a harrowing accident when racing for the win on the final lap at Daytona in February. Changes made to the cars for Talladega as a result of Newman’s crash include the elimination of aero ducts at superspeedway tracks, a reduction in size of throttle body and now slip tape must be applied along the entire length of the lower rearward facing surfaces of the rear bumper cover. The changes are for superspeedways only, but teams have zero practical knowledge of their effect.

The condensed schedule has eliminated practice and qualifying sessions so drivers will get their first feel of their Talladega cars when they climb in their cockpits Sunday. Five-time Talladega winner Brad Keselowski has won twice since NASCAR resumed and is among those “not sure what to expect.” “I think the list of changes was so big that I’m having a hard time anticipating how the cars are going to drive,” Brad Keselowski said. “Small variations in how the car drives can make a big difference as to how they draft, so it’s going to be a lot of learning as we go in the race.”

THE FLAG BAN

NASCAR five years ago said it would no longer allow fans to display the Confederate flag at events but never did anything to enforce the ban. Now, in response to driver Bubba Wallace’s call for the flag to be disallowed, series leaders say they are serious about enforcement.

But they have not outlined any plans on how they will do it. The flag is typically flown at campsites and above the recreational vehicles that crowd the infield. Talladega is not permitting camping inside the track so Sunday may not be a true test of NASCAR’s enforcement ability.

Veteran driver Brendan Gaughan, making his second start of what he believes will be his final season, said NASCAR is at least looking at the big picture. “NASCAR five years ago made a deal where they tried to get rid of it without overstepping too many bounds,” he said. “But now the world has changed where you can kind of step over those bounds and make change, and they made a very positive one. It will work out great for our sport, as a whole. I think we’ll gain a lot of new fans and a lot of new people will be paying attention, and that’s great for all of us.” THE FEUDS

Denny Hamlin, who won his third Daytona 500in February, has been beefing with Corey LaJoie on Twitter for months. It seemed harmless at first — it wasn’t even clear they were serious — but took a turn in the last week.

After Hamlin drew the top starting spot for last week’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Hamlin lost three chances at a championship in season finale races, LaJoie said Hamlin would win the race because there was nothing on the line. That low blow escalated the warring words, prompting NASCAR to step in with an at-track meeting,

Hamlin, who did indeed win at Homestead last Sunday, said after that race the feud was over. But LaJoie in his weekly podcast continued the clash until finally relenting Thursday with a social media post apologizing for his role in the bickering.

LaJoie explained his position during a Zoom session with reporters and said both were wrong.

“Did I run my mouth a little bit more than what I probably should have? Yes. Did he do things that he probably regretted? Yes. That’s how we got into this situation,” LaJoie said. “We are both grown-ups. We both have kids. We both have jobs and livelihoods that are bigger than this little tiff we have going on.” Meanwhile, Joey Logano has not forgiven Chase Elliott for the mistake that took them both out of contention on the final lap at Bristol. Logano refused to cut Elliott any room on the track as he raced Hamlin for the victory last week by making it difficult for Elliott to get past him every chance Logano had. Elliott curtly said after the race he needed to learn how to handle lapped traffic better and never mentioned Logano specifically. Logano has made it clear he has no incentive to get out of Elliott’s way. “You race people the way they race you. You can’t do things without repercussions of some sort. You cost me a win, I cost you a win. Those types of things go like that,” he said.

— The Associatied Press