Talladega incidents can ruin best plans

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Here’s what went right at Talladega Super speedway:

• It was a beautiful day with packed grand stands.

• Fans were treated to a sincere send-off to Dale EarnhardtJr.

• NBC’s overnight television rating was the highest for this race since 2012, when it wasaired on ESPN.

• Brad Keselowski used a last-lap pass to win Sunday and advance into the next roundof the playoffs. So,what’s the problem? There were a lot of accidents in the race, contributing to almost 35 minutes of stoppage over three different redflag periods. There were only 14 cars on the track at the checkered flag, and only four were playoff drivers. Two of themfinished a lap down.

Sorry, that is not a playoff quality event.

NASCAR did the right thing this season in moving Talladega into the middle of the second round of the playoffsso it would no longer be an elimination race. The event is too much of a crapshoot, and too many drivers have had their championship chances destroyedby some misfortune — often out of their hands — for the race to play such a pivotalrole.

AfterSunday, it could be argued that Talladega shouldn’t bein the playoffs at all.

No one is suggesting taking it off the schedule. Fans love restrictor-plate racing at Daytonaand Talladega, and many thought Sunday was a great race. Maybe it was. But it wasn’t the kind of product that should be deciding a championship.

Chase Elliott could have won that race, same for Ryan Blaney, and each ended the day as spectators alongside their junked race cars. So, yeah, both sounded a little bitterabout their results.

Blaney had won the second stage of the race to pick up valuable playoff points, and wasfor sure a contender.

“It’s all ruined now,” said Blaney. “We had a really good day, and now it’s down the drain.”

The 12-driver playoff field willbe cut by four Sunday.