USA TODAY International Edition
Talladega to keep NASCAR drivers on edge
TALLADEGA, Ala. – When race car drivers talk about liftoff speeds, it’s usually not a fun conversation.
That terminology came into play Friday at Talladega Superspeedway after Jamie McMurray’s car decided it could fly during an afternoon practice session. After a tire issue, McMurray’s car turned left into traffic, was hit by Ryan Newman and lifted into the air before barrel-rolling several times. McMurray was not hurt.
NASCAR safety advances have mostly eliminated the possibility of race cars going airborne, but the right (or wrong) set of circumstances still can send drivers on a wild ride.
NASCAR reacted quickly to the issue, decreasing the size of engine restrictor plates for Saturday and Sunday, trimming speeds and making airborne adventures less likely.
Cars approached 204 mph in Friday’s final practice. Speeds in the draft are likely to be in that range in Sunday’s GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race (2 p.m. ET, Fox), the second restrictor-plate event of the season.
How fast is too fast at NASCAR’s biggest track?
“Too fast is subjective,” said Brad Keselowski, a five-time winner here. “We could run around here at 260 miles per hour, and I would be OK with that. It would probably not be what a lot of people would expect when they buy a ticket because we would be spread out across the whole track like it was in the mid’80s.
“I think a lot of people expect pack racing. It is not too fast for me as a driver. It is what I signed up for, and I am happy to go whatever speed. It is too fast for those that expect to see pack racing on Sunday.”
Multiple-car wrecks are the rule, not the exception, at Talladega. The engine plates are largely an equalizer, turning mid-range cars into contenders and grouping packs of 20 and 30 cars together, increasing the likelihood of big crashes.
Alex Bowman, who won the pole for the Daytona 500, said he expects Sunday’s competition to mirror Daytona’s. “I think you will see a very similar race to the 500,” he said. “Probably a lot of accidents and people get sick of wrecking and get single-file up against the wall and then it will get crazy again at the end. I mean that is kind of how the (super)speedway races tend to work.”
Some drivers camp out at the back of the field for much of the race in an attempt to avoid accidents, but that strategy sometimes backfires. Often, it’s best to try to lead to stay in front of the mayhem.
“With the rules package we’ve got going, we are on edge the whole entire time,” Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. said. “Daytona — just hanging on every move that you made. You were white-knuckle just trying to complete the pass or complete the run — whatever you had going.”