Playoffs ratchet up at Talledega
Only Kurt Busch has advanced, so opportunity there
TALLADEGA, Ala. — NASCAR’s last visit to Talladega Superspeedway, when a noose was found in driver Bubba Wallace’s garage stall, marked a pivotal moment in its evolving approach to social justice issues.
The series found itself at the forefront of the national civil rights push when Wallace began using his platform to implore change in a series with a complicated history with race relations. NASCAR banned displaying the Confederate flag at its events, Wallace competed in a car with a Black Lives Matter message, and many Cup drivers participated in a video addressing racism that aired before a race.
Pushback was most evident in June when NASCAR— one of the few leagues in competition during the early part of the coronavirus pandemic — arrived at Talladega. Protesters paraded past the main entrance of the track waving Confederate flags and a plane circled above the speedway pulling a banner of the flag.
The mystifying June visit seems so long ago in this season of 2020 abnormalities. The focus has shifted to free agency, the slow return of fans to racetracks, the efforts toward financially surviving the pandemic and, of course, the championship campaign.
Kurt Busch last week picked up his first win of the season at home track Las Vegas Motor Speedway and is the only driver already advanced to the round of eight. Talladega marks the second of three races of the second round with four of the remaining 12 drivers set to be eliminated nextweek.
Talladega, the 2.66mile, high-banked oval, is noted for pack racing at high speed and multi-car crashes. It’s an unpredictable 500-mile test of awareness and strategic split-second decisions and a crapshoot for the title contenders.
Kyle Busch, the reigning Cup champion, has yet to win a race this year and is in danger of missing the championship race for the first time since 2014. He’s the first driver below the cutline for elimination, ahead of Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola and Austin Dillon.
All four are aggressive superspeedway racers — Dillon is a Daytona 500 winner — and Talladega racing gives anyone a chance. It’s been a Team Penske run of seven wins in the last 12 races, including two straight by Ryan Blaney, who was eliminated in the first round.
But the theory is that racing Sunday will be a trademark Talladega, a frenetic rush to grab a victory and slide into the third round of the playoffs. Denny Hamlin, the Daytona 500 winner, starts fromthe pole following a a third-place finish at Las Vegas for his first good run of the playoffs.
Kurt Busch, the only driver with nothing to lose Sunday, starts second.
“We don’t have to worry about Talladega, which is awild-card race,” he said. “We have two weeks of what you could call a celebration. But at the same time let’s finish this and let’s get to work. Let’s keep the gas on. Let’s go for stage points and stage wins and bank as many points as we can when we don’t have to worry about it.”