Talladega Race Weekend Discussion

[MattSRD28]

How about that truck race???

Kvapil on the pole for the Cup race! WOOO!!

Do DNQ's by Hornish and Carpentier this weekend mark the beginning of the end for both of their NASCAR careers?

 

[Mike24]

That was an awesome finish to the truck race...10 trucks crossed the line within 5 truck lengths of each other...just, wow.

I was pulling for Braun at the end, there, but at least Kyle didn't win.


I don't think the DNQ ends Carpentier or Hornish's careers. Carpentier sounds like he wants to go full-time N'Wide racing in '09 if he can't get a cup sponsor together for a 4th GEM car, and Hornish sounds like he's in it for the long haul. He came in not expecting to light the world on fire in his first year, and has really improved as a driver. DNQing at 'Dega really is a crapshoot that comes down to the car, not the driver (if you're outside the top 35). Hornish will be back in the 77 next year, and will be much improved.

 

[MattSRD28]

Regan Smith becomes the victim of ambiguous rules.

He accurately points out that if you're forced under the line, it's all good. And in the driver's meeting they say anything goes on the last lap. We've seen before where cars get passed below the line on the backstretch so why not below the line in the tri-oval? Ambiguous rules, gotta love 'em.

 

[JSwanson88]

I think Nascar gave the win to stewart because it looks better for the sport...but I'm for it. I like Stewart a little bit, and I don't really like Smith

 

[Wombat24]

I find it so ironic that was the same thing Tony tried to attack Nascar officials over at Daytona over back in 2001 when they said he wasn't forced below the line by Johnny Benson. He was forced then but he didn't force Regan? Karma I guess, lol. You've got to hand it to Regan though to drive that thing through the trioval on the apron like that and not only hang on to it but to make the pass. That took some guts!

 

[mgcastro]

I couldn't see the end of the race, but from what I heard JPM ran well and got caught in the Big One with Biff; Edwards, Jr and company.
I think Jimmie has everything to be this years champ!

 

[Bengals]

I see it as Smith's win Stewart forced him down with the block NASCAR should have looked closer. Or NASCAR should enforce the rule to all drivers not just sertain ones.

 

[blinkjohnson]

I agree I believe Smith should have won the race. If I recall Earnhardt Jr. won in what I believe was 2003/2004 by passing Matt Kenseth below the yellow line but was 'forced' ... and NASCAR is quick to say anything goes on the last lap - but fails to say that it depends on who you are or who you race for. I think NASCAR gave Tony the win because he has a larger fan base, and is known to openly ridicule NASCAR, Goodyear, and anything else he isn't satisfied with. I think it was easier for them to justify Stewart winning over Smith. I was also watching DirecTV on Earnhardt Jr.'s channel which was switched to Stewart after he was wrecked out.. I loved it how the NASCAR official comes up to Tony's car with a huge smile and shakes his hand and says "Good Job Tony!!" .. How professional(?). Sure switched up the chase though, I think it looks like they all wanna beat that 48! I'm eager to hear more about Hamlin's condition, how unfortunate - but a pretty dramatic race

 

[MattSRD28]

I'm not one for conspiracy theories at all, but NASCAR has some ambiguous rules, this is one of them, and they directly contradicted what they've repeatedly said in the past here.

"if you can see the checkered flag on the last lap, anything goes," according to NASCAR spokesman Owen Kearns.

I swear I heard on the pre-race show the “race rules for Talladega” were no passing below the yellow line except on the final lap. The exception was if you were forced below the line.

"When the checkered flag is in sight on the last lap, anything goes."
An unidentified NCTS official to Dave Despain when asked about Johnny Benson's out-of-bounds pass for second at Daytona's NCTS race.

Regan Smith got hosed out of his first Cup series win, and no one's really making a big deal about it because a 'name' like Tony Stewart was awarded the win and little nobody Smith was on the short end of the deal.

Just imagine if Stewart had the win taken away and awarded to Smith. The world would be coming to an end as we speak.

 

[Batman1138]

Who says the COT can't put on great races? Look at the last four weeks!

and oh by the way WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Finally got me a #20 win this year!

I give credit to Regan Smith for going for it though. He had to. I think NASCAR penalized him because he was so far below the yellow line, maybe if it was just a tire or something it would have been ok. But other than that its just NASCAR's discretion. What would have happened if Jr went below the yellow line? NASCAR says its a judgement call.

 

[Ten0r]

From Kathy's Pit Stop:

Sprague wins Daytona in a three-wide finish

The race was slowed by 7 cautions, but the dramatic finish is what fans will remember. Travis Kvapil led for a lot of the race and it looked like he was going to pull out the win when Benson gave Sprague a big push to the front on the final lap and then made it three-wide for the finish. Benson ended up finishing ahead of Kvapil in the finish.

The biggest question was that Benson actually went below the yellow line to pass Kvapil on the botton, a move NASCAR supposedly reviewed and deemed legal?

From Turn-lane blogspot

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston was on "The Morning Drive" on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 ... "When the drivers can see the checkered flag, you can get all you can get,"

Now I know Daytona is a different beast than Talladega and the Checkers aren't in the bend part of the front straight, but Regan Smith was clearly pushed down there or he could have spun Stewart and gave the win to Menard (Smith being reprimanded for aggressive driving). What more does NASCAR want from it's drivers than to prevent accidents from occurring?

Congratulations to Regan Smith and DEI. May you take your claim to the Racing Commission for review and I hope you win. NASCAR needs to learn to keep themselves in check and follow their past decisions until they change the rule book and specifically change it. Personally I think NASCAR's Driver Meetings should be public record so these issues won't show up. We only know what the drivers tell us so we can't form an unbiased opinion unless we have the facts from NASCAR. So until then, NASCAR will continue to lose support for their decisions. Fans will stay but will protest everything NASCAR does because we can't trust the brain to follow their own statements.

 

[MattSRD28]

NASCAR needs to show consistency. Drivers, crew members, commentators and fans are BEGGING for some consistency. But we see anything but consistency. In this case, they made a rule, then made an exception, then didn't enforce the rule (Daytona truck race), then kept repeating the exception, and now have treated the exception like it doesn't exist. It's crazy, and it's detrimental to the sport.

NASCAR oughta penalize itself under "actions detrimental to stock car racing" ...

 

[Ten0r]

NASCAR oughta penalize itself under "actions detrimental to stock car racing" ...

NASCAR was found to be in violation of Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book for "Failure to provide consistent rulings for fans, drivers, and teams."

Wouldn't that be great if the Stock Car Commission said NASCAR was WRONG!!!! Won't happen, but oh well. I don't see how they can say he wasn't forced down there. I've watched the replays and if he stayed where he was, Stewart would have been in the grass and Smith would be dropping back after he hits the brakes. I'm ready for this to be behind us.

From Jayski

Post-Race Comments from NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter Talladega Superspeedway, Oct. 5, "You cannot improve your position anytime you go below the yellow line. In our judgment, he (Regan Smith) improved his position and the penalty for that is a pass thru, so he was moved back to the tail end of the longest line or 18th position.

Doesn't sound like the judgment they used for that Truck Race now does it?

 

[MattSRD28]

I'll translate Jim Hunter:

"We're going to pick & choose when we enforce our own rules and when we aren't because we wrote them ambiguously in the first place to give us that power. Allowing Smith to win over Tony would have caused an enormous PR firestorm that would have the media buzzing for weeks and Stewart possibly boycotting the sport because of his juvenile temper. These facts and more that we know all factor into our "judgment" which led our judgment to be that Tony won and Smith had to be sent back to 18th."

I really want to see Johnny Benson on whatever the show on SPEED is called now, just in case he brings up his Daytona truck race where he passed under the yellow line to finish 2nd at Daytona.

 

[brainy]

If I were Smith, I would've held the wheel straight and sent Tony spinning through the grass. Regan made a great move and got inside of Tony. That's legal and would have saved all of this controversy. I'm not a fan of either driver, but I think penalizing Regan and dropping him back to 18th is ridiculous. Regan should at worst finish 2nd. Like everyone else has said, Tony forced him below the line.

 

[MattSRD28]

Helton continued, "Since the end of the race there has been some confusion as to what is allowable during the last lap at Daytona and Talladega. To be clear, as we go forward, there will be no passing under the yellow line at any time during NASCAR races at Daytona or Talladega, period. This includes any passing below the yellow line near the start/finish line on the final lap," said Helton.

Then next time enforce it, for everyone, for every position, every time. No more ambiguity in the rule? Fine. Then no more ambiguity in its enforcement either.

 

[Mike24]

Regan smith got robbed...plain and simple.

Mike Helton and Brian France are just tools to enable tv and advertising to make money off of names like Stewart...

But now they've spoken, and let's hope they keep to their word...man how I'd love to see that rule bite them in the backside if Jr, Stewart, Johnson, Gordon, or some other big name loses the '09 Daytona 500 to someone who is virtually unknown like Smith or Dave Blaney.

 

[SteveJ37]

Smith won that race, no doubt about it... As said so in the drivers meeting and many times in the past "Anything goes on the last lap".

Things like this make me think why bother turning on the TV on sunday, really I'm not a NASCAR fan anymore. I really do not understand how this move is better for the sport, NASCAR lost me as a fan and probably many others. Mainly I just watch to root for my drivers (Kasey Kahne, and Jeff Gordon), I can't stand how the sport is run. Funny how Stewart complains so much of the rules in the past, but ignores them for his own gain.

 

[Flatout24]

Yes smith definitely should've won that race, but what about the rest of the finish. I was really disappointed about the finish. Not a true Talladega finish, no one really even tried to make a move until Smith. To tell ya the truth, I think that was the worst finish to a talladega race ever! Not even a bit exciting.

 

[LeoTravis80]

I like Tony, no doubt. Congrats for his first win of the year, but gotta give Regan credit for going for it. I think he had no choice on that one. Either he's going to wreck the field or go below the yellow stripe. Either way, I hope Regan gets the funding to race next year. Not too often a potencial Rookie of the Year candidate would lose his ride the next year due to lack of funds.