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The Buzz |
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Tony Fabrizio of The Dallas Morning News says Sunday's race at the Alabama super speedway will be another nerve-racking Talladega special. Drivers will run each other into dangerous places and basically break every rule ever written for defensive driving class.
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Talladega is the longest oval in racing at 2.66 miles. Its length, width and 33-degree banked turns would easily allow speeds over 220 mph if not for carburetor restrictor plates, which keep speeds at around 190.
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Clyde Bolton of the Birmingham News says covering Talladega Superspeedway is like covering a cross between the supernatural and the Keystone Kops. It has been the scene of some strange happenings.
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What could be scarier than a car flying toward the grandstand? Bobby Allison's became airborne and knocked down 35 yards of front-stretch fence in the 1987 Winston 500. That near-tragedy led to carburetor restrictors.
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Godwin Kelly of the Daytona News-Journal says this weekend has the potential to be ground zero between NASCAR and some of the sport's more outspoken competitors and will likely throw fuel on the ongoing safety debate.
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After Daytona's twin disasters, many competitors felt NASCAR would change the rules of engagement at its two fastest tracks. It didn't happen. Now competitors are bracing for another day of running four-wide and bumper-to-bumper expecting another big, grinding accident.
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Ed Hinton of the Orlando Sentinel says not even the ancient Romans bound dozens of gladiators together, for deadly free-for-alls in inescapable packs, just for the sake of a better show. But Sunday, 43 drivers will be bound together in packs that make them fear for their lives.
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The last time NASCAR drivers arrived at a track this frightened, it was here, in 1969, for the inaugural event at Talladega Superspeedway. And they wound up refusing to race. Talk of a boycott this time has ebbed. That does not mean it will not flow again by Sunday
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