“The big one” this often time is described as a crash that happens during a NASCAR race. Most of the times these big accidents happen when the drivers are racing at a restrictor plate race. Restrictor Plate races are often bigger tracks that drivers can reach maximum speed before making it one complete lap around. The two tracks that are most known for these races are Daytona and Talladega. These two tracks are where most of the accidents happening. Recalling back to 2001, when Dale Earnhardt crashed on final laps, which ended up costing his life. Talladega is the fastest track in the NASCAR circuit and drivers can reach up to speeds of 200 mph. Talladega racing is tight and can get up to 3, 4 and sometimes even 5 cars wide. At extremely fast tracks this can cause for big crashes that involve many of the cars. This causes a problem with the connection fans have with the race and drivers have during and after the race.
They race at Talladega twice a year and last weekend NASCAR had their final race at Talladega. This race also was the first race at Talladega where NASCAR officals were going to watch closely on aggressive driving. They did not want to see any bump drafting or passing in the corners. This made the drivers more cautious because they did not want to get penalized for an accident. With the drivers being more cautious it caused more tension and with 5 laps left many of the cars were fighting for position which caused a crash. This crash was between about 4 but it caused Ryan Newman’s car to flip so the NASCAR officials decided to red flag the race so they could get everything cleaned up. A red flag means that all cars have to stop which creates an equal shot at winning the race. If a red flag was to happen in the last couple laps then they would just automatically have a 3 lap final, basically an overtime. This gives the teams 3 laps to fight for first place, which is what happened this weekend. After going back to a white flag an even bigger crash happened between about 13 cars. These cars were closer and fighting for position right after the white flag which caused many cars to go spinning. This crash happened to the racers that were 6 cars back from the lead. The race cannot be red flagged twice so it caused the last 2 laps to end in a caution. “The Big One” always is known at this track and it is not the first time that they had to red flag the race so that they could finish with an “exciting ending.”
The problem is as a race fan I don’t like watching this 3 lap overtime; I don’t find it exciting at all. I feel like NASCAR needs to create more rules at tracks like Talladega so that fans can see an exciting end to a race. Basically all the laps that happened on Sunday did not count because many of the people involved in the crash were lap leaders and those who dominated the race. If fans just wanted to see a three lap finish they would watch drag racing. Caution endings does not make racing exciting, some of the other tracks have photo finishes but at tracks like Talladega this never happens, most of the time it ends in a caution. Officals tried to find the answers this weekend but the "big one" still happened and fans went home unhappy. They need to find a solution to this so they can keep the fans involved and wanting to come back to Talladega.
A clip that I added was a serious accident at Talladega,It happened at the spring race in 2009.
-Megan Meade
Megan,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I do not watch NASCAR and I do not know a lot about the sport. From what I read, I would completely understand how you feel. Even with the Nextel Cup race, how can a race be decided in the 3 laps? How can NASCAR even ask a driver to be cautious during 200 m.p.h. race? These drivers are being paid to win. Their sponsors expect results as well. I thought athletes today assumed the risk when participating in their sports. I understand how the sport is trying to reduce the severe injuries, but aren’t drivers who are cautious, the ones ending up in the accidents?
I really just do not understand what NASCAR is trying to accomplish. If its safety, then there is something NASCAR needs to address after the season. During the race, the drivers need to focus on winning and not driving safety. I think it’s about time we question the commissioners of our sports. Are they doing everything that’s in the best interest of the athletes?
It is interesting that you brought up this issue related to NASCAR because we usually do not talk much about NASCAR in the Sport History class. I think this could be a good issue for future reference, however, so thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDelete