NASCAR banned bump drafting in the turns at Talladega today, and the result so far, has been the exact opposite of racing at Talladega as we’ve known it.
Because the rainbow-sherbert organization waited until the drivers meeting to spring this little surprise on the teams, it would appear (I’ve gotten as far as the first round of green-flag pit stops before hitting “pause live” on the ol’ DVR to cool off) no one had a plan that included racing at half throttle.
I get that NASCAR wants to prevent big, costly crashes that may end up in the stands and hurting their dwindling fan base (Who else noticed the big sections of empty seats?), but I question the timing of it. Springing it on everyone right before the race was another poorly thought-out, poorly executed decision.
It would be akin to the NHRA telling the Pro Stock racers at the Las Vegas Nationals while they were lined up for today’s final eliminations that they’re only racing to the 1,000-foot line, just like the nitro classes. It may be safer (maybe not), but none of them have done anything to prepare for such a decision, and the drivers and crew chiefs would have no time to prepare the cars or themselves for it..
Oh, NASCAR. Bad, bad move.
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