Days of Thunder? NASCAR Restrictor Plate Looks More and More Like Movie

(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Busch's No. 18 car became a pinball as it hit a wall, then was struck in the back by Kasey Khane at full speed.  With the car virtually destroyed, Busch's car was near a complete stop when his teammate Joey Logano, blinded by the smoke on the track plowed into the driver side of Busch's car.

Those who are in charge of safety in NASCAR should give themselves a pat in the back as Busch walked out of his car, not looking the worse for wear.  Khane, Logano, nor anyone else was injured. 

But does NASCAR really want to wait until someone is? 

When Days Of Thunder came out, it was largely dismissed as a Hollywood fluff, a Tom Cruise movie that was Top Gun in a race car.   And frankly, it was.  You saw people throwing each other into walls, intentional wrecks being done just to mess up a rival and more. 

But if you watch the one crash in that movie at Daytona in which Cole Trickle and Rowdy Burns both sustain serious head injuries, it looked eerily familiar to last night's conclusion.

Look, wrecks happen in NASCAR, especially in restrictor plate races.  But don't people remember some thrilling conclusions like the 2007 Dayton 500 where Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick dueled side by side.  It was exciting, but it was clean and both men showed respect.

But the problem is, it's like the saying goes.  "It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt."  How long will NASCAR allow this to go on?  Sure, maybe they'll get a ratings boost with a wreck like that, but are you going to allow that type of aggression to happen on a super speedway until another driver gets killed?  Or worse yet, fans?

It's one thing to use that type of aggressive mentality at a speedway like Dover, where speeds top out at 150 miles per hour, or Bristol, which is just a half-mile long short track.  It's entirely different when you're at Daytona and Talladega. 

NASCAR better realize this for the safety of their drivers, spectators and sport itself.  Before it's too late.

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