Plate Racing, Blocking, and the Whole Big Mess...

Alan Wade — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:30:09 -0400

The restrictor plate races at Daytona and Talladega have always produced some exciting finishes, but they have a propensity to mangle cars and ruffle feathers. Here are some of the reasons why.

First, the horsepower-sapping plates tend to even out the field, and even the best driver out there needs drafting help to win. With the cars packed together like sardines, the slightest twitch can send the cars into each other with disastrous results.

Add to this the fact that these four races are held as very important races to win, with big crowds, big paychecks, and big trophies.

And more often than not, big wrecks and big headaches.

In the final laps, drivers often become more daring and take chances to gain position. This leads to the ubiquitous "big one" and typically involves a dozen or more cars.

The "big one" usually takes out a number of contenders for the race win, guilty of little more than being in the wrong place at the right time.

The relative lack of throttle response in plated engines also leads to another facet of plate racing, and that is bump drafting.

Bump drafting involves a car behind another getting a run and pushing their car into the car ahead, giving them a burst of speed and the chance to gain positions faster than usual.

If this is done when the two cars are not lined up properly, or going into a turn, it often results in a tangled mess of sheet metal, smoke, and dashed hopes for the evening.

Another problem with plate racing is the car in front blocking one or more cars behind that have a run and are a threat to overtake them.

In the past, blocking was not as common as it is today, but recently it has become de rigeur, leading to a sizable share of wrecked racecars.

NASCAR has cautioned drivers at the pre-race drivers' meeting not to do it, but the pattern of blocking drivers continues. What constitues a block and how NASCAR could deal with it better would be a difficult task to overcome.

Blocking is a part of these races and probably always will be.

The driver leading on the final hundred yards to the checkered flag in the last two plate races has blocked a run and been wrecked, ruining what would have been a top five finish.

Saturday night at the Coke Zero 400, it was Kyle Busch's turn to try blocking.

Busch was finally leading the race coming out of turn 4 into the tri-oval.

Tony Stewart got a run on him and bumped him slightly, then pulled to the outside to make the pass. At that point, Busch tried to slip in ahead of Stewart from the inside and block him but Stewart already had the line.

Stewart didn't budge and Kyle went sailing into the wall as Stewart crossed the finish line as the winner.

Plain and simple, blocking on the last lap dosen't work very well.

The driver ahead has to have an open line, and then it turns into a game of shuck and jive with the car behind at nearly 190 miles an hour.

Nobody's reflexes are that good. Just ask Carl Edwards, and now Kyle Busch.

It seems they were expecting Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart to lift just a little and give them back the groove they were in and the race win.

So much for wishful thinking.

I believe if you ask Carl and Kyle if they could have their decisions to do again, they might have considered holding their groove and hoping for the best.

If Kyle had held his ground after Tony bumped him, the worst he would have finished would likely have been fifth place. With no drafting help close for Busch, the race was lost before Stewart even gave him that bump.

But this pattern of finishes will no doubt continue, until NASCAR makes some changes.

As Tony Stewart said in his downbeat post-race news conference, "you just don't want a race to be decided like that...it just is what it is."

What could be done to change plate racing for the better?

One would be removing the plates altogether. Restrictor plates were first used by NASCAR in 1971 to eliminate the advantage of teams using the larger Chrysler Hemi engine.

The plates were eliminated in 1974 when NASCAR banned the larger engines, reducing the engine size to 358 cubic inches.

Today the plates exist to curb some of the speed the cars would have if left unrestricted. Bobby Allison blew a tire and crashed into the frontstretch fence at Talladega in 1987, injuring fans and nearly going into the stands.

The following year, restrictor plates returned to racing at the superspeedways.

Speed reduction and safety are the reason plates are used, but there are other ways to reduce the car's speeds.

From adding weight, to reducing engine size and compression, options have been considered to give the drivers' better throttle response and keep speeds down.

All have come with their own set of problems. So we continue this dance of destruction.

But just think, if we could remove the plates we might be able to return the superspeedways to an era of the shotgun-style passing of the late 1970's.

Anybody who says superspeedway races are boring without plates should look back to the 1979 Daytona 500. That was a race for the ages.

If it could be done then, it can be done now.

Tight bunched packs and breakneck speed make the plate races exciting, but I find it sad to hear a driver like Tony Stewart not celebrating a win like Saturday night as much as he should have.

There are some things that could be done, besides eliminating the plates, to make these four races better.

Now don't even get me started on the yellow-line rule...

Kyle Busch: Has A Line Been Crossed?

Alan Wade — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:12:15 -0400

Kyle Busch is one of the most polarizing drivers in NASCAR today. In many ways, he is reminiscent of the late Dale Earnhardt in his hard charging style of driving and constant pursuit of a victory at any cost.

The Lenox Industrial Tools 301 race at New Hampshire last weekend was evidence of this fact.

During a lap 175 restart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun his tires and stalled the lower groove. Kyle Busch unintentionally spun out Martin Truex Jr. who was trying to find a way around, and the 18 car set off a multiple car crash that dramatically affected the outcome of the race.

These types of incidents are common to motorsports, and no one should think that Kyle was trying to wreck the field. The chance of damaging his own car is too great, but more patience on the restart would have allowed the situation to resolve itself.

On the track, bold moves often make the difference between a top five finish and a marginal performance.

But when is a driver too aggressive?

In two separate incidents in the pits during the race, Kyle Busch struck a competitor's pit crew member.

When exiting the tight pit stall on lap 45, the 18 car brushed against the rear tire changer for Paul Menard's team. Steve Addington was quick to discuss the situation with the Yates team and clear up any discontent between them.

However, in a more serious incident on lap 153, Busch was attempting to navigate his way out of the pits and struck Bill Ferguson, the jackman for Clint Bowyer's 33 car.

The impact sent Ferguson sailing over Busch's hood and to the pavement, while the jack landed 10 feet away. Had Ferguson not anticipated the impact, the results could have been far more serious.

Safety equipment for crews have come a long way, but this impact could have left Ferguson permanently disabled or possibly worse.

After the race, Busch commented on the incident, saying that, "I had to pick my way through," and that, "I couldn't stop or back up. Time on pit road is too precious."

"It's dangerous on pit road, but that's why the guys wear firesuits and helmets."

Car 33 driver Clint Bowyer was less than forgiving to Busch when he commented on the pit road incident, saying, "You've got the steering wheel and you've got the pedals. You can either hit the brakes or hit the gas, and the wrong foot went down."

Has Kyle Busch become a menace to his fellow competitors?

It was known early on that the race was likely to be rain shortened, and Kyle Busch has never performed to the best of his ability at New Hampshire.

But these three separate incidents highlight that a driver can cross a line between aggressive driving and endangering the safety of other participants. Even at pit road speeds, a stock car can produce life threatening injuries if there is an impact with other crew members in the vicinity.

The race Sunday make one question if Kyle Busch has lost sight of the fact that winning the race at any cost is not an acceptable excuse to disregard the personal safety of others.

Kyle Busch has the potential to become a legendary driver, not many that follow the sport closely question that fact. But there is little achievement in a driving style that wins races, but endangers others, and loses the respect of those who would like to continue to be his competitors.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Alan Wade

Plate Racing, Blocking, and the Whole Big Mess...

Kyle Busch: Has A Line Been Crossed?