Restrictor-Plate Racing Caused Stewart To Wreck Kyle Busch

When NASCAR decided to start using restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega in 1988, the idea was to slow the cars down to make them safer to drive and better racing for the fans.

Sure, racing at both tracks is something that is talked about year in and year out, but what has been talked about even more is the wrecks.  Saturday's Coke Zero 400 was no exception.  Sure, there was the big one, plus many small ones, but the wreck that will be discussed the most is the one coming off turn four on the last lap.

Tony Stewart drove hard inside and Kyle Busch blocked.  Stewart then went high, but Busch blocked again, and suddenly the No. 18 car is head long into the wall and then slammed by three other cars before stopping down in the tri-oval.

Who was to blame for this accident?  Stewart?  Busch?

Truthfully, no one was to blame except for the style of racing.  With the cars running full-throttle every lap, there is no way to avoid an incident such as what happened Saturday night.

Every lap at Daytona and Talladega is a chess match, because if one car has something go wrong, there is no where to go to avoid an accident.

That could be seen when the first big wreck occurred as the smoking tires blocked everyone's view, and as fast as they were going, there was no way to get out of the way. In that wreck, 13 cars got involved and many big names were taken out in the process.

However, that wreck will not get as much attention as the one on the last lap.

If you watch the video, when Busch went to block Stewart the first time, his momentum at that moment stopped.  Stewart made his move knowing that he had the faster car and could get beside him at the very least.

Had Busch not gone up and block a second time, it could have been a side-by-side photo finish instead of another huge wreck.

Stewart himself was not as jubilant in victory lane because of how it went down, and who could blame him.  No driver wants to wreck anyone to get the win, especially when it's at a restrictor-plate track.

This incident was eerily similar to what Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski had to endure at Talladega, and even then both drivers admitted what happened was an effect of restrictor-plate racing.

In incidents such as these, there is no blame for the driver's actions.  Maybe Busch could have not blocked as aggressive or Stewart could have made his move earlier, but it would not matter.  As long as NASCAR makes use of restrictor plates, a wreck because of blocking will always be in the cards.

Will NASCAR make changes before the final restrictor plate race at Talladega, probably not.  Could this type of wreck happen again, absolutely.

As long as restrictor plate racing is part of NASCAR, wrecks such as that with Stewart and Busch will happen.