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TALLADEGA ………IT’S BACK WITH A BANG
I have attended every Talladega race since July of 1996. I have to give NASCAR props for Sunday’s race. It was by far the best overall Talladega race I have ever seen. I will be honest the last few ‘Dega races did not impress me too much. It was the same story every time. First twenty laps good, then they would run single file, and then they would race hard the last twenty and have the big one. Not this time! There might have been a total of twenty laps that were run single file, but that was it! If you were a fan that had lost your passion for the sport or a first timer at a NASCAR race, you came to the right one. You had great racing, crashes, multiple green white checkers, and one of the closest finishes ever. There were 29 different leaders and 88 lead changes. It was a NASCAR record. We also saw the rivalry between Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson heat up. Gordon seems to have that fire back, and fans are loving it.
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We saw Kevin Harvick break a 115 race losing streak. It was great to see the emotion from Harvick and his team, but I loved the emotion of Kevin’s wife Delana Harvick. I’m not sure I have seen a wife show so much emotion, since Jeff Burton’s wife Kim Burton at Texas in 1997. Jamie McMurray has turned into quiet the restrictor plate driver. I thought he was going to win his third straight restrictor plate race. I know most people think Talladega is anybody’s race, but I completely disagree with that. Don’t get me wrong there is a lot of luck involved. You have to avoid those wrecks, and if you’re lucky enough to do so, then you have a chance to show what kind of restrictor plate driver you are. There are few drivers that you would consider a master of the draft. Dale Earnhardt was considered the ultimate restrictor plate driver. He knew how to bump draft without crashing you and he know exactly how and when to make his move. You have to know how to work the draft, and that he did.
Michael Waltrip is a great restrictor plate driver. He was running great Sunday, until he got caught up in a crash. Denny Hamlin had a strong car all day long, he spun early in the race, but within in 30 laps he was back at the front of the field. David Reutimann was also at the front of the field most of the day. He had a very impressive run, until he got caught in a crash. Jimmie Johnson had a strong car all day, until he was moving up, not knowing Greg Biffle was there. That sent Johnson into the inside wall and ended his day. Jeff Gordon had a fast racecar and he chose to hang in the second draft for most of the day. With 6 laps to go Gordon decided it was time to make his move to the front. He had a group of cars lined up behind him on the bottom, when Johnson in the middle lane decided to move down in front of him. It bottled up that group of cars, and for Gordon to avoid wrecking Johnson and causing a crash; he was forced on the apron below the yellow line. Gordon was then at the tail end of the draft, and then a crash occurred, and Gordon was involved.
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I was sitting in Gadsden tower coming out of turn 4, and I couldn’t tell exactly what happened. I watched the replay on the jumbo screen, and saw that Johnson was in the middle lane going backwards, when Gordon leading the bottom line was headed to the front. Johnson moved down in front of Gordon and bottled up the rest of the field. Johnson’s move is what created the wreck that was to follow. Johnson crashed just a few laps later, and was unable to finish the race. The crowd went wild.
Gordon with his car all beat up managed to finish on the lead lap and ended up 22 nd. It took all three attempts at the green white checkers to finish the race, and it was worth every one of them. I wasn’t sure if McMurray, Montoya, Harvick or Biffle had enough fuel to make it to the finish. In the end Harvick timed his move perfectly, and edged McMurray at the finish line. In my opinion it was the perfect ending to the perfect race. It doesn’t get any better than the racing that was seen on warm Sunday afternoon in Talladega, Alabama. Tempers boiled over as Gordon said “ it takes a lot to make me mad, but the 48 is testing my patience, and I am pissed right now.” Johnson was already gone from the track, but said Monday that it was his fault. He said, “ I misjudged the closing rate speed and I made a mistake. I am no different than anyone else.” To all of the people that have said Talladega should only hold one race a year, I bet you are singing a different tune after Sunday. It was an honor to be in Talladega, Alabama Sunday, to witness one of the best races ever. If I was Talladega super speedway, I would have a theme song, and it would be HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW?! By Toby Keith.
By Ashley Goodson
Pro Racing Fans Staff Writer