Talladega: The Biggest, Fastest, Easiest track on the NASCAR circuit

October 31, 9:06 AMIndianapolis Motorsports ExaminerJeff Norris

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If this is as bad as plate racing can be, why fix it?

Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

While many NASCAR fans consider Talladega the biggest, baddest, fastest track on the circuit, they rarely mention that it is widely regarded as the easiest track to drive by the drivers. With long straightaways leading into the high-banked, sweeping turns, it is often said that anyone could hold the petal down and put up a lap in the 180-190mph range.

Since the driving skill required to drive Talladega can be left to instinct, that puts a premium on a drivers racing skills. Without having to think about braking, accelerating, or turning, the driver can focus on doing whatever it takes to get in front of the car ahead of them which makes Talladega one of the most difficult tracks on the NASCAR schedule to race on. Adding 42 other cars on the track doesn't necessarily make it more challenging to drive on, but the challenge to keep ahead of them is increased tremendously.

Leading up to each restrictor plate race, it seems like it is increasingly popular for the media types to protest against the pack racing that the restrictor plate create. "NASCAR has to fix this plate racing because it is too dangerous for the fans in the stands and the drivers on the track." "No one likes to watch 43 cars shuffle around in rows of three or four wide waiting for the 'Big One' to happen." If you watch any of the pre-race programming you will likely here at least one of these comments, but to me it just comes across as another example of the know-it-all media telling us what we should like.

On his official website, Ryan Newman does a pretty good job towing the NASCAR line as he reflects on his third place finish in the spring race.

"It was a wild finish and it got a little tense at the end," recalled Newman."We want exciting races, but we don't want to see cars airborne either. It's not safe and we need to collectively work to make sure what happened in the last race at Talladega doesn't happen again. One big step taken was to reduce the restrictor plate size to slow the cars down so we're less likely to get airborne."

I think I can speak for the fans and say that restrictor plate racing at the superspeedways should be way at the bottom of the list of things NASCAR should fix to "make the racing better". It is disappointing that there are only two true superspeedways available that account for only four dates on the schedule. The races on the 1.5mi cookie cutter ovals seem to play out the same way each time and that is made worse by the fact that Jimmie Johnson will most likely dominate if not win each one of them. At least at Talladega and Daytona, a typically mediocre driver can have a great day and get shuffled to the front.

Newman is coming off a solid weekend at Martinsville where he started from pole and finished seventh on NASCAR's shortest track. This advanced him one position in the standings to seventh, 72 points behind Kurt Busch and only 38 ahead of Greg Biffle. In the first two practices, Newman has shown mid-pack speed which isn't really a clear indicator for potential success in Sunday's AMP Energy 500.

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