Opinion: absolutely uninterested with NASCAR restrictor plates and Russian roulette racing

I still bear in mind the accurate second I first soured on restrictor-plate racing.

The date become Oct. 7, 2012, and that i become standing in the sprint Cup garage simply moments after the checkered flag waved at Talladega Superspeedway. A 25-car "big One" had just decided the effect of the good Sam 500. Matt Kenseth won the race, however he become closer to the only survivor, as he become only one of 10 drivers to stay away from hurt in the closing melee.

With a massive shove from Casey Mears, Michael Waltrip tagged chief Tony Stewart from at the back of, sending the three-time champion backwards and sideways in front of the complete container. Paul Menard was the first to hit him, doing so on the driving force side and flipping Stewart upside down and on proper of a couple of other vehicles.

The ghastly end result changed into a race vehicle graveyard littering the dogleg of the two.66-mile speedway. Stewart turned into some of the first to climb out of his c omputing device, a miraculous feat given the experience he had simply persisted. Dale Earnhardt Jr., additionally involved, drove across the birth-finish line in a symbolic gesture however also to prefer up teammate Jimmie Johnson, who was stranded backyard of his destroyed Chevrolet.

Johnson rode back to the garage with one leg interior the cockpit of the No. 88 and the different striking from the door. Upon his arrival, Earnhardt took a minute to accumulate himself and spoke to the media about what had took place.

while i'm not a doctor, I feared in that second that he turned into concussed, whatever that became confirmed a week later earlier than the race weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. As I left the Earnhardt stall, Johnson's crew had gathered around what become left of his automobile with one team member shouting "goddammit," likely thinking of the added work that would befall him later within the week because of the crash.

jogging back to the media core, dodging the red defense vans towing destroyed cars back to their respective haulers, I bear in mind announcing aloud, "Why are we nevertheless doing this?"

As a local of Alabama, i have been attending races at Talladega given that 1997. i used to be automatically spellbound by using the high speeds, facet-by-aspect action … and even the crashes. danger has all the time been a part of motorsports, and it remains one of the enduring attracts of the trade, no depend how much we are trying to dispose of it.

Therein lies my issue with what restrictor-plate racing has turn into.

hazard is suitable within the name of racing, however Daytona and Talladega not consider like a verify of man versus computing device. It feels like a excessive-velocity video game of Russian roulette through which the aspect is no longer to defeat your rival however to basically continue to exist the carnage.

while there's an inherent ability set to plate racing, the existing generation of it seems like a random quantity generator. The cars are certain a whole lot nearer than ever earlier than, and drivers push and shove on each and every other regardless of no actual competitive rationale to achieve this.

although I proceed to respect and admire the attributes needed to excel on these tracks, I now not enjoy the manner. The lower downforce kit installed this year has reminded me of what i like most about racing -- drivers sawing at their steering wheels and making an attempt to put up the most appropriate lap times possible.

Crashes are a byproduct of contact and competition, but it really is no longer the genuine figuring out factor of NASCAR racing.

i am certain this is rarely a well-liked opinion, however I've grown weary of restrictor-plate racing. NASCAR has achieved an excellent job of creating these cars safer than at some other element within the background of the game, but that changed into of little comfort when observing cars flip over on three separate activities Sunday.

Brad Keselowski won that race, however tons like Kenseth in the fall of 2012, he easily felt just like the winner of a deadly truth exhibit. And similar to again then, I nevertheless find myself wondering why we're nonetheless doing it this fashion.

There needs to be a much better approach.