NASCAR Update: Talladega October 2006

The October NASCAR races at Talladega are certainly unforgettable. This year was the first year for the Craftsman Truck Series to race at Talladega. These races at Talladega (Arca, Craftsman, Nextel) were also the first races on the new asphalt. The track was redone after the spring race. Leading in to the Nextel Cup race on Sunday, there was a lot of talk about "the big one". Because of the new track surface people were anticipating a big wreck at some point. After qualifying rounds for the Nextel Cup Series, NASCAR officials decided to put different restrictor plates on the cars after practice speeds rivaled 200 mph.

Sunday's Nextel Cup race was an important one for the top ten contenders for the points chase. A win at Talladega would have certainly been beneficial to anyone in the chase, and these teams were at least striving for a top ten finish on the superspeedway. Coming into the race the points standings looked like this:

1. J. Burton
2. D. Hamlin
3. M. Martin
4. M. Kenseth
5. K. Harvick
6. J. Gordon
7. D. Earnhardt, Jr.
8. J. Johnson
9. Ky. Busch
10. K. Kahne

Crowd favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has had 5 wins at Talladega and hoped to add another one to that list, however he started the race in 33rd position. Any Dale Jr. fan will tell you that he could still win from that far back. And that's exactly what he attempted to do. Junior made it to the front and continued racing for the lead when he had to drop out and head to pit row. After coming off pit row he was one lap down, but received the lucky dog to get back on the lead lap. From here he battled his way back to the front and was leading the race midway through the last lap.

The big one did happen at Talladega, but it happened late. With 50 laps to go there had only been two cautions, both for debris. This is when the big one happened, causing ten cars to wreck. The wreck was nobody's fault and caused by slow traffic that caused a chain reaction. Caught in the wreck were several top ten contenders including Gordon and Hamlin. Gordon's car was able to make it for a few laps after pulling it to the garage; however he was unable to finish the race and ended up in 36th place, causing him to fall to 7th place in points.

Gordon did say part of the blame for the wreck was bump drafting. After the race he said Earnhardt, Jr. was bump drafting, violating NASCAR's warning about drafting. Even though Earnhardt, Jr. did receive a warning about drafting, NASCAR officials did not see anything wrong with the racing. In response to Gordon's whining, Earnhardt, Jr. said that he pushed Gordon to the lead five times. He also said that he would no longer push Gordon. The second wreck of the race took out Stewart and Hamlin, again.

The last lap of the race was single file. Earnhardt, Jr. was leading, followed by Johnson in second and his teammate, Vickers, in third. At turn three Johnson attempted to Pass Earnhardt, Jr. who did attempt a block. Johnson was coming up next to the 8 car when Vickers hit Johnson, causing him to hit Earnhardt, Jr. The 8 and 48 cars spun around as Vickers sailed past them for the win. Fans were very upset. As Vickers made it to Victory lane fans booed and began throwing things onto the track, making it clear that they were very very mad.

Fans of Earnhardt, Jr. and Johnson believe Vickers purposely hit Johnson so he could win. Vickers is not even in the points chase and ahs little to gain by a win. A 3rd place finish would have been great for him. Earnhardt, Jr. and Johnson had a lot to gain but lost it. They finished 23rd and 24th. Fans also point out that in last year's Nextel All Star Challenge, Vickers spun out Bliss on the lead lap for the victory.

Johnson was silent after the race. Earnhardt, Jr. chalked the wreck up to racing. He remained composed and did not blame Vickers for the wreck. Fans, however, remain upset and blame Vickers. Earnhardt, Jr. is the Talladega favorite and these fans were so outraged that Vickers had to have extra security just to leave the track. It has also been announced that next weeks race in Charlotte will also have additional security on hand to protect Vickers. Any fan base Vickers had to the race has dropped dramatically since the wreck. NASCAR fans remain very loyal and will never let Vickers live this down.

The race results were:

1.B. Vickers
2.K. Kahne
3.Ku. Busch
4.M. Kenseth
5.M. Truex, Jr.
6.K. Harvick
7.J. Green
8.M. Martin
9.C. Edwards
10.B. Labonte