Talladega 2009: Carl Edwards Last Lap Crash Reveals Two Winners At The Aarons 499

First off, let me say this. Congratulations to Brad Keselowski for his teeth clinching win in the Aarons 499 at Talladega. This was his very first victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Talladega Superspeedway produces another first time winner and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Brad had his car where it needed to be at the end to have a shot at winning the race. Few others did. To be in that position on the last lap is no small feat in itself. It took guts, determination, skill, luck and a good crew to be there at the end, in a position to take the win.

In a bit of irony, a 25 year old driver in only his 5^th career start, survives multiple big crashes and wins the race. While on the other side of the coin, two drivers with a combined 100 wins and 900 starts worth of experience between them, got together and started the first big crash.

At any rate, the last lap crash revealed the second winner at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday and it happens to be a team. The team of combined individuals that together, designed, manufactured, tested, and installed the catch fencing that performed flawlessly once again in doing its job of protecting the fans. There were 8 fans that received injuries, but if that catch fence had bowed and then broke, instead of bending but not breaking, then there would have been disastrous statistics instead of only 8 injuries.

Many say that racing at Talladega is not safe and should be stopped. I say “What”? You are kidding me, right? Their answer is to close this tracks gates and lock them up. If you are driving down the interstate and a wheel flies off of a vehicle and causes a 25 car pileup, would your answer to that problem be to close that interstate highway so that can’t happen again? I would certainly hope not but it wouldn’t surprise me.

How can they say that racing at Talladega is not safe? Or did they mean risky? I will agree that it’s risky, but taking risks comes with racing cars.

Sure there are multi-car crashes at this track. It is a speedway and things like this will happen at speedways. The drivers don’t like them but they do expect them. It’s part of it. The fans love it and pay good money to see it.

 Talladega Superspeedway was built for speed. Now, correct me if I am wrong but, is speed not what racing is all about? Is it not the object of every race to be the fastest at everything you do? That includes changing four tires and taking on a load of fuel faster than the others. When that work is complete then it is the drivers turn to take that car out there and make it go faster than the others.

The bottom line is this. Talladega Superspeedway, whether you love it or hate it, is fast paced and exciting racing from start to finish. The track itself has performed well in the safety factor of it all. With the exception of a couple of times in the early years, it has kept out of control cars contained within its racing boundaries. The cars themselves are built for safety as well. That is the main reason that, most times, the drivers can get out and walk away from their mangled up race cars.

As for those who can find nothing good to say about this track, it’s not the tracks fault that certain rules cause certain problems. Try going after the brass of the sport and lobby for the changing of some rules that could very well take care of a lot of the problems. Don’t continually blister the track about it.

There are many things that could be changed that would eliminate much of the controversy surrounding this track. Many true race fans love this place and many will defend it, including me. I am sure that the first time winners that this track has produced would also defend it.

In my opinion, the yellow line rule stinks and should be completely thrown out of the rule book. Or at the very least, given some exceptions. Regan Smith is a perfect example for an exception. He won that race and had it stripped right away from him. Had he not dropped down below that yellow line it is very probable that the end result of that race would have mirrored the end result of this past race.

I wish that some of the very wealthy fans out there, who love the sport and could afford it, would consider making a donation, as a tax write off, to the speedway for a renovation fund that would allow some grand stand restructuring and other changes.

Raise the stands and the outside retaining wall. Make the roof flaps that deploy when the cars turn backwards, bigger. Add roof flaps on the sides that will deploy on a sideways spin and throw the restrictor plates in the trash can. Having cars that can pull away from the pack but going considerably faster than they are now would seem safer than having 35 or 40 cars bunched up running the same speed. Especially if bigger roof flaps for the cars were mandated and taller retaining walls were designed and built for the track.

I don’t know for sure, but I do know this, anything is better than smaller restrictor plates or closing the doors. I may get blasted for stating my opinions concerning this race track and if that’s the case then so be it. I believe it is a worthy cause to defend Talladega Superspeedway and all of its great racing that it has produced from 1969 to 2009 and beyond.

This post is shifting away from music just a little but I felt it necessary to speak my piece on the subject.