At Talladega superspeedway, the crash came after Edwards attempted to block Brad Keselowski’s winning pass.
Keselowski, a 25-year-old with only four superspeedway starts, had pushed Edwards past Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. into the lead on the final lap. But when Keselowski finally tried to pass along the inside, Edwards descended in an effort to cut him off.
Instead, he was spun out of the way, his 3,400-pound car shedding metal pieces as it soared toward the grandstand, hit the fence and erupted in flames. Los Angeles Times
Despite injuries to fans from flying debris, NASCAR’s satisfied with its safety standards, saying the fence at Talladega Superspeedway did what it was supposed to do — keep Carl Edwards’ car out of the grandstands.
“The retaining fence did what it’s supposed to do. There was some debris that went into the grandstand, that fortunately did not invoke serious injury. If there is something we come up with as we analyze this accident ... we’ll make it as safe as we humanly can.”
The frightening ending marred what was easily NASCAR’s best race of the season. There were 57 lead changes among 25 different drivers, and a nail-biting last-lap charge from Edwards and Brad Keselowski, who teamed together to run down Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
NASCAR vice president Robin Pemberton acknowledged the fine line between creating exciting racing and keeping the competitors safe.
NASCAR had no immediate solutions as to how to prevent future similar accidents but will evaluate the fence height surrounding the race track and beef up its policing of aggressive driving and blocking, when one car deliberately moves into the path of a competing car trying to pass it.
“Quite frankly, these situations that come up from time to time are a one-off — you don’t necessarily foresee (them) and they are hard to recreate,” Pemberton said.
The accident renewed scrutiny of restrictor-plate racing, which produces thrilling racing but carries inherent risk.
The horsepower-sapping restrictor plates are used at Daytona and Talladega — NASCAR’s two fastest — to combat the high speeds. A square aluminum plate is installed in each car to limit its engine’s power, slowing the car by reducing the amount of air that flows into the carburetor. As a result, the cars all run the same speed, and the field is typically bunched tightly together. One wrong move by a driver can cause a massive accident. The Associated Press
Fans love Talladega for its wrecks, but at what potential cost?
Earnhardt Jr. has had plenty of success in restrictor-plate races, but he wondered if the anticipation of danger at Daytona and Talladega had gone too far.
“For years, we’ve had wrecks like this every time we’ve come to Talladega. Ever since the plate got here. And for years it was celebrated,” he said. “The media celebrated it, the networks celebrated it, calling it ‘The Big One,’ just trying to attract attention.
“So there’s a responsibility with the media and the networks and the sanctioning body itself to come to their senses a little bit.” Los Angeles Times
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