Should The Talladega Cup Race Be Postponed?

Should the NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway be postponed?

Kurt Busch was sidelined with concussion-like symptoms after a crash at Pocono Raceway in July. It’s been two months and there is no timetable for his return.

Alex Bowman had a hard crash at Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday (Sept. 25), and it was announced today that Bowman will be sidelined with concussion-like symptoms for this Sunday’s (Oct. 2) race at Talladega Superspeedway.

The scariest part is that Bowman’s crash looks tame compared to some crashes that NASCAR has seen throughout the years. But with drivers taking the brunt of the impact in rear-end hits with the Next Gen car, it was a hard enough hit to cause injury.

Kevin Harvick also had a similar crash later in the race in which his car backed into the outside wall after losing a tire. Harvick was not diagnosed with a concussion, but he tweeted that he was still hurting the day after.

Currently doing red light therapy with an extremely sore back and neck. All the reasons that the car has issues that need to be addressed. Sore body, car keeps going after extreme contact. https://t.co/r5XTmpAWiF

— Kevin Harvick (@KevinHarvick) September 26, 2022

With the Gen 4, Car of Tomorrow and Gen 6 cars, a rear end impact would have destroyed the back of the car. That is expected to happen, as the crumpling sheet metal dissipates the energy of the impact.

But with the Next Gen car, only the hardest of hits have caused the car to significantly crumple. Otherwise, the car remains too rigid. And when the car isn’t absorbing the impact, the driver does. It’s why numerous drivers this season have said that impacts with the Next Gen car have been among the hardest in their careers.

Here’s a comparison of similar rear end impacts from the past 4 generations of NASCAR Cup cars.

Pretty concerning that Harvicks was probably the fastest and it crumpled the least. pic.twitter.com/5eXb5TH1Mm

— Andrew Schwartz (@A_Schwartz67) September 29, 2022

Harvick’s crash likely would have resulted in terminal damage with the previous generations of cars. But the car was practically undamaged after the hit, and he finished on the lead lap in 19th after getting the free pass on a later caution. Bowman’s damage took slightly longer to repair, but he ended the day just five laps off the pace. And because the No. 48 team repaired the car before the DVP expired, Bowman never had a check at the infield care center after a collision….