Is Superspeedway Racing Now Ruined Too?

1. There’s nothing as tense as the closing laps at Talladega … if you can make it there

If there was one part of a race you might choose to show non-racing fans how exciting NASCAR could be, the last part of any race at Talladega Superspeedway would work. The feeling of tension as the laps tick down while cars jockey for position at nearly 200 mph is almost unmatched across all sports.

The problem is what comes before it.

When the announcer team is telling viewers that “passing is going to be at a premium” and drivers are talking about it on their radios ahead of the race, that’s a bad thing. Yes, it’s been hard to pass on your own at Talladega and Daytona International Speedway for far longer than the Next Gen car has been around, but somehow things have gotten even worse.

It would be one thing if the dullness of the first 90% of a current Talladega race was mitigated by reduced chances of the Big One. Alas, we saw some truly scary wrecks this past weekend (even worse in the NASCAR Xfinity Series), so several hours of boredom now still end with most of the field torn up and drivers lucky to be uninjured (while hoping they don’t run out of gas).

Superspeedway racing should be the place for pure speed, thrilling gambles and daring passes that can be pulled off without endangering your fellow competitors. Not a high-speed procession for three hours followed by a guarantee of tangled-up cars.

What we’ve got instead right now is the worst of all worlds. And that stinks.

2. Bubba Wallace was in an impossible position at the end of Sunday’s race

We didn’t even mention that superspeedway racing also puts friendships in jeopardy. Best buddies Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney will probably be just fine, but their run-in during the second overtime at Talladega was the exact kind of no-win situation the current car and rules package puts drivers in.

As the leader, Wallace couldn’t outrun the drivers chasing him down. Blaney looked a little faster, but of course, he wasn’t going to pass Wallace on his own either.

So Wallace’s choices boiled down to either throwing a ton of blocks and probably getting spun or letting someone drive by him for a victory.

He decided on the former, but there were no good choices. Yet another reason NASCAR should be figuring out ways to fix superspeedway racing just as hard as it’s hopefully brainstorming ideas for short tracks.

3. Maybe one OT at superspeedways is…