Who… should you be talking about after the race?
The YellaWood 500 wasn’t won on attrition from numerous multi-car crashes. It wasn’t won because one driver dominated and it wasn’t won on crazy blocking. Instead, Chase Elliott saw a hole in the final laps at Talladega Superspeedway and he took the opportunity to go through it, passing Erik Jones, who was leading the outside line, then using the top line’s momentum to power past Ryan Blaney.
An overhead look at how Chase Elliott got by Ryan Blaney for the win. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/48SvS2ZreA
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 2, 2022
From there, Elliott hung on for the win, holding off both Blaney and a charging Michael McDowell to take the win in the cleanest Talladega race in recent memory.
And don’t forget… Front Row Motorsports. FRM is often written off as an underfunded backmarker, but that’s not the case on superspeedways. The team scored two top 10s on Sunday, with McDowell finishing third and rookie Todd Gilliland coming in a respectable seventh.
What a day from Talladega! @LovesTravelStop | @peakauto | @georgiapeanuts pic.twitter.com/DGcQvFEENH
— Front Row Motorsports (@Team_FRM) October 2, 2022
The team has been a factor at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega consistently over the years. But for McDowell, it’s another highlight in what’s become a career year. While McDowell won the Daytona 500 and secured a playoff berth in 2021, this year, despite the lack of a win, he has career highs in top 10s, laps led and average finish.
What… is the buzz about?
At this point, it would be refreshing to hear NASCAR fans talking about anything but safety. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s still front and center in discussions and on social media. Fueling the fire is Alex Bowman, the second driver to be missing this race due to a concussion. Like Kurt Busch, who’s been out for 10 weeks now, Bowman backed into the wall in what looked to be a very minor incident only to be sidelined by the injury.
Concussion symptoms are no joke; they can range from very slight changes in reaction time (which a racecar driver cannot afford) to headaches and memory loss. It can be evident in speech patterns or imperceptible to an observer who doesn’t know. It can mean forgetting words or directions midstream, or just overall feeling ill.
For Busch and Bowman, it means a season’s potential unrealized as their championship hopes were dashed due to their injuries…
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