Talladega race is both exciting and dangerous
It's not classical racing, but Talladega action is uneasily captivating
 Chris Graythen / Getty Images The large packs of cars racing at Talladega Superspeedway make for incredibly exciting -- and dangerous -- driving. |
|
 | Slideshow |
 | Battle for the Cup Three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson is just one race away from earning his unprecedented fourth consecutive championship. Check out the top 12. NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
 | INTERACTIVE |
 | NASCAR wives and girlfriends They're fixtures in pit row, but they don't drive on the track or work on the cars. Take a look at some notable NASCAR wives and girlfriends. |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
Talladega. Let's see; 33-degree banking, 850 horsepower, 3,400 pound cars, 2.66 miles around, gas pedal always to the floorboard, Chase race, hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line, a large percentage of drivers looking to impress future and/or current team owners — gee, what could go wrong there?
Put me down as a fan of racing at Talladega. Even though it is not really racing in a classical, purist sense. Even though it's a freak show, which makes the fact that this year the fall race is being held on Halloween weekend all the more appropriate.
The freakiness kicks in miles before you get your first glimpse of the place. It starts as you get off the interstate and start heading south on the state road which takes you to the gates. The traffic is usually so thick on that road that you have time to see what's going on around you. And what you see is seismic pressure building in the form of race fans congregating around camp fires and beer coolers.
The camp ground across the road from the track has an apocalyptic aura to it. I was once told by a press center veteran not to go over there on foot, not with my Yankee accent.
From the outside, the speedway doesn't look like the baddest track around. No towering grandstands or casinos or condo complexes. Inside, it's big, all right, but without all the infield hubbub of Daytona or Lowe's or Texas.
It's when the cars come out that Talladega gets really weird on the inside. Especially on race day.
The large packs of cars jammed together looks like a shopping mall parking lot moving at 200 mph. The cars bob up and down on the aging surface look like apples in a loud, rolling jacuzzi.
It's dang exciting — but in an uneasy kind of way.
It's an Alfred Hitchcock movie. You know, a bomb is under the table and you are not sure if or when it is going to go off. I get the same uneasy feeling during a Talladega race as I get when I watch IndyCars on an oval.
I've seen the bomb go off a couple of times — like when Kenny Brack went into the fencing at Texas in an IndyCar at Texas a couple of years back, and when Carl Edwards went into the front-stretch catch fence this past spring — and it's shocking.
But it lets you know that it can happen and that is probably what makes racing at Talladega so transfixing.
For fans watching on television, that is.
|
For fans low in the grandstands? The bomb went off in front of them last spring and some paid with real, live pain. It was lucky the catch fence was there and held or some would have paid with a lot more.
But for me? I love Alfred Hitchcock.
Jim Pedley is managing editor of Racin' Today. Read more NASCAR news at racintoday.com.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
LowHigh - Instant Message
Sponsored links