It was not a race, it was a demolition derby. It’s what usually happens when you take NASCAR’s three superspeedways – Daytona, Talladega and more recently Atlanta – bunch everybody up and put drivers in cars that have no ability to pass because of rigid rules that don’t allow teams to make any modifications to the equipment.
What you end up with is a parade, with everybody running nose-to-tail until somebody makes a mistake. Then what you get is the big one, the big wreck, cars spinning crazily out of control, banging into each other until there is little left but mangled metal and smoking engines.
It happened again last week in Atlanta, when Denny Hamlin bumped into John Hunter Nemechek on lap 69 of the Quaker State 400, sending Nemechek into somebody else who hit somebody else who was trying to brake to avoid getting caught up in the mess that eventually collected 23 cars. Race over for those guys.
NASCAR Cup drivers have come to expect this. They don’t know where it will happen or when it will happen, they just know it’s likely to happen. And they know there’s nothing they can do about it.
And they have become immune to it. There is no more anger, no more frustration. This is what NASCAR has allowed superspeedway racing to become, so drivers go in expecting to wreck and hoping, somehow, to avoid the mishaps and simply finish the race. That, in itself, represents victory.
Denny Hamlin, as quoted by NBC sports: “I was on Nemechek’s bumper and he was on the bumper of somebody else. Some zigged, some zagged, most crashed,” he stated matter-of-factly. Hamlin would finish 31st.
Joey Logano, equally as nonchalant: “Cars are sideways and you get on the brakes and everyone is just running into each other,” he said resignedly. It’s just a superspeedway wreck.” Logano would finish 36th.
William Byron: “They all stacked up and at that point, I went right a little bit. The wreck was already happening and I just kind of got shoved into it.” Byron would finish 37th.
For its part, NASCAR has seemed to get a little bit complacent about what’s happening on it’s superspeedways. The sport has made tremendous strides in safety since the death of Dale Earnhardt and officials have been watching these cars wreck and everybody walk away since then.
They are trying to build a new base of younger fans who have short attention spans and like excitement, and the big wrecks are exciting, so why not give them what they want?
Of course you have to wonder if this younger generation is made up of real fans. Real fans don’t want to see their favorite driver eliminated from contention, through no fault of his own, by the big wreck.
This was hammered home after the Atlanta wreck fest. NASCAR, which has been pushing more and more gimmicks to attract viewers, has a million dollar playoff going in which drivers are seeded and paired against each other over a five week period with the eventual winner taking home the cash.
Hamlin, the No. 1 seed, was up against Ty Dillon, seeded 32nd and last, at Atlanta. Because Hamlin wrecked, Dillon moves on to the next round at Chicago this weekend and Hamlin is out.
Corresponding to the playoff for the drivers, NASCAR also has one for fans, who howled with disapproval when drivers like Hamlin, Logano and Byron were knocked out in the first round.
This simply drives home how ridiculous any kind of a playoff system, whether it’s the million dollar challenge or the Cup championship playoffs, is in racing.
It doesn’t work in NASCAR because you don’t get a second chance. An NFL quarterback can throw a couple interceptions in the first quarter and then come back and throw the winning touchdown pass in the fourth.
But on NASCAR superspeedways you can do everything right, have the best car, and still get eliminated because of somebody else’s mistake. There is no second chance.
Hopefully, somebody at NASCAR will realize that, scrap all the playoffs and make the necessary changes that will allow cars to gain separation and pass by themselves on superspeedways. Then maybe we can see real racing again.
NASCAR NOTES
Three most likely winners at Chicago: 1-Christopher Bell, 2-Shane van Gisbergen, 3-Chase Elliott. Last year’s winner at Chicago: Alex Bowman. Top five in last year’s race: 1-Bowman, 2-Tyler Reddick, 3-Ty Gibbs, 4-Joey Hand, 5-Michael McDowell.
Last week’s Old Guy Sport picks: None. Superspeedway races (Atlanta, Daytona, Talladega) do not count in the Old Guy Sport competition index.
Old Guy Sport competition index top 10 after 14 races: 1-Denny Hamlin 364 points, 2-Kyle Larson 301, 3-Bell 269, 4-William Byron 237, 5-Ryan Blaney 211, 6-Chase Briscoe 168, 7-Ross Chastain 102, 8-Bubba Wallace 93, 9-Elliott 92, 10-Joey Logano 91.
Old Guy Sport competition index top 10 on road courses (tracks similar to Chicago); 1-Bell 95, 2-van Gisbergen 86, 3-Elliott 50, 4-Byron 40, 5-Reddick 35, 6-Kyle Busch 28, 7-Bowman 20, 8-Gibbs 11, 9-McDowell 10, 10-Ryan Preece 4.
