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Fast Laps: Chicagoland

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by Matt Mercer, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2012 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I'm the former blogger of The Catfish Show NASCAR Blog and a contributor to On Pit Row. Follow me on Twitter: @mattmercer

July 8, 2009 6:26 pm UTC 5 Comments

This may be for Chicagoland, but I’m still hung up on the finish of the Coke Zero 400. If you’re reading this you know the deal. Kyle Busch comes out of turn 4, blocks Tony Stewart, Stewart moves to the outside, Busch tries to block, gets spun, get’s clobbered. Twice. The finishes of these plate races has officially jumped the shark. We now know that the leader at the end of the race will end up in the wall just before the start/finish line. It’s not anyone’s fault, per se. The drivers have voiced frustration at NASCAR for the situation they’re put in. I began thinking, is there anything that can change? I started looking at some plate races from the late 90s when the fad was diving below the line on the front and backstretch. Perhaps the most famous example was Jeff Gordon diving below race leader Rusty Wallace with 11 laps to go heading into turn 1 with a slowed Ricky Rudd on the apron. Gordon was just a few feet from Rudd when Wallace moved up, gave Gordon the room on the inside, and watched him win his 2nd Daytona 500. Today, Rusty says he wouldn’t have given Gordon the room. If the yellow-line rule is lifted, would we see a situation like that again? Who knows. I just know that something’s got to be done to change the finishes of these races, because I’ll take the money in my pockets and bet someone all the money in theirs that the finish at the fall race at Talladega will look very similar to those that saw Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart end up in victory lane instead of Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.

Now it’s your turn to do battle with Steve and Charlie, along with who else might show up. 100 words, 100% attitude. Let’s roll:

1. Will someone get killed during one these plate race finishes, as suggested by Carl Edwards?

2. Has the yellow-line rule outlived its usefulness?

3. What will Martin Truex Jr. do in his first year at MWR?

4. Does Chicagoland deserve a second race ahead of Kansas?

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Filed under: Brad Kesolowski, Carl Edwards, Chicagoland Speedway, Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway, Jeff Gordon, NASCAR, Rusty Wallace, Sprint Cup Series, Talladega Superspeedway 

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Comments

5 Responses to “Fast Laps: Chicagoland”

  1. User Avatar Matt Mercer on July 8th, 2009 6:28 pm

    The video I was talking about can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42-RGrqYA5M

  2. User Avatar Charlie Turner on July 8th, 2009 9:02 pm

    “sound of cracking knuckles”

    1. Yep, I think someone will. Someone in the stands. Too much energy is involved at these speeds. A brake caliper or something is going to end up in the crowd.

    2. Nope. Need a barrier on the bottom.

    3. He’ll have a better year than he’s had in ’09 and a better year than his boss has had too.

    4. The first track that DESERVES a second date is Darlington. Then Vegas. If you show me 3 races from Chicagoland and Kansas, I wouldn’t be able to tell which was which. So, I don’t really care. But I don’t live in Kansas either.

  3. User Avatar Steve Wronkowicz on July 8th, 2009 10:02 pm

    1– It is inevitable that at some point someone will again be killed at a NASCAR racetrack. It’s a dangerous sport, but plates will not be the cause of the death. There is no current better alternative to plates for slowing the cars down this side of smaller engines. Look at the wing as the new reason for cars lifting off the race treack and address that.

    2– Yellow line keeps the cars out of the grass which is imperative.

    3– Just Mikey with a goatee.

    4– Neither; read Charlie’s answer, I agree with him and I’m out of words.

  4. User Avatar James Jones on July 9th, 2009 2:14 pm

    1 – Someone will get killed, but it will most likely be a fan and it won’t even have to be due to a “Big One.” If not a fan, a pit crew member.

    2 – No, the monkeys need a defined boundary on tracks such as Daytona and Talladega.

    3- Truex will have a much better year. I’d wager he finishes inside the top 20 in points. If Mikey can teach him anything, Martin’s biggest improvements will come on the super speedways.

    4 – Kansas before Chicago. Taking one each from Pocono and Auto Club is fine by me.

  5. NASCAR Ratings Up - Down: Who Cares? : Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie on August 28th, 2009 9:16 pm

    [...] every other On Pit Row show, Steve talks about – or there’s a Fast Lap question that wonders – why NASCAR’s TV ratings are down. Or [...]

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