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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Banking Will Remain Unchanged At Talladega
SceneDaily.com  |  Posted November 03, 2009   Talladega, AL
If the season develops as NASCAR said Thursday it will be allowed to develop, there should be better racing, bigger moments and more fun for everybody. And isn't fun the best thing you can have?.- Mike Hembree (Photo: Getty Images)

Jimmie Johnson brought up the 40-year-old question following the NASCAR Sprint Cup race Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway: Should the 33-degree banking at the track be changed?

And the answer, for the 40th consecutive year: No.

“We’re not,” Talladega Superspeedway President Rick Humphrey said Monday of the possibility of altering the track. “We get this question every Monday morning twice a year. No. We’re not going to tear up the banking.”

Two scary crashes, a typical byproduct of restrictor-plate racing, along with an extended period of single-file racing left some fans – and drivers – critical of the racing at the track Sunday.

“The number of lead changes were very similar to what we’ve had in the past,” Humphrey said. “The accidents at the end were very unfortunate, very scary. It’s disappointing on Monday morning to hear all the comments from everybody, but I really don’t know how much it differed from the last several races that we had. … Around here, we hang our hat on lead changes and close finishes.

“We continue to have those, and we had those again yesterday. Unfortunately, the last lap ended up under caution.”

Talladega has a tradition of horrifying wrecks as NASCAR grapples to find a rules package that balances safety and competition.

“I guess it kind of goes back to it has been here for 40 years. It has been a part of the sport for 40 years and hopefully and probably [will] be a part of the sport for another 40 years,” Humphrey said. “It’s so hard to try to figure out what is everybody talking about and what is everybody saying? You’ve got it coming from both directions.”

Humphrey acknowledged that attendance was down about 15 to 20 percent from a year ago. Talladega was part of a three-track schedule adjustment this year as its race was moved three weeks later in the season, and Humphrey said he still likes the date.

“The economy certainly is one thing we heard our fans say [for not coming],” Humphrey said. “While we think the Halloween weekend was a success for us and was a lot of fun for us to promote and for our fans, we did get some comments from folks that the date change didn’t allow them to come. … It has been a gloomy fall from a weather standpoint. It’s been a different fall than we’ve seen in the past.”

Last April’s accident where Carl Edwards got in the catch fence and eight people were treated for injuries did not impact attendance, Humphrey said.

“Where we saw our downturn was in the towers and was in the Allison [grandstands],” Humphrey said. “I don’t feel that kept folks away.”

SceneDaily.com • Six months prior to opening NASCAR Hall of Fame taking shape
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