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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
BYRNES: Scrapping Points At The Scrap Heap?
I certainly can sympathize with a driver who feels his destiny is out of his hands at Talladega...
Steve Byrnes  |  Posted October 26, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Steve Byrnes on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)
Carl Edwards recently said he doesn’t think points should be awarded at Talladega Superspeedway due to its propensity to produce wild card races.

I respectfully disagree and firmly believe Talladega unequivocally should continue as a points-paying race because it showcases driver talent and continually generates one of the biggest spectacles in the sport. I challenge you to sit in the grandstands, observe the fans for a few laps and find one who is bored. You won’t.

Edwards’ premise is that the Alabama track basically is a crapshoot. I agree that Sunday’s race is a huge roll of the dice and I certainly can sympathize with a driver who feels his destiny is out of his hands. However, I also think artistry and expertise on a restrictor-plate track should be rewarded just as they are on a road course or short track. I am not a huge proponent of road courses, but I would like to see one in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup to provide a more authentic sampling of the season’s entire schedule and variety of venues.

The sport plays out at an assortment of tracks during the season and they all should be treated fairly. I always have admired the fact that the NASCAR championship rewards excellence at all types of tracks, but you venture down a slippery slope when you begin dictating what race deserves points and which doesn’t.

There is a reason certain drivers perform better on plate tracks than others and I think that ability to rise above at Daytona and Talladega should be rewarded. All eyes will be on Kevin Harvick this weekend at Talladega because not only is he the defending winner, he always seems to make the right decisions on plate tracks. On the other hand, Jimmie Johnson has been involved in four crashes, suffered three blown motors and collected only win at Talladega. Is that coincidence or does it speak to driver ability? Johnson certainly was in the wrong place at the wrong time in at least a couple of these incidents, but Harvick always has a knack for knowing when to pull the trigger at Talladega and Daytona; therefore, I think he has the potential to make up some serious ground on Johnson and Denny Hamlin this weekend.
My SPEED is devoted to the passionate fans who celebrate motorcycles, motorsports and the automotive lifestyle.

But “Cousin Carl” does have a point. The problem with Talladega is there is nowhere to hide and if two cars get together, there is a good likelihood they will take out 20 more with them. They’re running so fast, nose-to-tail and side-by-side that reaction time is non-existent. But that is the nature of the beast and drivers and teams have come to expect it.

At Martinsville, often considered the other “wild card” in the Chase, a couple of cars might be banged up in a pile-up, but they’re usually not destroyed. However, following the “big one” at Talladega, you might as well sweep the carnage into a basket -- those cars are used up and nothing is salvageable.

As a result, drivers approach Talladega almost with an attitude of resignation because if something big happens in front of them, they know they’re going down with it, whereas at other tracks, they have more time and space to get out of the way. The reality doesn’t make competitors’ jobs any easier, but they understand that’s the way the ball bounces there … always has been, always will be.

The equalizing factor at Talladega, though, is that everyone stands the same chance of emerging unscathed or on the back of a tow truck. The odds are equal for each driver when the green flag waves, so the awarding of points is a fair practice at Talladega.

Look at the Coca-Cola 600 … we often see parts failures that lead to DNFs during this race because of its grueling length. Notice how many engines blew up at Fontana a couple of weeks ago? That track is murder on motors and tends to produce a few DNFs. We could point to several tracks for putting teams and equipment in a compromising position. But at the end of the day, they all started on an even playing field, just as they will Sunday at Talladega, and what unfolds after the green flag is a product of driver ability, equipment reliability and a little racing luck. Sounds like a fair concept to me.

Steve Byrnes is the host of NASCAR Race Hub on SPEED, the network’s nightly news and information program, in addition to his duties as a pit reporter for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races on FOX Sports. A NASCAR broadcaster for 25 years, Byrnes also hosts NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice and qualifying broadcasts, as well as NASCAR Nationwide Series sessions. Byrnes served as the longtime host of Trackside, SPEED’s popular at-track news and entertainment program, until mid-2010. He broke into NASCAR broadcasting in 1985 as the host of Inside NASCAR on TNN and went on to host Darrell Waltrip’s Racers on TNN, among numerous other programs. Byrnes also has served as a play-by-play announcer in the NFL.

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The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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