C.O.T. @ Talladega

[Realtree]

Drivers feel COT may lead to more accidents at 'Dega
By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
October 5, 2007
05:51 PM EDT
   
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Ever since Talladega Superspeedway opened for business in 1969, drivers have worried about one thing: getting caught up in the eventual multi-car accident.

The Car of Tomorrow has apparently done little to ease those fears. Based on Friday's two Nextel Cup practices, the new design not only promotes closer packs of three- and four-wide racing, but the flatter nose and tail allows for more aggressive bump-drafting.

"It's gonna happen," Bowyer said of Talladega's penchant for spectacular pileups. "I don't know how big it'll be and when it'll be, but it's definitely going to happen. It's always kind of a recipe for disaster here. I think we just built a little bit better recipe."

Bowyer, coming off a win at New Hampshire and a runner-up finish last weekend at Kansas, has not had much success at Talladega. In three previous visits, he's been caught up in a big wreck -- with a best finish of 35th.

Bowyer's best lap in Friday's Happy Hour was 186.047 mph, which placed him 40th of the 49 cars which made at least one lap. Jeff Gordon -- who was second-fastest in the morning session -- and Denny Hamlin -- called into the Nextel Cup hauler for "excessive bump-drafting" after the first practice -- stayed in the garage for the final 45 minutes.

"I've played it both ways," he said. "I've tried to play it conservatively and tag along at the back, kind of like the Dale Jarrett approach -- and the one car that was behind me ran me over when the wreck happened.

"It can happen anywhere so you've just got to have a little bit of luck on your side. You've got to control that luck a little bit and put yourself in the right situation. And if you're in a situation you don't want to be in, you've got to get out of it."

So what's the best strategy for avoiding trouble?

"You've just got to use your head," Bowyer said. "You've got to make sure you're not the only who causes the wreck. If we all do that, maybe we'll get through it. Everybody's going to get antsy out there. You're able to maneuver around out there and make things happen and everybody wants to lead. It's going to be interesting."

Bowyer's not the only driver in the garage area with that opinion. Points leader Jimmie Johnson said it may be harder to complete a pass without assistance, if practice was any indication.

"It seemed that the bigger hole that these cars punch, you close up in that draft inside that hole and get to someone's bumper but you really couldn't pull out and pass someone and finish a pass," Johnson said. "It meant more bump-drafting and trying to set up a pass even if you're the guy looking for the opportunity. You drag the brakes even harder to get a bigger shot from behind to push you and try to get by someone.

"Hopefully in a 43-car pack, it's not that way, but when you have all this energy too close and you can't go anywhere with it and can't execute a pass, in my opinion that's going to create the more intense racing than what we have."

Jeff Burton concurred, and said nobody's certain exactly what might happen on Sunday.

"I think there's a whole lot we don't know yet," Burton said. "I think we have a tremendous amount to learn about what we need to do with these cars and the reality of it is until Sunday we won't be on the track with 43 cars, and 25 cars [during practice] is not the same as 43 cars."

One concern Kyle Busch has may have to do with what happens after the wreck occurs. He thinks cars may become airborne if they wind up backwards at speed.

"If you look at it, there's the back bumper of the car that's scooping air right up underneath that blade, right underneath the wing," Busch said. "Any time you push air up against something it's going to lift it up.

"So I don't know that there's going to be enough air that goes between the deck lid and the wing, I think it's just all going to get packed up right there and they're going to go airborne. But I guess they're hoping the roof flaps are big enough and strong enough to hold the car down on the ground."

Tony Stewart was fastest in both sessions, running 194.959 mph in the first and 194.054 in the second. Michael Waltrip was the quickest of the go-or-go home cars in Happy Hour, followed by A.J. Allmendinger and Jacques Villeneuve -- but because some cars may have been running in a draft, it's impossible to gauge how they may qualify on Saturday.

When asked if he ever asked NASCAR to explain its decision to give last week's victory to Greg Biffle even though his car slowed noticeably at the finish, Bowyer said it was water over the bridge.

"We didn't deserve to win that race, by any means," Bowyer said. "Biffle had the faster car. Something happened to him at the end. If I had known that, I would have been saying, 'Boy, there's plenty of daylight out here.' But hindsight's always 20-20.

"I assumed they were going to give him the win but it sure would have been nice to have it handed over [to me]."