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Friday, April 20
Talladega like a magic carpet ride
By Jerry Bonkowski
ESPN.com
TALLADEGA, Ala. – He hasn't won a Winston Cup race since 1994, but Bill Elliott is always one of the favorites each time the Cup tour rolls into Talladega Superspeedway.
Elliott was king of Talladega in the mid-1980s. From 1985 through 1987, he earned six consecutive pole positions (out of eight career poles earned there), along with victories in the 1985 Winston 500 and the 1987 Talladega 500. He still holds NASCAR's modern-day speed record for a qualifying lap, covering the 2.66-mile high-banked tri-oval in a blistering speed of 212.809 mph (at a time of 44.998 seconds) in qualifying for the Winston 500 on April 30, 1987.
|  | | Bill Elliott, left, will supply plenty of pointers to teammate Casey Atwood, right, this weekend at Talladega. |
That speed followed up Elliott's previous track record, set nine months earlier in qualifying for the DieHard 500, when he blasted around the track at 209.005 mph.
But as astute as Elliott was at handling the Alabama behemoth, making his speedy bursts look like a Sunday drive to church, most of the rest of Cup drivers were shaking in their firesuits as speeds consistently crept over 200 mph. What's more, wrecks were becoming more numerous -- and more violent -- on the high banks of both Talladega and Daytona (Elliott still holds the speed record there, as well, of 210.364 mph, also set in 1987).
As a result, NASCAR officials stepped in and mandated a piece of equipment never before seen in major auto racing: the use of so-called "restrictor plates," which are devices that are inserted into the carburetor of an engine, designed to limit the amount of both oxygen and fuel going into the engine.
The restrictor plates wind up robbing cars of both speed and power, in theory establishing an artificial speed limit that cars cannot exceed. In 1988, the first year that restrictor plates were mandated, the drop in mph was dramatic. Where Elliott had qualified for the 1987 Winston 500 at more than 212 mph, Davy Allison set the pace for the 1988 Winston at a much slower pace of 198.969 mph, a drop of nearly 14 mph over Elliott's record-shattering mark.
Restrictor plates have remained with us since then, but are required only at Talladega and Daytona, the two fastest superspeedways on the 36-race Winston Cup circuit. And while drivers seemed to get used to -- and liked -- the slower qualifying speeds since 1987 (an average of 195 mph), NASCAR mandated new designs in the plates prior to the 2000 racing campaign, dropping the qualifying speeds at Talladega even more (to 186.969 mph by Jeremy Mayfield for last year's spring DieHard 500, and 190.729 by Joe Nemechek for last fall's Winston 500).
Being at or near the front of the pack starting Sunday's race was on Elliott's mind when he pulled into Talladega earlier this week. He's already proven he can start at the front, piloting his brand new 2001 Dodge Intrepid right out of the box and atop the pole at Daytona for the 500 in February. While Elliott ultimately wound up finishing fifth at the season-opener, he proved without a doubt that he and Dodge were back with a vengeance on the Cup circuit.
While there will be no change in the shape or effectiveness of restrictor plates for Sunday's race, there is a change that Elliott, team owner Ray Evernham and the rest of the nearly dozen teams powered by Dodge will have to adapt to: a larger roof spoiler blade, which is the same size as the spoiler that Ford teams used in last fall's race at Talladega.
At the same time, Ford cars will have a two-inch narrower rear spoiler than previously, bringing it in line with the size of the rear spoiler on comparable Chevrolets. Elliott will have seen both sides of the coin, having driven a Ford last year at Talladega while still with the McDonald's Racing team, before jumping ship to Evernham's Dodge-supported operation for this season.
"Talladega has always been a good track for me, especially before the restrictor plates," said Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T. "Now, with the different roof blade on the Dodge, I have no idea what to expect. There's nothing you can do to compensate. If it's there, it's there."
Elliott has 22 top-10 finishes in 46 career starts at Talladega. He'd love nothing more than to regain -- and relive -- the type of glory days he had there in the mid-80s.
"There again, it's your strategy during the day," said Elliott. "You've just got to wait for the big wreck and hope you aren't in it. We had a good race there last fall (before fading to an eventual 24th-place finish, but this year is entirely different."
While Elliott is a grizzled old pro at taming Talladega, his teammate, rookie Casey Atwood, will be competing in his first-ever Cup race there behind the wheel of the No. 19 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T. But Atwood is no stranger to Talladega either, having previously raced there twice in the Busch Series, including an eighth-place finish in his last race there.
"It's kind of the same as Daytona," Atwood said. "You've got a lot more room there. I'm excited to get out there. I still think we can run good at Talladega. We've worked hard on the Dodge to come out and be strong there. I don't know how the rules change is going to affect us. I leave that up to Ray (Evernham) and the guys."
Elliott comes into this weekend's race ninth in the Cup standings, with one pole, one top-five finish and four top-15 finishes. Atwood, on the other hand, is still learning the ropes. He checks in this week in 34th-place in the points and fourth overall in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year competition.
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Talladega is just like a magic carpet ride if you can get your car running through the air good. ” |
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—Buckshot Jones |
Racing at Talladega almost always means two things: there will be lots of lead changes (there were 27 among 10 drivers in last year's spring race there), and invariably there is always at least one major wreck in the event's 188 laps that collects numerous cars in its vacuum, serving to shake up the field and eventual finishing order.
But that's the nature of the beast in restrictor plate racing. Because cars are robbed of high-speed passing power, they wind up bunching up fender-to-fender and door-to-door, attempting to get some propulsion power from the draft of the cars in front of them. Unfortunately, one little bobble by someone within that pack can quickly send cars flying everywhere ? and ultimately out of the race.
Also affected by the new roof blade ruling on their respective Dodge Intrepids will be the three amigos of Petty Racing, namely John Andretti, Buckshot Jones and Kyle Petty. When it comes to their thoughts about Talladega, the threesome doesn't mince any words.
"It's like running with the wolves," said Andretti. "You're always going to be in tight packs and you take the chance of something biting you. The races we had last year, although under two different sets of rules, looked the same. It was just one big pack of cars, or hungry wolves you could say, running around in circles all day, that is until the end of the race. Under the new (restrictor plate) rules you saw a lot of shuffling around at the end. You wouldn't have seen that under the old rules."
Adds Petty, "(Racing in) the middle (of the draft at Talladega) is like racing in a hurricane. ? The race itself, well, that usually becomes a series of questions, most of them starting with 'How in the heck ...?' You might be sitting in the outside line and moving up fast coming out of the second turn and by the time you get to Three, you are on the inside line and holding your own. You might be in the middle and holding on coming out of Four, and leading your line of cars by the time you get to the tri-oval."
And as for Buckshot, driver of the No. 44 Georgia-Pacific Dodge Intrepid R/T, he takes a more mystical approach: "Talladega is just like a magic carpet ride if you can get your car running through the air good. It's a horsepower track, don't get me wrong, but if you can get that little bit of handling and make your aero package just right, then it's smooth sailing."
Of the three Petty Racing teammates, only Kyle was around for the pre-restrictor plate days, and still has a vivid memory of the "before and after" style of racing.
"Things are a lot different than they were in the pre-plate days," said Petty, driver of the No. 45 Sprint Dodge Intrepid R/T. "The speeds were incredible. In the car, things kind of got relative. Speed is a relative thing. You're driving 55 miles per hour down the Interstate and you look down and see you're running 70, so you have to slow up. You get used to it.
"If you've been driving in a 70 miles per hour zone and go to a 55 miles per hour zone, it feels like you're crawling. These race cars are a lot like that as far as speed is concerned. If you're running 190 miles per hour, the speed kind of comes to you and you don't have that sensation. We were like that at 210 or 215 or whatever we were racing at. It's when problems started that the speed got to be a problem. Going straight ahead at 215 miles per hour isn't that big of a deal after awhile. Going sideways after running 215 is a major deal, believe me."
Andretti has a bit of pay-back on his mind coming into this weekend. He was leading last fall's Winston 500 with just three laps to go when he fell out of the draft, dropping like a lead weight back to an eventual disappointing 20th-place finish.
"(Talladega and Daytona) are just as different as night and day," Andretti said. "Your looking at two different tracks, and that means you're going to have two different races at each one. Talladega is a track where there is a lot of room to move around and race. Daytona is a bit tighter and the ability to maneuver really isn't there as much. We can race three abreast and that's pretty easy at Talladega. At Daytona if you're racing three abreast it, you can start feeling downright claustrophobic. If you're racing four abreast at Talladega it can get tight too, it feels like three abreast at Daytona. If you're racing four abreast at Daytona, you're obviously not planning on finishing the race."
Earnhardt goes hip hop
Fresh off announcing a liaison with Major League Baseball Friday morning, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be the focus of two TV specials this weekend on youth-oriented MTV.
A visit at home with the young Earnhardt will be featured on "CRIBS," the music channel's weekly look at celebrity homes and cars. Scheduled air times (all Eastern) are Friday (8 p.m.), Saturday (2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.), Sunday (12 p.m. and 4 p.m.), Monday (11:30 p.m.) and Wednesday (7:30 p.m.).
Earnhardt's "True Life: I'm A Race Car Driver," a one-hour documentary shot last season, will debut at 1 pm Saturday afternoon (and repeated at 8 p.m. the same day). Other air times are Sunday (11 a.m. and 5 p.m.), Monday (7:30 p.m.), Wednesday (10 p.m.) and Saturday, April 28 (1 a.m.).
In addition, a lengthy profile on Earnhardt, driver of the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, appears in the May issue of Details magazine.
That's 'Wreck' (or avoiding it), as in 'Nemechek'
Joe Nemechek is no stranger to Talladega. He finished third in last fall's Winston 500.
"The difference was missing the 'big wreck,'" said Nemechek, driver of the No. 33 Oakwood Homes Chevy.
Missing the 'big wreck' was something Nemechek was unable to do in last year's spring race at Talladega, getting collected in a multi-car crash that ended any chance he had of success that day, ultimately finishing 22nd.
But the fall race was Nemechek's to win. He started from the pole position, but just didn't have quite enough horsepower to stay at the top, eventually settling for third.
"We could have easily had two great finishes at Talladega last year instead of just the one," Nemechek said." The races were nearly identical, even though the rules were different. Things shook out the same way. "The main difference? We missed 'the big one' in the second race and the 'big one' found us in the first race.
"With these restrictor plate races, it seems that is everybody's main goal throughout the day. If you can avoid that one big wreck that usually takes out half of a dozen to a dozen cars, you can have a pretty good day. Once that thing finds you, though, you might as well kiss it all goodbye."
Time for Rusty to win?
A potential dark horse to reach victory lane Sunday is no stranger to Winston Cup fans. While he's more adept -- and successful -- at short-track racing, veteran Cup driver Rusty Wallace, pilot of the No. 2 Miller Ford, may be ready to pull one of the biggest surprise upsets of his lengthy driving career.
Wallace has never won a race on a superspeedway, namely Daytona and Talladega. But he has been quietly building to that precipice in recent restrictor plate races at both tracks.
"We finished third last July at Daytona (on top of a fourth place finish in the 2000 season-opening race there), eighth at Talladega last fall and third again at Daytona in February. I can't wait to see and hear what happens when we up and win one of these races and we're definitely headed toward that," said crew chief Robin Pemberton. "It could be sooner than you think."
Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com
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