Ryan Newman speaks his peace at Talladega; is he right?

Who can blame Ryan Newman for being upset when a car once again lands on top of his race car after doing barrel rolls in the last laps of the race Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway? 

In a crazy closing laps crash caused by Ricky Stenhouse misjudging the distance to take his car four-wide, numerous cars were sent spinning, Kurt Busch's car flipped over and landed on top of Newman's car. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the melee.

"They can build safer race cars, they can build safer walls. But they can't get their heads out of their asses far enough to keep them on the race track, and that's pretty disappointing. I wanted to make sure I get that point across. Y'all can figure out who 'they' is," Newman said. 

"That's no way to end a race. Our car was much better than that. That's just poor judgment in restarting the race, poor judgment ... I mean, you got what you wanted but poor judgment and running in the dark and running in the rain. That's it, thank you," Newman said.

NASCAR will likely not take kindly to Newman's remarks following the race at Talladega. They will probably attribute his statement to his anger over a poor finish that resulted in Newman's top 5 potential turning into a 32nd place finish. Undoubtedly there is that, but that is only part of it. Newman has long been frustrated about NASCAR's inability to keep the cars from getting airborne. Indeed there have been numerous instances of racecars flying into other cars and even with parts flying into the stands injuring fans. There seems to be no real solution in sight--just bandaid fixes. 

NASCAR has a history of penalizing and fining drivers that make remarks they deem to be disparaging. They have been wrong in the past and they will likely be wrong again if they penalize Newman for speaking the truth. 

Perhaps it is time for NASCAR to stop worrying so much about appearances, stop thinking about racing as just another stunt show, and start getting concerned with the safety and the future of racing in general. 

Talladega bites Newman again

Image via WikipediaIts Talladega, a wildcard race 

Once again, high hopes were dashed at Talladega for Ryan Newman. 

At least the drama surrounding the crash that ruined his day was minimal, with all four wheels still on the ground, thank goodness. 

The race started out so promising, with Newman and Tony Stewart working together and leading laps. They seemingly figured out how to make it all work. Who would have thought that a mistake by the boss man would ruin Ryan's day? 

Newman's quick short-cut from one end of the track to the other after being nudged in just the wrong way by Stewart, resulted in so much front end damage. Newman didn't even hit anything. But, what a mess! Leave it to Newman's rocky relationship with Lady Luck to screw up his day. 

Race Buddy

One of the positives about watching the race this weekend was Race Buddy. It was nice to see Race Buddy back on ESPN after it wasn't excluded from last week's coverage on ABC. Race Buddy is a real enhancement to enjoying the race, especially one at Talladega. It is sometimes difficult to follow a specific driver, who doesn't happen to be the ever-popular Dale Earnhardt, Jr. no matter where he is on the track and who is talked about incessantly by commentators. I really Race Buddy allowing me to enjoy enjoyed riding with Tony Stewart as he pushed his teammate to the lead several times. The varied camera angles make watching racing much more enjoyable. I hold my breath though, with the hope that this service remains consistent and free. 


Image via WikipediaCongratulations to Clint Bowyer,...

While the last lap of the race was stellar, and it was great to see Clint Bowyer win again, the racing at Talladega leaves lots to be desired. Tandem running really isn't racing. For drivers to have to rely on other drivers to achieve success at this track, taking their own driving prowess out of their own hands, just doesn't seem right. 

That isn't to say that parts of the race weren't exciting. I have to admit that I enjoyed much of the race, even though it was a very different kind of enjoyment. It is certainly an improvement over the single-file stay-in-the-back-until-the-end kind of racing it used to be. But, it would be nice to watch drivers back in control of their own destiny.