Think of how far we’ve evolved as followers of NASCAR.
Or maybe “devolved” is the better word.
Once was, a winner crosses the line just inches ahead of the runner-up, and the margin of victory is technically measured to the thousandths of a second — shortly after a 28-car wreck, by the way — and everyone’s hair would be on fire.
“Can you believe that??!!”
But anymore, while we might not actually yawn, we’re hardly awed by the theatrics served up by the superest of superspeedways — Talladega.
Let’s go through the gears and point the wheels toward the final race in the Round of 12 as NASCAR’s Cup Series playoffs roll along.
Or limp along, depending on your Talladega after-effects.
First Gear: Talladega Big One, then a clean overtime
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s Talladega win gives him four career Cup wins, all on the “restrictor-plate” superspeedways — two each at Talladega and Daytona.
If you’re looking for a Talladega surprise, perhaps it was those two overtime laps coming off without a (tow) hitch. In those instances, you hold your breath until what’s left of the field completes the first of two laps and guarantees the race’s conclusion will come even if another caution flies.
On those occasions they get through that first lap, they almost never get all the way back to the checkers with everyone pointed north and south. But they did, and all that remained was waiting on the official timing-and-scoring pylon to identify the winner.
It was Stenhouse by about the length of a sandwich — and not a 12-inch meatball sub, by the way.
William Byron, bless his heart, pushed Stenhouse — not a teammate but a fellow Chevy pilot — coming off Turn 4 and toward the stripe before darting to Ricky’s outside and making it three-wide under the checkers.
Byron got his nose alongside Ricky’s passenger-side door but it was too little, too late. Compared to the Stenhouse-Kez margin, that half a car length back to Byron’s nose looked like enough acreage for fall planting.
Second Gear: NASCAR drafting crashes usually start with a bump
That 28-car pileup with four laps remaining is considered the biggest ever. Did you know that the “Big One,” as these things are known, has its own Wikipedia page?
They might need to put together a page for the Really Big One now.
It started as they often do at Talladega and Daytona: A bump-draft gone wrong. And also as happens often, there’s no conclusive way to point blame.
One lane gets gummed up, the leader gets a wee bit too far in front of the train, the train catches up quickly. The second driver in line gets bumped from a driver who’s also getting bumped, and just like that, Kez is drilling the lead car of Austin Cindric and more than two dozen cars get all or part of the ensuing mess.
Then you grab a nap during the lengthy cleanup and all the arguments over who’s allowed to put on new tires and stay in the race (quite a sidebar argument there Sunday), and when the green flies again for overtime, the remaining field looks like something you’d see at the old Busch Clash, back before it practically became an all-skate.
Third Gear: Ricky Stenhouse latest outsider to win NASCAR playoff race
Some folks will talk like the following two stats are oddities, but we’re talking Talladega so they’re really not.
First: Non-playoff drivers have won three of the first five playoff races. But Chris Buescher (Watkins Glen) and Ross Chastain (Kansas) weren’t exactly shocking upsets. And a playoff outsider winning at Talladega — especially when it’s Stenhouse — doesn’t even raise an eyebrow.
And now it’s off to the fifth and final road-course race of 2024, at the Charlotte Roval. And guess what, the non-playoff roster at the Roval will include some quality road racers (AJ Allmendinger, anyone?).
As for those looking to survive into the Round of 8, keep an eye on Cindric at the Roval. After getting dumped out of Talladega — while leading, remember — he goes to Charlotte 29 points below the cutoff.
But he also goes there as one of NASCAR’s very best road racers.
Stenhouse? Don’t look for back-to-back trophies. In 39 career road-course starts, he was exactly one more top-10 finish than you have. However … that was a seventh last year at Austin, and he finished second on Chicago’s street circuit this summer, so maybe he’s gaining a mid-career respect for right-hand turns.
Fourth Gear: Playoffs about more than NASCAR Cup Series
Let’s take a quick look at the championship chases in other NASCAR touring circuits (yes, including sports cars).
Xfinity Series: The Round of 12 also concludes at the Roval. Xfinity starts its playoffs with 12 teams, so this is just its third playoff race. AJ Allmendinger (eighth) and Justin Allgaier (ninth) are on the bubble there.
Truck Series: Two weeks off for the dudes in pickups. After that, it’s two more races in the Round of 8, followed by the top four going at it on the final championship weekend, for all series, at Phoenix.
IMSA WeatherTech Championship: NASCAR’s sports-car league features four classes of cars and all four championships are on the line Saturday at Road Atlanta and the final event of 2024 — the 10-hour Petit Le Mans. IMSA’s five longest races comprise a season within the season — the Michelin Endurance Cup — and that’s also decided Saturday, beginning at noon.
— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
