Dustin Barton

I like NASCAR.  There, I said it.  Let the redneck jokes commence….

Moving on, today the Sprint Cup Series (the top series in NASCAR) raced at the largest track on the schedule; Talladega Superspeedway.  This track was originally built in 1969 and now covers approximately 3,000 acres including the track site and parking areas.  Talladega Superspeedway is a 2.66-mile tri-oval course.  The north and south turns are banked 33 degrees and the grandstands tri-oval is banked 16.5 degrees.  The track is 48-feet wide with an apron that is an additional 12 feet in width.  The frontstretch is 4,300′ long, while the backstretch is 4,000′ long.  Yeah, this place is HUGE!  But it’s not the size that is impressive, though while the track is huge, it’s the speed at which the cars race around this track that draws the fans in.

3-4-5 wide racing at 190+ MPH with speeds approaching 205+ MPH going into the turns.  This place is not only huge, it’s fast!  So what happens when you put 43 cars on the track, nose-to-tail, side-by-side, for 500 miles?  Crashes naturally, and today was no different.  Coming to the checkered flag, we saw Carl Edwards leading Brad Keselowski.  Now, to properly set this final dash to the finish up, I need to explain a major rule in NASCAR.  At Talladega (and Daytona International Speedway) NASCAR has the ‘Yellow Line’ rule.  This is a double yellow line that divides the race track and the apron and this line is a no-no when it comes to passing.  If you dip your left side tires below this line and make a pass, you are penalized (unless you give the position back).  So, with that out of the way, here is the end result:

Yeah…insane, I know.  Thankfully this doesn’t happen at every race, but NASCAR needs to do something to keep these cars on the ground.  Anyway, just thought i’d share this little ‘tidbit’…