by Marcia Studley

Created on: May 13, 2009

The question at hand is whether or not the Daytona and Talladega NASCAR races be banned from the sport, and the answer to that is a very strong no. There's no doubt in my mind that these two venues are needed to complete the racing schedule. However, the issue comes up occasionally from critics who don't like restrictor-plate racing. Recently, though, the huge attention give to the Carl Edwards wreck on the final lap of the Talladega race has brought even non-racing fans into the foray. Edwards appeared on numerous programs following the horrific crash, including Ellen, CBS This Morning, and Larry King Live. He reached millions who probably had never even heard of him before.

The truth is that NASCAR needs these races for diversity. It's boring to have the same kind of tracks over the long season. Short tracks, road courses, mile tracks, mile-and-a-half tracks: they're all needed to give variety. What the restrictor-plate races provide is lots of intense, bumper-to-bumper driving that you don't get anywhere else.

The other part of the truth is that overreacting to one incident isn't an answer. When you look closely at what happened, the car and the catch-fence did their jobs. A few people had minor injuries, and the part of the wreck that led to that definitely needs to be corrected. A higher fence at the Alabama track would probably take care of that. They could also move the fans back a bit and put a little more distance between the grandstand and the track. This would take care of the concerns for the most part.

In my opinion, Edwards' crash got so much attention that it has put undue attention on this situation. In addition, his comments made after the race, referring to someone dying one day if NASCAR didn't do something, fueled the flames. Viewers not familiar with NASCAR and Talladega put more force into those words than were intended, and they don't really understand all the ins and outs of restrictor-plate racing.

So, no, Daytona and Talladega shouldn't be banned. There should be improvements made to the tracks to ensure that the fences are high enough to prevent pieces of debris being tossed over it, and perhaps the 'yellow line' rule should be revisited. I haven't heard much talk about it, and yet it was the yellow line that was really responsible for the Edwards' crash. As I said, though, banning the races would be an overreaction, and that's just not appropriate.

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