The new surface was obviously smoother. You could not see much of the cars bouncing around on the track as races here in the past. It makes the anticipation for Sunday’s race even greater. Better cars and drivers will put on a great show.

As smooth as the surface was, we still experienced “The Big One”. With less than 20 to go, 2 cars tried to occupy the same spot on the track and collected quite a few more. It was typical Talledega, the track supposedly built on an Indian burial ground. These burial mounds are prevalent in the Talledega National Forest. One story goes that Bobby Isaac actually gave up the lead with 10 laps to go, pulled off the track, and parked his car after hearing voices.

The race was shortened before they could get back to green because of darkness much like Jeff Gordon’s cup win here in 1996. That race was shortened after a rain delayed the start and a horrendous crash in which Dale Earnhardt broke his collar bone ran the race late in the day. No lights here at ‘dega means no racing when the sun goes down. Don’t see this happening again on Sunday ‘cause the cup race starts quite a bit earlier, but it’s not out of the question.

# posted by theStewartFan @ 10:34 PM