160mph "Bump" Wipes Out Half At Talladega

Here's a little more on Sundays race at Talladega.

Fox Sports: "It started with a little push by Dale Earnhardt Jr., really nothing more than a love tap at 190 mph to the rear bumper of Mike Wallace's car.

But that high-speed shove - called bump drafting - triggered a 25-car accident that wiped out over half the field at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. It was the second largest accident in Talladega history, behind a 27-car wreck in 2003.

When it was over, many drivers were seeing red over the racing conditions forced upon them at restrictor-plate races and the blatant disregard competitors gave to NASCAR's pre-race suggestion against bump drafting.

'Bump drafting is just part of this kind of racing,' Kasey Kahne said as his crew worked to repair his car. 'I was getting bumped here and there and I bumped here and there. You can ask them not to do it, but they're going to. That's how you get to the front.'

Because NASCAR requires horsepower-sapping restrictor plates at Talladega and Daytona, the cars run most of the race side-by-side in a tight pack of 43 cars. A driver can go from last to first in a handful of laps, and many of them use their fenders to get there."

Posted by Loyd on May 02, 2005 | 0 Comments

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