The Weekend Past and The Weekend Ahead

The NASCAR Race at Talladega Superspeedway was an interesting one with a lot of twists and turns with regards to the race itself and the Sprint Cup championship as a whole. Many of the championship contenders were involved in the always inevitable "big ones" and perhaps whittled the number of drivers with a shot at the title down to just a few. Jimmie Johnson is right now sitting in an excellent position to become just the second person in history to capture three straight Cup Series titles. Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, and Clint Bowyer are still sitting in a position where they could be able to at least try and capitalize on any kind of misfortune that Johnson may have.
However, the part of the race that has everyone talking without a doubt is the finish of the AMP Energy 500. Tony Stewart, winless coming into the race at Talladega and in his final few races with Joe Gibbs Racing, was leading Regan Smith, in search of his first win, as the race came to its final lap. In the tri-oval, heading towards the finish line, Smith went below the yellow line and passed Stewart to take the checkered flag first. Confusion reigned as this was a rules violation because drivers are told at a meeting on race morning that at Daytona and Talladega they are not allowed to advance their position by going under the yellow line. It seems to be cut and dry but a couple of factors cannot be ignored.

Regan Smith beat Tony Stewart to the line Sunday but the pass was disallowed because he went under the yellow line
(AP Photo/Glenn Smith)

1. Final Lap of the race-An argument that Smith brought up after the race was that he believed that on the last lap of the race, anything goes. His argument was supported by the finish of the Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona in 2007 where driver Johnny Benson Jr. attempted a pass at the finish. After the race, NASCAR officials said that if Benson would have advanced his position he would have been fine because it was the last lap of the race. NASCAR changed its position on Sunday saying that it didn't matter when it happens, if you go under the line, you are being penalized.
2. Forced Under The Line-Another argument that Smith made was that he was forced below the line. NASCAR has said in the past that if you advance your position by going under the line BUT you are forced under the line, you can keep your position and the driver doing the forcing could be penalized. It looked as if Smith may have been forced under by Stewart but then again, one man's forced under is another man's driving under.
My personal feeling is that I have never liked the yellow line rule and have always wished that they would get rid of it. Would the race have had a different outcome without the rule? Smith would have been able to legally make the pass. Then again, Stewart could have driven down there to block. We will just never know for sure.
Also at Talladega over the weekend, Justin Alligaier won Friday evening's ARCA race while Todd Bodine captured the truck race.
I was in Terre Haute on Saturday night at "The Action Track" for the 57th running of the Hut Hundred for the USAC Midgets. The prestigious race was a good one with Shane Cottle, in Levi Jones' backup car, coming from the back of the field after an opening lap crash to lead much of the race. Early race leader Cole Whitt got the lead back just past the three-quarter mark and never let go of the top spot as he took the win. A day later I was at the Anderson Speedway seeing Craig Haack of Tennessee take the Indiana/Midwest USAC Ford Focus Midget finale and Taylor Ferns become the first female to win a USAC Kenyon Midget race. Kyle Hamilton took the Focus Championships while Caleb Armstrong joined his cousin Dakoda as a Kenyon Champion.
This weekend the USAC Midgets are in Pontoon Beach, Illinois for the $15,000 to win "Gold Crown Nationals" on Thurday, Friday, and the big money race on Saturday. Scott Speed, former Formula One driver, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. former and sometimes current USAC competitor compete for the ARCA title at the finale Sunday afternoon at Toledo Speedway in Ohio. Also, the Nationwide Series is at Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte on Friday night while the Chase for the Sprint Cup continues at the same track on Saturday night.