Nascar fan gets...a bit wound up....(nsfw-language)

((ht: benmaller.com))

Okay. As someone who follows many others on twitter and facebook, we often see video's and stories they report and check them out ourselves to see if it is something of interest.

This is something of interest. The video is of an unnamed NASCAR fan watching this past Sunday's photo finish on her TV. She's seemingly unaware that her reactions are being videotaped.

The original poster, Ben Maller of benmaller.com questions the authenticity of this, saying it could be staged. We disagree. We are very familiar with people who watch races like this (we won't name them), so to see this kind of a reaction isn't a shock.

Watch the video, laugh, but if you are at work, use headphones because there are quite a few curse words involved. And she definitely isn't a Jimmie Johnson fan.

Talladega Finish Closest In While

((HT: NASCAR on Fox/MT89Motorsport2))

The larger issue at Talladega Sunday turned out to be who your favorite driver would use as a dance partner. If Dave Blaney had Regan Smith instead of Kurt Busch ((who was involved in three incidents with other drivers)), we all would be heading to Blaney's steakhouse sponsor with any kid we knew for a free meal...

But Roush went with Roush, Hendrick was with Hendrick, and so on and so on...

The four Hendrick cars were in the mess at the end, and the mess ended up being .002- or the length of a fender- good enough for one of the wildest non-Big One endings in a while... the closest margin since 1996...

Have you ever...???

Saturday's Big One At 'Dega...

((HT: NASCAR/ESPN/MT89Motorsport2))

Has the HQ told you that the ground on Talladega was built on cursed Indian ground...???

We got another wreck for the weekend...
Here's the Nationwide version...


Waiting for tomorrow's version...

Jeff Gordon Is Not A Happy Teammate, Johnson Admits Fault

Back to the end of the stock car event at Talladega from Sunday afternoon...

It was the first-time ever in the history of the Green-White-Checker format of "Overdrive" that we went to the third attempt to get it done...

Or as Fox's Mike Joy calls it: "Checkers or Wreckers"

Here's your checkers...
((HT: NASCAR on FOX/MT89MotorSports))


And here's your wreckers that took out Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton...
((HT: NASCAR on FOX/500bennu))


So, naturally, the 24 is not pleased with the 48...
Have you ever seen Gordon this way...???
((HT: NASCAR on Fox/StewartHaasNewman))


MONDAY UPDATE: The 48 has fallen on the sword in this one...

"I misjudged the closing rate," Johnson told The Associated Press. "We all make mistakes, I am no different.

"Certainly, that was my fault. I made the mistake there."

Johnson also said that he would have hung around the track had he known that Gordon was so pissed at him. He had already bailed by the time Dick Berggren asked the 24 what the burr was under his saddle...

"I would have stuck around if I knew what was waiting for me," Johnson said in a phone interview with Jenna Fryer.

"There's no doubt after the fact that frustrations are high, the wreck just compounded it," Johnson said. "I think he was speaking out of frustration."

Dennis Setzer's Wild Ride At Talladega

You had some excitement in the double-header at Talladega today, but the biggest batch seemed to be at the end of the Nationwide event- the Aaron's 312...

And Dennis Setzer was one lucky dog...

((HT: ESPN/NASCAR))

Talladega Cursed With Boredom Until Last 20 Laps

The day first starts with NASCAR Major Domo Mike Helton warning against all that has made Talladega, well, Talladega...

No bump drafting in the corners and single file restarts gets you that...

But, then, with five laps to go, Ryan Newman ends up upside down and crushing Kevin Harvick's hood on the way to rediscovering gravity. It took 13 minutes for safety teams to get the car righted and Newman really had to go to the bathroom badly.

Jamie Little caught up with Newman outside the Infield Care Center
Understandably, he was less than pleased...
((HT: ESPN/NASCAR/NASCAR Images))


Oh, by the way, Jamie McMurray ended an 86-race winless streak dating back to Daytona in 2007.
But not before another wreck at the end where Mark Martin flipped over himself...
He wanted to finish the race...
((HT: NASCAR/ESPN/NASCAR Images))

Talladega: The Day After/The Round-Up

((Picture, thanks Mark Almond/Birmingham News))

al.com's Kevin Scarbinsky was less-than-pleased...
The Highlights:

Thank God that catch fence caught the low-flying plane of Carl Edwards on the last lap and threw it back on the track where it belonged.

Otherwise it could've been the death of countless men, women and children. Not to mention the death of a sport.

Is that too dramatic?

Tell it to the seven spectators in the area who were treated for what a track medical official described as minor injuries because the catch-fence didn't catch every piece of the flying Ford. One woman suffered what may have been a broken jaw, which is minor only if the jaw isn't yours.

Tell it to Edwards. His signature move may be the back flip off the roof after a victory, but he'd never before piloted a car that went toes over nose.

This is NASCAR racing at Talladega: There's a fine line between wrecking someone and killing someone.

It was the experienced Earnhardt who put the day in perspective -- and put a lot of people to shame.

"You have to understand that, like, for years, we have had wrecks like this every time we come to Talladega ever since the (restrictor) plate got here, and for years, it was celebrated. The media celebrated it, the network celebrated it, calling it the Big One, just trying to attract attention.

"So there's a responsibility with the media and the networks and the sanctioning body itself to come to their senses a little bit."

Tell it to the twisted promoters at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

They're offering 1,000 seats for their next NASCAR race at $14 each -- because that's how many cars were involved Sunday in the Big One that didn't come close to killing anyone.

Earnhardt said the drivers "have been saying this for years: racing like this is not a whole lot of fun."

It's not a whole lot of fun to watch, either, when sheet metal and your life both pass before your eyes.

And your Keselowski victory press conference ((thanks, al.com))

Brad Keselowski at Talladega

Talladega: The Day After/Monday PM Update

((HT: WBRC-TV/myfoxal.com))
SuperSpeedway President Rick Humphrey called "Good Day Alabama" and offered his reaction to what happened at his track Sunday.


UPDATE: A woman who was taken to the hospital for a medical condition following a wreck at Talladega Superspeedway has been released. A spokeswoman for Brookwood Hospital in Birmingham said the woman was discharged Sunday night. Her name was not released.

Another woman was airlifted to UAB Hospital. The hospital declined to release her condition, citing privacy laws since her name was not made public.

Seven other fans sustained minor injuries caused by flying debris Sunday when Carl Edwards' car went into the safety fence on the final lap of the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. The other injured fans received treatment at the track and did not have to go to a hospital.

Talladega: The Day After/Allison Reaction

((HT: WBRC-TV/myfoxal.com))

Here are the money shots from WBRC-TV Fox 6 cameras...


Bobby Allison left Talladega Superspeedway before Carl Edwards' car hurled into the safety fence and showered the stands with debris.

Allison listened to the scary and spectacular ending on the radio, then caught replays of the crash Monday morning - a scene that looked eerily familiar. It was Allison's twisting, airborne spin in 1987 that led to restrictor plates the following year at Talladega.

The driver responsible for the change, designed to slow down the cars, doesn't agree with Edwards that NASCAR needs to adjust the rules again to prevent a death at that track.

"In modern entertainment there's a risk, but the risk is part of the attraction," Allison said by phone on Monday.

Like Edwards' last-lap accident on Sunday, Allison's car also went airborne, collided into the steel-cable fence and scattered debris into the crowd. Allison was running over 200 mph when his crash happened.

Edwards said he hoped his own accident, which sent his car flying around like the tractor in the movie "Twister," will make NASCAR consider rules to make the racing at Talladega safer.

"We'll race like this until we kill somebody," Edwards said Sunday, "then (NASCAR) will change it."
Allison, who lives in Mooresville, N.C., called that an overstatement.
"Well, it's scary, but it's exciting for the fans. It always has been," Allison said. "Part of the attraction of Talladega is the potential for danger."

Allison should know that as well as any driver. He didn't even have to catch the replay to know what Edwards experienced.

"It was pretty spectacular, but it was nothing compared to what I did," Allison said. "My wreck was way bigger, way more guard rail, way more cars involved."
Allison was running fourth on the 21st lap in 1987 when his engine blew and slid under the car. When he ran over it, the engine sliced the rear tire.

Allison's car slid sideways, became airborne and went tail-first high onto the steel-cable catch fence at the front of the grandstand near the finish line, tearing a 150-foot hole in it and scattering debris into the crowd.

He was able to walk away and the race was red-flagged while the broken fence and steel cables were replaced. Some fans sustained minor injuries, just like in Edwards' accident.

Allison's son, Davey, won the 1987 race and the two hugged in Victory Lane. Davey Allison died in 1993 when his helicopter crashed into a track infield.

Restrictor plates are used at Daytona and Talladega to combat the high speeds at NASCAR's two fastest tracks. The plates typically keep the field bunched tightly together, and fans usually see cars racing three- or four-wide. All it takes is one mistake to lead to massive pileups dubbed "The Big One."

Allison had no suggestions about how to make Talladega safer for fans and drivers. He said all parties understand the risks at one of the sport's most dangerous tracks.

"It's as safe as we see modern entertainment," Allison said. "If you're at a hockey game and the hockey puck comes into the grandstands and hits you in the head and kills you, it's not safe. If you're at the football game and the football hits you in the head and kills you, you're not safe. If you're at a baseball game and the baseball hits you and kills you, you're not safe."

Talladega: The Day After

First and foremost, Brad Keselowski???
Brad "F'n" Keselowski...???

A part-time team with a Hendrick package helps Carl Edwards with two laps to go act like a rocketship. They pass Ryan Newman and Dale Junior like they were sightseeing. Edwards makes a move to block and Keselowski won't have any of the re-blocking. He held his ground and Edwards went airborne.

And we get a "Ricky Bobby" moment...
Here's the end of the coverage from NASCAR and Fox...


A lot of people were comparing the Edwards moment to Bobby Allison's crash in 1987.
See for yourself, thanks NASCAR and ESPN- Bob Jenkins and Larry Haber in the booth.

PETA Feathers Ruffled For Talladega Race

It seems PETA (a.k.a. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) are not happy that fans attending the NASCAR races this weekend at Talladega Super Speedway might be doing the chicken dance.

It's an attempt to enter the Guinness Book of World Records with the largest group chicken dance. KFC is the sponsor and that's has PETA's feathers ruffled. The organization says the company is cruel to chickens and has asked Guinness World Records, Inc not to recognize the record.

"If this record is allowed, it could encourage other animal abusers to attempt silly feats that make a mockery of animal protection," said Tracy Reiman, executive vice president of PETA.

Here's the press release and letter that was sent to Guinness World Record, Inc. by PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk.

It's the chicken dance at a NASCAR race. When was the last time a PETA member went to a wedding? The chicken dance is a wedding reception tradition (see below).

I know, PETA doesn't have a problem with the chicken dance, it's KFC. Yeah... right.

By the way, KFC defends its animal rights record.




Those of us at the OSG HQ are going to have lunch at KFC today.