TALLADEGA, Ala. — NASCAR demanded drivers be on their best behavior at Talladega Superspeedway, where a ban on bump-drafting sanitized what’s usually one of the most spectacular races of the season.
In the end, chaos reigned, just like always.
After 450 miles of what resembled a slow Sunday drive, the action picked up and the outcome was much of what everyone has come to expect out of Talladega: An unlikely winner, two spectacular crashes and an army of drivers frustrated about the unpredictability of restrictor-plate racing.
“I think we all know that’s what’s going to happen when we come to Talladega,” said Jeff Gordon, who first ran out of gas and then wrecked — all in a five-lap span.
Jamie McMurray was the surprise winner, snapping an 86-race winless streak by leading 32 late laps and holding on in a race that ended under caution. Jimmie Johnson, meanwhile, finished sixth, likely wrapping up his NASCAR-record fourth consecutive championship because of all the late action.
“I made the comment . . . it’s just going to be luck,” McMurray said, “whoever can get in the right row and make the moves.”
That’s how it usually works at Talladega, where horsepower-sapping restrictor plates slow the speeds and force drivers to use aggressive maneuvers to plow their way through tight packs of traffic.
But after Carl Edwards’ airborne April crash into the frontstretch fence, NASCAR has felt the pressure to cut down on the dangerous bumping and blocking that usually triggers the multicar accidents known as “the Big One.” Officials warned at the start of the weekend that they didn’t want to see drivers shoving each other around. NASCAR president Mike Helton ramped it up another notch in a stern prerace lecture that banned all bumping in the corners.
In response, the 43-car field spent much of the day in a single-file parade lap that almost looked to be a conscious thumbing of the nose at NASCAR.
“Where is the middle ground between the new NASCAR rule and racing? Let us race,” Denny Hamlin said. “They gave us a car to race, now let the drivers handle it.”
Aside from Johnson and McMurray, who won for the first time since Daytona in July 2007, few drivers were happy with the final outcome.
