Hellman’s 500 at Talladega: Takeaways and observations
By Ted Fleming
1. There was no ‘Big One’ at NASCAR’s most unpredictable track
If there is one thing that draws fans to the track and television is the volatile nature of the 2.66 mile, high banked Talladega Superspeedway is waiting for the ‘Big One” where multiple cars are taken out at one time. Much to the chagrin of those watching, but obviously a good thing for most NASCAR teams, there were only six cautions and one for a minor skirmish between three cars, two of them managing to return to the track at some point.
Greg Biffle appeared to lose a tire and came down the track to collect Jeffrey Earnhardt and Casey Mears. The trio bounced off the wall at the top of pit row with Mears taking the most damage knocking him out of the race.
“We just kind of moved down to the bottom and were waiting for the cycle of pit stops to come around and something happen with the No. 16 (Biffle),” said Mears. “I couldn’t tell out of the corner of my eye, I thought maybe he got clipped on the outside and then it swung him back into whoever was below him. We were just cruising along there and all of a sudden just got taken out; a pretty hard hit to the inside wall.”