If you watched the AMP 500 at Talladega to see the BIG WRECK, you were not dissappointed. Millions of dollars worth of race cars were destroyed. One driver, Denny Hamlin spent the night in the hospital for observation. 
Six of the 12 drivers in the Chase did not finish or were scored back in the field as a result of the carnage. All this left Grumpy, well…grumpy. You see, I don’t get it anymore. We all love the thrill of seeing these guys running at nearly 200mph in a tight pack, door to door, bumper to bumper, lap after lap. Then the slightest misque, a sudden flat tire and the field is wrecked. There is little chance of escape.
Grumpy thinks Talladega has out lived its usefulness as a place to stage a safe, competitive race. Restrictor plates, smaller fuel cells and the COT have done nothing to reduce the risk of these multi-car calamities. NA$CAR has little or no incentive to correct the problem. The team owners spend all the money to build these cars and motors for just 4 events per season. They must all recognize the futility of it. The chance of having a car return to the shop undamaged is slim.
Still, the suites at NA$CAR will brag on the TV ratings while the team owners write off a fleet of cars, some of which were racing for the first time. Jack Roush lost 3 cars in the same wreck. That was the one that cousin Carl took the blame for. Edwards was trying to push Greg Biffle into the lead. He gave it one last shot and the wreck was on as Biffle collected fellow Roush-Sox driver, Matt Kenseth as well as Dale Earnhardt jr.
All the TV talking heads called Talladega the wild card event in the chase. Indeed.
Oh, Tony Stewart was declared the winner. DEI rookie, Regan Smith made a valiant effort to pass Smoke coming into the trioval. with a big push from DEI’s Paul Menard, Smith’s #01 had the momentum to make the pass. Stewart dropped to the yellow line to block. Smith was forced below the yellow line to avoid contact with Stewart. As they crossed the finish line, the #01 was ahead of the #20. NA$CAR declared the #01 was out of bounds and awarded the win to Stewart.
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