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Ingram: Crashes fail to faze Earnhardt at Talladega

[October 17, 2017] By Jonathan Ingram, The Sports Xchange

No one can say that Dale Earnhardt Jr. ever drove scared at NASCAR's scariest track.

Earnhardt's problems with concussion syndrome that forced his retirement may have begun when he wrecked twice at the Talladega Superspeedway in the spring of 2015. But that didn't slow him down on Sunday -- when only 14 cars were running at the finish.

During his final season, Earnhardt has lived with the possibility of an incapacitating injury. At Talladega, where speeds are higher than Daytona and multi-car crashes more frequent, the risks were as great as ever during an intense playoff race that counted with three red flag periods in the closing laps.

The massive grandstands were brim full with fans looking to see a fitting bookend to Earnhardt's extraordinary career at Talladega, especially in light of what happened to his father. Dale Earnhardt Sr. scored his final win in 2000 at the Alabama track before he was killed in a crash the following February at Daytona.

Earnhardt Jr., had a car capable of winning until the last multi-car melee bent the right front splitter on his Chevy. Trying to add one last restrictor plate victory to an impressive career total of 10 at Daytona and Talladega, Earnhardt limped home seventh, his Chevy finally snagged by the crashes of others.

A new king emerged in the form of Brad Keselowski, who earned his fifth victory at Talladega. That will become the most among active drivers once Earnhardt Jr. retires at the end of the season. It should have been mano-a-mano at the finish between the two mechanized warriors. But over the course of the final three green flag laps, it was not going to come to pass.

"I wish we could have seen what we could have done with a straight car at the end," Earnhardt said. "We tried to push Brad into the lead, but the splitter was on the ground so bad, we got disconnected, and everyone literally went right around us, and it was downhill from there."

There was better news on a day when Earnhardt started on the pole in front of the packed mile-long grandstands around the yawning arc of the front stretch's tri-oval bend. Earnhardt now faces a more certain future, one where the specter of a severe concussion from the high speeds at Talladega have been quelled.

Races at tracks where severe head injuries to drivers have occurred previously such as Martinsville and the Texas Motors Speedway are yet to be run. But if all continues to go well, NASCAR's most popular driver can concentrate on being the voice of NASCAR, articulating what makes the sport tick for him in a way that brings it to life. He will no longer have to sit through red flags at Talladega while torn sheet metal on bent tube frames is hauled away like gladiators being removed from the Roman Coliseum before the fighting begins anew.

"I think that anyone who questions our desire to be here and compete this year and our desire to run hard can look at the risks that we took this afternoon," Earnhardt said, "knowing that any of those crashes would have probably given me a bit of an injury that would have held me out of the rest of the season."

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Earnhardt's resolve to leave the driving behind on his own terms was reflected by the ambition of the new monarch as well. Facing the same challenges that can come with constant wrecks, Keselowski continues to pursue victories and championships unabated.

"You know when you come here that probably three out of every four races you're going to get caught up in a wreck or something like that happens," Keselowski said. "But the races where you have the good fortune, where you don't get caught up in a wreck or you don't have something break or any of those things, you have to take those races, run up front and win them. And I think that's what we've been able to do."

For all his expertise at avoiding the wrecks while preserving a winning car, Keselowski had some help. A parade of Fords pitted together early in the first stage, stealing a march on other competitors -- including Earnhardt, who shortly afterward was penalized during a botched attempt by Chevy drivers to pit together. Including a pit road speeding penalty, it was the first of two occasions where Earnhardt Jr. fought his way back to the front.

Keselowski got the most help from his teammate at Team Penske, Joey Logano. At the end of the first stage, Logano, who did not make this year's playoffs, ran alongside and let his Team Penske teammate take the playoff bonus point without much of a challenge despite being on the faster high side. At the finish, it was Logano pushing Keselowski to the front. Afterwards, both drivers deflected any suggestions there were team orders in favor of Penske's playoff contender. But appearances were not deceiving.

Keselowski, who notched his first career victory driving for James Finch at Talladega in 2009, had two other advantages that were more universal. They included the V-8s built by Roush Yates Engines -- which powered the winners in all four plate races this year -- and the low-drag of the Ford bodies. But it was the 33-year-old Keselowski who came out ahead. One can imagine him scoring at least 10 plate victories before he is done. For now, he has six including his 2016 summertime win at Daytona.

Earnhardt Jr. leaves Talladega with six victories, including four in a row in one span and two near misses by a matter of inches. He also has possession of a blue-and-yellow Chevy No. 2 that Earnhardt Sr. drove in his rookie season of 1979 and to his first of seven titles in 1980, a long-term loan courtesy of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, which is located at Talladega.

The line of monarchs at Talladega began with Earnhardt Sr., who scored nine wins on the daunting high banks.

"I knew that I wasn't going to win 200 races and seven championships and do all those great things," Earnhardt said. "I just wanted to come in (to Cup racing) and be considered talented. But to be great at anything was beyond my imagination. I appreciate people's compliments on my plate driving and the success we've had at all the plate races."

On Sunday, there was a reminder that greatness is made, not born, and does not always involve championships or victories.

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