Blocking is the culprit

By DAVID GREEN

Wow -- a race at Talladega turns into a wreckfest, and ends with a controversy. Who would've imagined?

I won't dwell on the crashes. That dead horse has been beaten into dust. But there's some lively discussion about the end of the Amp Energy 500 on David Poole's latest "Turn Lane" piece and elsewhere, so let's kick that around from a little different perspective. The problem is blocking.

This won't be well received by many readers, I'm sure, because blocking has become as much a part of NASCAR racing, especially at Daytona and Talladega, as tire smoke and gasoline fumes. It's a bogus tactic, just like the bump-and-run. It's what you resort to when you can't keep somebody from passing you any other (legitimate) way.

Don't misunderstand. I don't mean to say every driver ought to be so gentlemanly that he moves aside and opens doors for his competitors when they come up to challenge. I'm not suggesting that any driver ought to surrender the part of racetrack real estate on which his car works best just to be polite. I'm not even suggesting that any driver ought not crowd his opponent, and give him the minimum of room to get by.

I'm saying -- and so do most legitimate sanctioning bodies -- that you are allowed to make one defensive move to obstruct an opponent, and then you should hold your line. Second or subsequent moves that are made simply to block your opponent are (and should not be) permitted.

If NASCAR enacted and enforced a no-blocking rule, there'd be no need for the yellow-line rule. If NASCAR enacted and enforced a no-blocking rule, racing at Daytona and Talladega would be safer -- and would feature even more passes for position that it does now.

Of course, that would open up a big can of worms as far as fans are concerned -- just read the angry posts about favoritism with regard to enforcement of the yellow-line rule -- but, with good reason or not, fans are going to complain. So are drivers. But the problem is not having rules that demand judgment calls; the problem is inconsistent judgment.

To those who have suggested Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash was caused by blocking, I totally agree. Next to getting knocked out of position by the bump-and-run, getting blocked is one of the most frustrating things that can happen to a driver. Often, it encourages rough driving. I don't think Sterling Marlin meant to wreck Earnhardt, but he was doing his best to get past the 3 and there was contact that in all likelihood would never have been made if Earnhardt had not been blocking.

"Days of Thunder" famously gave us the "rubbin' is racin'" line. The bump-and-run and blocking are neither "rubbin'" nor "racin'" -- except in NASCAR. That's too bad.