Fantastic show aside, plate racing still has its critics

There's nothing in NASCAR that creates a polarizing effect quite like restrictor plate racing, the latest dose of which hit last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

You love it or you hate it -- kinda like the same estimation that Talladega winner Kyle Busch seems to be held in.

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Like everything else that seems to be black-and-white -- or at least seems like it should be simple to put down in black-and-white; restrictor plate racing just doesn't work that way.

It's inevitably here and it ain't going anywhere. The NASCAR garage's inestimable mechanical geniuses have seen to that, with the way they can milk horsepower and speed out of everything from a milk crate to a tricked-out Sprint Cup machine; which these days some haters of the new car would liken more to the milk crate than a streamlined race vehicle.

If you watched the sport through the era of consistently flying cars, you wouldn't question the use of plates now -- though that's the single, most polarizing issue of all.

A couple years ago, Rusty Wallace did a high-speed technology test at Talladega for some of NASCAR's technical partners, and took the plate off a "standard car." As much as he enjoyed the result; which was laps somewhere between 220 and 230 mph, he understood that from a sheer standpoint of being able to race at that speed, never mind being safe for competitors and fans; it just would never be feasible.

Tweaking the current set-up to produce the best racing possible is an obviously more reachable goal.

Sunday's results seemed to be a positive. While you'll never take the unpredictable aspect of having 43 in-the-end-me-first guys striving to win; teammate-, buddy- or brother-be-damned -- the action was unpredictable enough to be pretty entertaining.

Small numbers of cars, like two or three, were able to hook up and make moves that were pretty impressive and not recently seen at this venue.

I'm sure the polarizing effect of the new car is still in play; but I saw a number of beating and banging and hold-on-Nelly sideways moments that probably would have resulted in a "big one" a lot sooner than they occurred, if the old standard car had been in use.

And that was refreshing.

But if you want to talk about polarized, take the aforementioned (lil') brother Busch. Some people went wild because they thought the Shrub should have been penalized for passing Jimmie Johnson below the yellow "out-of-bounds" line on the bottom of the track coming off, I believe in Turn 4, late in the race (watch video).

I didn't think there were that many Jimmie Johnson supporters out there to raise such an outcry. But I guess that's a stupid estimation.

The Jimmie bashers are still out there in force. It's just that they might be out-numbered by the KB haters. And that's a shame, but it's also a different story.

Perspectives are everything. I was watching the race on Sunday, and maybe I was in the bathroom or getting something out of the kitchen, but Busch's pass neither really got my attention -- or maybe I've managed to put such minor details as passing beneath the line out of my mind and I'm just enjoying the show.

At any rate, the polarized reaction was such that you couldn't ignore it.

The way it is at 'Dega

It doesn't matter how clean the drivers race in the first 80 percent of a race at Talladega, Joe Menzer says the "big one" is always right around the corner.

• Complete story, click here
• Menzer: Did they say 'fun'?

But if you were patient, you waited for the tape.

And after you watched the video, which I did a few times on Monday night; it was obvious that JJ moved over and tried to nerf Busch out of his way, at best; and at least, into a blocked position behind him (watch again).

Young Busch, displaying what's one of the most refreshing aspects of his character, refused to give way, refused to lift and made the pass. The NASCAR officials, quite correctly, apparently judged that Johnson had forced -- no, knocked -- Busch below the line therefore no infraction was called.

Saturday's Nationwide race called the same emotions into play, both for the viewers and the participants -- namely Kevin Lepage and the 10 or 12 innocent bystanders he sucked into a raging cauldron of destruction between Talladega's Turns 1 and 2 (watch video).

I can't remember when I first saw the video of the veteran Lepage pulling up on the racetrack after he exited pit road in front of the lead pack, but I do remember being flabbergasted at what had happened -- at what this solid pro, who was a winner back home in New England, a winner a couple times in the Nationwide Series and a solid journeyman in his brief stint with Roush Racing in the 1990s.

You didn't want to see the crinkled look that was on my face when, I guess it was Sunday night, I saw Kevin's reaction that was solicited immediately after he exited the infield care center Saturday.

I was pretty incredulous that he couldn't see how the accident had occurred, and what his role in it had seemed to be.

But the good news was, after letting the dust and fur and fender and tire shreds settle; and after he got to review the video, Kevin issued an apology to everyone who was involved in the melee.

It takes a big man to do that, and it was no surprise that such a statement came from him.

And so, coming off the latest restrictor plate spectacle, it's only fitting the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series head to Richmond International Raceway -- a short track that's certainly not short on speed, and action; this weekend.

What will everyone find to get on polar opposites of, there?

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer