Rating the Aaron's 499: 4 Stars ****

After weeks of so much green-flag racing that people got nervous when they saw water bottles on the track, the Sprint Cup Series stormed through Talladega Superspeedway and came out with just 24 cars running at the end. Although it was a good race, there have been better races at Talladega. Sunday’s race gets a 4 Star Rating.

Brad Keselowski showed once again that he is perhaps the young NASCAR driver with the most potential to be a Cup champion. The guy is a master at saving fuel, he doesn’t back down when the race is on the line and he simply outfoxed Kyle Busch to win Sunday’s race.

Ever since Keselowski sent Carl Edwards flying into the fence to end the 2009 spring race at Talladega, the finishes at that track have had a predictable, albeit very exciting, ending. Two cars break away from the pack, the lead driver then tries to block but the second-place driver makes a move and passes the leader for the win.

All of the ingredients were in place for a similar finish Sunday. Keselowski and Busch burst from the pack on the final green-white-checkered restart and they were the only two with a realistic chance of winning.

However, once they got to Turn 3 on the final lap Keselowski pre-empted Busch’s move by moving to the bottom lane and breaking their two-car push. Busch then didn’t have a partner to help him make a move, and Keselowski cruised to the win.

Keselowski now has two wins on the season and sits 12^th in the points. His two wins nearly guarantee he will make the Chase for the second year in a row, but his ability to run well on several different types of tracks – he also won at Bristol in March – makes him a likely candidate to be in the top 10 in points by the time the Chase starts.

Plus, he runs well enough at the current Chase tracks to legitimately contend for the title.

The rest of the race was rather clean for a Talladega event, especially compared to the mayhem of the ARCA and Nationwide races earlier in the weekend.

Many of the drivers grew frustrated about having to monitor their water temperatures throughout the race, but NASCAR jumped in with both feet when it made changes to break up the two-car drafts. It won’t back down from that very easily, but officials might have to consider opening the cooling system restrictions for the July race at Daytona when it will likely be hotter than Sunday.

People will forever debate the merits of restrictor-plate racing, whether it is proper racing or what style of racing they prefer. But, Sunday’s race had a more similar feel to restrictor-plate races during the Dale Earnhardt era. He didn’t have to contend with the cooling system restrictions, but the ability to pass in the pack Sunday was better than the old pack style of racing.

Remember, back in the day fans and drivers alike complained after every race about some aspect of the racing. Sometimes it was too hard to pass, other times it was that the rules allowed teams with junk cars to race along with the traditional front-runners.

Whatever the case, that is just part of restrictor-plate racing and it will likely forever be that way. Like it or not, that’s part of its charm. People talk about restrictor-plate races for weeks after they are over. That doesn’t happen for races at places such as Fontana or Kansas. Overall, restrictor-plate races are some of the most exciting on the schedule. Period.

With all of that said, the next race track is pretty darn good. A 500-mile race at Darlington Raceway is one of the ever more precious major tests for drivers. The Lady in Black will beat the tar out of a driver who isn’t up to the challenge.

With Darlington and Charlotte on the schedule for the rest of the month, May should have some of the best racing of the season to date.

Have a great week, everybody.

Rating the Aaron's 499: 5 Stars *****

As the drivers get more comfortable with the two-car draft at restrictor-plate tracks, the finishes keep getting closer and closer, and Sunday’s was as close as they have ever been. A race that ties the closest finish ever with the most lead changes ever certainly deserves a 5 Star Rating.

Was this the best race ever? People will have differing opinions on which style of racing they prefer, rather its restrictor-plate racing vs. unrestricted racing or pack racing vs. two-car bump drafting racing. However, people would have to be nearly unconscious to think that finish wasn’t exciting. Heck, it might seem exciting even if they are unconscious.

The numbers say there was as much action as any race ever run, but it was really a clean race. After the Nationwide race had a record-setting 11 cautions in 312 miles, many people expected a bunch of cautions in the 499-mile Cup race. Instead, there were only six cautions and two were for debris.

That doesn’t mean there weren’t wrecks, however. Sure, there wasn’t the typical huge wreck, but there were plenty of times throughout the race that had all of the ingredients for a major wreck, but the drivers instead made incredible saves, namely Ryan Newman.

The man who has the worst restrictor-plate racing luck of any driver in the field was once again in the top 10 late in the race when he was turned sideways by Denny Hamlin in turns 3 and 4. Had he not hit Juan Pablo Montoya, the #39 car probably would have caused a big mess, but Newman did a great job of holding the car down and not even bringing out the caution. He did bring out the yellow flag a few laps later but still made a great save to keep the car off the wall. He got a 25th-place finish for his efforts.

Races at Daytona and Talladega usually bring out a range of emotions, and Sunday was no different. The incredible joy and adrenaline rush felt by those who were part of the eight-car pack at the finish was countered by the disappointment of Dave Blaney.

Blaney hooked up with Kevin Harvick early on and ran a fantastic race, leading 21 laps, the second-most of anybody in the field. Unfortunately, the surprise run of the race came to an end just three laps from the finish. Instead of being the Trevor Bayne of Talladega, Blaney finished 27th, the last car on the lead lap.

Overall, the race at Talladega delivered as promised and even exceeded expectations, if that was possible. The finish to this race was like watching a Hail Mary be completed to win a football game. It happens so fast and is so unexpected that it’s hard to believe you actually saw it happen. It’s easy to say this is a once-in-a-decade type finish, but the way the finishes have been at Daytona and Talladega lately, we could see something like this happen all over again in July at Daytona. Is it too early to get excited for that race?

Anyway, the second off-week of the season comes up next before the series moves on to Richmond, which is a great racetrack for totally different reasons than Talladega. For those who don’t like restrictor-plate racing, this will be 400 miles of “real racing.”

Overall, this has been a great start to the season. It reminds me a bit of the early 2000s. The big-time drivers have shown their strength, but the wealth has been shared between seven drivers in eight races. We had a wonderful surprise winner at Daytona and different unexpected drivers have had good runs in almost every race.

Surprisingly, Talladega probably had the most regular suspects at the front of any race this season, as the top eight finishers were from power teams before David Gilliland came across in ninth.

Have a blessed Easter everybody.

Restrictor-plate races bring out the excitement and adrenaline of NASCAR

All of a sudden NASCAR is nearly a quarter of the way through the season. Unofficially, it already is.

Sure, there are 36 races in a season and there are still two weeks until the ninth race, but we are at the second restrictor-plate race of the year, which means it is time to take a break from the normal grind and get ready for the spectacle that is racing at Talladega.

Speedweeks at Daytona are always a great way to start the season and everybody is excited to see the close racing on such a big track, but after the Daytona 500, the talk about how great the race was and all of the media attention the winner receives dies down and restrictor-plate racing is forgotten. Until now.

Now it is time to jump into that world again where nearly the entire field has a legitimate shot to win and a huge wreck is almost guaranteed to happen, as well as a very close finish.

The start of a race at Talladega and Daytona is always filled with pent-up excitement and plenty of nerves because these are the tracks where NASCAR still seems dangerous. Either good or bad, fans know they will see something memorable happen at one of the four restrictor-plate races.

While all of the focus is on the pre-race ceremonies and all of the build up to the race, once the green flag drops, everyone’s attention goes strait to the cars on the track and it seems as though the rest of the world fades into the background.

The only time for a break in these races is after a big wreck that requires a lot of cleanup, and often a red flag. Other than that, there is hardly time to blink without fear something special will happen.

The talk about a race usually lasts for a few days into the following week, and then everybody gets geared up for the upcoming weekend, but that is not the case after races at Daytona or Talladega. No matter what happens, these races get played on all of the news shows the next few days and people debate on the aftermath for weeks, not days.

However, even the excitement from these races dies down in time, and that’s why the schedule works perfectly in this case. At each quarter pole in the season, there is a restrictor-plate race, granted the fall race at Talladega has been moved back in recent years to the halfway point of the Chase, but that one feels like the final big show of the season that is different from the general theme of that part of the year where the title contenders receive most of the attention.

Every NASCAR race is special, but the four restrictor-plate races are at another level. With the aerodynamic packages on the cars and the two-car draft, many people have said we might surpass the all-time record for lead changes in one race, which was set in this race one year ago.

Whoever misses this race is going to have to here about it for weeks to come and have to be satisfied with the highlights. But, everybody else will see the most exciting four hours of the month, if not the season.

Rating the Aaron's 499: 5 Stars *****

The spring race at Talladega certainly lived up to, and possibly surpassed the hype coming into the weekend. This was the most anticipated event since the Daytona 500 and everybody involved got their money’s worth. In the biggest understatement of the year, this race gets a 5 Star Rating.

What a Sunday afternoon. With a perfect sunny day, the drivers got up on the wheel and put on one heck of a show, a historic one at that. Twenty-nine different leaders? Eighty-eight lead changes?! Both are records I thought would not be broken in my lifetime, if ever, and the lead change record wasn’t just broken, it was shattered. Nearly three-quarters of the field led a lap Sunday. Simply unbelievable.

Last year, many people were looking forward to the fall Talladega race because the series was stuck in a rut of Jimmie Johnson dominance. Then, on race day, NASCAR pulled the rug out from everyone and applied stricter rules on bump drafting. While the race had an exciting finish, most people had expected more from that event.

Well, over the winter NASCAR got their butt in gear and loosened things up and finally made several positive changes, most of which were just changes back to a prior way of doing things. What a novel idea. Anyway, after an exciting Daytona 500, many people couldn’t wait to see what kind of race would take place at Talladega, which is even bigger, wider and smoother than Daytona. What they got was a race for the ages. Not only were there a ton of lead changes and close racing at the front, but when it came down to it, the race produced one of the greatest finishes in NASCAR history.

Maybe this is the culmination of five years or so of changes to the Sprint Cup car. There were certainly some rather large bumps along the way, but Denny Hamlin’s car stayed on the ground during his spin, the racing was incredibly exciting and the drivers policed themselves.

Also, how about that move by Kevin Harvick at the end? Each restrictor-plate race, the announcers talk about how a driver needs to make the right move at the right time to win the race. Well, Harvick made the perfect move Sunday. If there was a tutorial on how to pass the leader of a restrictor-plate event on the final lap, the video of Harvick’s pass should be the first one shown.

After the race it felt like I had just eaten a wonderful meal and was completely full and satisfied. This race had everything a race fan could want, supposedly, I know three are still those out there who have problems with the green-white-checkered finishes and what not, but there is no denying the extra 12 laps added to the race were exciting.

Each time they lined up for what could have been the final restart, I sat up a little straighter and moved to the edge of my seat. The anticipation was incredible, and the race delivered throughout the day.

Sorry Richmond, I know that track has racing perfection, but what we saw Sunday at Talladega was nearly as perfect as it gets. Don’t even bring out the argument that restrictor-plate racing isn’t real racing. There is a reason we watch NASCAR, and it is because every once in a while an event transcends a weekend and fuels our excitement for many weeks to come. Congratulations fans. Congratulations NASCAR. That was an amazing race.