NASCAR's response to 'Dega criticism doesn't satisfy

There's a lot of anger and frustration floating around NASCAR these days. Jimmie Johnson's dominance has robbed the Chase of any bit of drama, leading everyone who's not a fan of the 48 to rage at a system that hasn't produced a different champion in what will likely end up being half a decade.

On top of that, one of the most exciting tracks on the circuit, Talladega, was effectively neutered on Sunday by the last-minute implementation of bump-drafting rules that confused and frustrated the field. It was like going to a beer-and-ribs tailgate and finding only wine coolers and salad -- exactly the wrong kind of race NASCAR needed at this critical moment. 

Over at NASCAR.com, Ramsey Poston, NASCAR's director of corporate communications, has written a lengthy blog post defending NASCAR's position at Talladega. And while I don't envy Poston -- he's often in the position of defending his sport against waves of angry fans, as he is now -- he's nonetheless doing a fair amount of cherry-picking in the way he justifies what went down at Talladega.

Poston takes a curious approach here. Rather than conceding even an inch of ground -- "implementing safety measures is an evolving art," or whatever -- Poston places blame squarely on griping drivers, ABC broadcasters ... and you.

Lines like "Love it or hate it, Talladega is about strategy; it's a chess match on wheels and sometimes takes time to develop and play out" seem to imply that this was a good race, and that griping fans were too bloodthirsty or blind to appreciate it. He points to the 13,400-plus passes that took place, according to Loop Data, as an indication that there was indeed action going on at the track -- but apparently, you and ABC missed it.

Here's the thing, though. We've received tons of emails and comments on Talladega in the last few days, and not one -- not one -- took a positive view of Sunday's race. Even ruling out the "people don't write in when they're happy" factor, that's a thorough and definitive rejection of the no-bump-drafting rules and the kind of race they engendered.

Poston goes on to call some of the criticisms of the Talladega race "myths," which isn't quite the word I'd use. Among these "myths":

-There was a "conspiracy" among drivers to run a dull race in response to the no-bump-drafting mandates. Poston points to Jeff Burton, who called such comments "complete nonsense." Was there a planned conspiracy? I don't think so. But I find it very easy to believe that drivers came to the common realization that if they couldn't figure out the parameters of the rules, they'd play extra nice just to make a point, knowing full well that "nice racing" = deadly dull racing.

-Whether NASCAR forced the no-bump-drafting rule on the drivers. Poston contends that the origination of the no-bump-drafting rule came from drivers, not NASCAR itself, saying that "several well-respected veteran drivers" came to NASCAR and said "we need to address the bump-drafting in the corners." That's entirely plausible -- though if those drivers are indeed veteran and well-respected, why haven't they come forward and spoken up? Don't give me the whole "they don't want to seem weak" nonsense; seeing how cars fly around Talladega and wanting very much not to be in a car that leaves the ground isn't weak. I'm not disputing Poston's account, just saying that I would like to get some independent verification from more drivers that they did in fact ask NASCAR for this.

Really, though, my problem isn't with the rules themselves; it's the way they were handed down from on high. The implicit message from NASCAR appeared to be, "we'll tell you if you're doing something wrong -- but if we tell you, it's already too late." NASCAR officials said they wanted to see "sunlight" between the cars -- but does that mean a sliver or three feet? Could go either way, and you don't want any gray area when you're going nearly 200 mph.

-NASCAR doesn't care about safety. This is a straw man for Poston to knock down; of course NASCAR cares about the safety of its drivers and fans. Poston noted that Burton criticized Ryan Newman's comments about NASCAR not caring about the drivers, but I think that was a misinterpretation --Newman was saying that NASCAR doesn't care about the drivers' opinions, not their safety. NASCAR has made tremendous strides in safety; there are half a dozen drivers running out there right now who wouldn't be with us if their wrecks had happened even five years ago.

NASCAR has proven it can make changes to its own rules that will benefit the fan experience; you don't need to look any farther than this year's double-file restarts for that. But Talladega was a PR debacle and a roadkill of a race, and to pretend otherwise -- or, worse, to dismiss those who would criticize it as failing to understand a good race when they see it -- is absolutely the wrong tactic.

In the end, if people don't like a race, all the loop data and assertions to the contrary aren't going to convince them -- and an overwhelming majority did not like this race.

All those seats were empty at Talladega even before the outcome of Sunday's race. NASCAR had better figure a way -- right now -- to fill them back up come spring. Insisting that it's everyone else's fault isn't going to cut it.