Pretty much a straight forward piece this week; Talladega, David Poole, and Richmond Preview all rolled into one!  I went over my word limit for the paper this week (oops) so here is the link to the edited version.  If you don't want that then read on:

This week in NASCAR has been an exciting one for sure especially in the aftermath of Sunday’s race at Talladega, but it has also been a sad one too with the passing of David Poole the well respected often opinionated NASCAR journalist for The Charlotte Observer.

With Carl Edwards’ wild ride into the catch-fence on the front tri-oval on the last lap there has been an increased buzz about NASCAR on the internet as well as on TV.  Edwards’ wild ride ended just short of the start/finish line on Sunday when he tried to block second place rookie driver Brad Keslowski while leading the race.  What happened was that Edwards didn’t really have enough room to block Keslowski and when he tried he drove right into Keslowski’s car causing himself to spin out in front of oncoming traffic.  Edwards’ car got sideways on the track and started to lift off the ground a bit, but the NASCAR sanctioned safety devices on the car worked and Edwards’ car started to come back down on the track when Ryan Newman hit Edwards and sent him airborne right into the catch fence destroying it and the car all at the same time.  Once Edwards’ car came to a rest Edwards climbed out and ran on foot Ricky Bobby style to the finish line to finish the race much to the satisfaction of the cheering fans in the stands.

There were 7 fans injured from flying debris when Edwards’ car hit the fence, but none of the injuries were life threatening.

This incident sparked an outcry from both the media and on NASCAR forums and blogs for NASCAR to either slow the cars down or introduce better safety features at the track so this won’t happen again.  Truth be told NASCAR probably won’t do a thing about it and this will probably happen again.  As sad as it is to say these restrictor plate tracks (Daytona and Talladega) are NASCAR’s highest viewed races because people want to see the crashes and vehicular carnage that these tracks produce, and as long as NASCAR is selling tickets and getting good television ratings for these races they won’t change a thing.

Even David Poole said so in his last blog post before he passed away on Tuesday from a heart attack.  You can read what he had to say at www. turn-lane.blogspot.com.   David had a way with words and he loved  the sport of NASCAR - he combined the two to become one of the most influential NASCAR writers out there and he will not be easily replaced.

One thing for sure is that NASACR is getting a ton of media coverage out of all of this.  Between the TV coverage of Carl Edwards’ crash where Edwards has appeared on several national TV shows like Larry King Live, Ellen, and The Morning Show and the outpouring of sentiments over David Poole’s death NASCAR is getting much needed media attention at a time where interest in NASCAR seems to be dropping.

Too bad it had to be a near death experience of a popular driver and some fans combined with the sudden passing of a journalistic giant for it to happen.

It will be interesting to see what NASCAR does, if anything, to recognize the passing of David Poole this Saturday in Richmond VA during the running of the Crown Royal 400.

Expect to see some close racing this weekend at the ¾ mile D-shaped oval that is Richmond International Raceway.  I don’t expect some of the drivers to be as patient as they were at Talladega, although with the big wrecks there last weekend you wouldn’t know it.

Cornering is the key to getting around this multi-grooved track, especially in turns one and two, if you can carry your momentum through the corners you’ll have a good night, if not then you’ll be sitting at the back of the pack.

Drivers to watch out for this weekend will be anyone from Hendrick Motorsports; Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Mark Martin as all of them have had pretty good success here in the past.

Other drivers to keep an eye on would be Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, and Denny Hamlin but if you are looking for a big long-shot pick I’d go with either David Ragan or Sam Hornish.  Who knows Ragan just might get his first Cup victory Saturday night – I think he will surprise a lot of people this weekend as will Hornish.  Hornish likes this track and he is feeling better than ever about his car these days and a lot of confidence can go a long way especially at a track like Richmond so you never know.  Look for top 10 performances from both of them.

Don’t forget to drop on by www.4ever3blog.com for all of your NASCAR needs and look for my monthly collaborative feature with Jaynelle Ramon called “Track Rants” this weekend.