Talla'BAMA, R.I.P. - The Day that NASCAR Died
by Rocky Sinyard

The sunrise was painting the eastern sky orange … the full moon was settling beyond the grandstands. With a tear in my eye, I stood in the vast infield of Talladega Superspeedway and asked myself, “What has happened to my beloved sport of NASCAR racing? What has happened to Talla’Bama? Where did it all go so wrong?”

As I lingered there in that beautiful predawn moment … lyrics to a famous old song began to play in my mind …

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.

But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.

I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

Continuing with my thoughts … I remembered how a few buddies and I coined the phrase Talla’Bama many years ago. We were all DIE HARD Talladega fans. However, over the years, primarily the last decade, NASCAR has made some “dim-witted” changes that have spoiled Superspeedway racing! (Actually racing in general in my opinion.)

A quote from Ryan Newman after his violent flip Sunday, November 01, "Drivers used to be [able] to race each other and respect each other. Guys like Richard Petty, David Pearson, and Bobby Allison -- all those guys have always done that. I guess they [NASCAR] just don't think much of us [drivers] anymore."

Race fans, and I am calling on the “real race fans”, should we tell Ryan something he already knows? That NASCAR no longer appears to be dedicated to promoting a fair and competitive racing series … but instead seems to be interested in “the show” … and of course, the all-mighty dollar!

For those of us that were at The Amp Energy 500 on Halloween weekend … we saw price gouging everywhere! Five-dollars for a SMALL bag of ice, small drinks being sold at four-bucks each, an additional ten-dollars TACKED onto an ALREADY expensive in-field pass for early entry (early meaning Thursday afternoon), etc …

And for the race fans in attendance spending our hard-earned dollars … what did we get? An event that will probably go down in history as being Talladega’s worst race ever! A single-file-train of cars for most of the 500-mile affair! The cars might as well been on rails!

Back to the predawn moment … as I was considering all that has gone wrong with NASCAR (in my opinion) … and as the song continued to echo in my soul … I noticed a couple of comparisons … and then, it hit me like a ton of bricks!

Friends … sadly, NASCAR’s music has died! It died February 18, 2001 … when Dale Earnhardt hit the wall on the final lap of the Daytona 500. NASCAR hasn’t been the same since … and never will again.

Race fans, I promise you all, unless NASCAR makes some changes in an effort to return to their roots, they will never get another dime of my money! I will not attend another race at Talladega Superspeedway until the Cup cars are back up to speed … meaning qualifying on their own at 200+ mph.

In case you are wondering, the song is American Pie, and Don McLean penned the lines as he mourned the tragic death of his idol, Buddy Holly. Buddy died in a plane crash February 3, 1959 along with Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr.), as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. Hence, the day that music died.

In closing, please allow me to modify a few words from American Pie for all of the “real race fans” out there …

A long, long time ago...
We can still remember
How that NASCAR used to make us smile.
And we knew if we had our chance
That we could watch those racecars dance
And, maybe, we’d be happy for a while.

But February made us shiver
A tragic crash did deliver.
Bad news to our doorstep;
We couldn’t take one more step.

I can remember that we cried
When we read about his widowed bride,
And something touched us deep inside
The day that NASCAR died.

TallaBAMA, R.I.P.

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