CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Let me preface this by saying thank goodness nobody seriously was injured Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.
But NASCAR needed the drama.
Television ratings and attendance were down. Dale Earnhardt Jr. wasn't winning and people were growing tired of debating whether he needed a crew chief change to the point they were making stuff up. Kyle Busch wasn't doing anything spectacular or ticking anybody off.
People needed something to wake them up.
Carl Edwards' car going airborne, landing on the hood of Ryan Newman's car, flying into the catch fence and injuring seven fans in the stands -- all coming off the final turn of the final lap to give part-time driver Brad Keselowski the victory -- certainly did that.
Heck, it made the "Today" show.
All of a sudden everybody is talking NASCAR. Drivers are complaining that the track is either unsafe or not good for the sport. Edwards went so far as to say the governing body would allow this type of racing to go on until somebody was killed.
Fans are a combination wowed by the spectacular video footage of the crash and captivated by all the controversy around it.
Some media members are calling for the track to be blown up and rebuilt from scratch.
Good stuff, huh?
Those who say otherwise either don't care about racing or are lying. NASCAR was built on drama, controversy and risk. It's what captivated America to start watching beyond the borders of the South in 1979. That's the year that Cale Yarborough and the Allison brothers brawled after the Daytona 500, if you're too young to remember.
Without the drama all you would have is cars going around in circles. Maybe that's a bit simplified, but you know what I mean. People like big crashes. It's one reason Talladega typically has one of the largest audiences of the season.
It's the same reason people used to love Bristol before the track was resurfaced and turned it into a half-mile California Speedway.
Lowe's Motor Speedway certainly didn't hesitate to take advantage of the Dega drama. Officials on Monday put a limited number of $14 tickets on sale for the May All-Star race and Coca-Cola 600 in recognition of the 14-car pileup at the start of Sunday's race.
That was a bit tacky if you ask me, and NASCAR's Jim Hunter wouldn't dignify a question about it with an answer. Good for him.
But people bought the tickets. And many will go to LMS, particularly for the All-Star race, hoping for a couple of big wrecks. They don't promote it as no-holds-barred racing for nothing.
At least they didn't have a special $7 special for the seven people who were injured in the crash. Or a 99 cent special because it was the No. 99 car of Edwards that flew into the fence.
Drama. It's what people love. It's why they watch "Desperate Housewives" and "American Idol."
It's why neither NASCAR nor Talladega officials will consider for a second blowing up the 2.66-mile track in the middle of Nowhere, Ala., and starting over. And they shouldn't.
Danger is a big part of the sport's appeal, a part that in many ways has been lost with all of the safety initiatives. There used to be a sense of risk, from drivers and spectators, every time the green flag flew. People would hold their breath when a car flipped seven times and landed on its hood, wondering if the driver survived.
For the most part, the excitement generated by that risk is all but gone.
Except at Dega.
It creates drama.
The sport needs that.
David Newton
