What Was He Thinking?
April 29, 2008
Lisa Fowler - SCR
Since I have followed racing
for so many years, I have seen many strange things happen on the track. Some were really bad strange, some were those
good strange things and some were simply stupid. Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Talladega
contained one of those simply stupid things that could have turned into one of those really bad things.
I kept hoping that the media would
talk to Kevin Lepage but once they did the interview, I was left more confused than I was before he gave his version of what
had happened.
If you missed the race,
or even if you were watching and still can't be sure what you saw, here is what I saw. After pitting for a lose wheel,
Lepage was pulling back onto the track. The entire field was coming down the front straight and suddenly, Lepage pulled
out onto the track running at about half the speed of the cars racing in the pack. Mike Wallace, who must have lightening
quick reflexes, was able to swerve and miss Lepage but Carl Edwards had no idea that he was there and not one second to react. He
hit and nearly went over the top of the car driven by Lepage.
This created what is always discussed,
anticipated and dreaded at Talladega, the Big One. The saddest part was that
there were so many great cars and young drivers, like Steven Wallace, Brad Keselowski and Steven Leicht (photos of wrecked cars) that were having incredible days and due to one person's stupid mistake, their days were done and their great cars
were no longer so pretty.
