5 Points to Ponder: Are Photo Finishes Getting Too Common?

1. Is there such a thing as too many photo finishes?

Photo finishes.

They are a race promoter’s dream. Forget how the rest of a race plays out. If an event ends in a finish by inches, it’s an easy sell to get play on mainstream highlights, implying that the race was decided from start to finish within close quarters.

But after superspeedway-style races such as this past Sunday (April 27) at Talladega Superspeedway and last spring at Atlanta Motor Speedway in which the race win came down to a matter of inches, there is one trend in these types of races that is becoming woven in: that a photo finish is expected.

It’s a far cry from someone just being able to pull away on a big track. But remember, this generation of racecar does not exist to showcase the power of man and machine. Rather, a chief apparent goal is parity.

As long as these cars race that way at tracks like this, seeing a photo finish appears to be the expectation. Sure, there is something to be said about a driver’s ability to make the right move in a matter of seconds for a win. But when races like these have similar finishes, it calls into question what the actual goal is — racing or entertainment?

2. Where’s The Big-Track Aggression?

There’s a degree of expectation at tracks like Daytona International Speedway and Talladega that the closer things get to the finish, someone will take a big risk…and spike the heart rates of those watching.

Oh, it may cause a massive mess of sheet metal as well as a land rush for those seeking to auction off something on a race-used website, but it’s also a chance for a driver to throw caution to the wind. The risk may be wadding up a racecar, but the reward is a chance at a race victory.

What we saw Sunday, however, was a fly in the ointment by way of no cautions in the race’s final stage.

When it appears harder than in the past to get a strong push through the field, why should a driver take that risk if the odds of a playoff-ticket win are not there?

It’s a similar question that gets asked about the lack of bump-and-runs at Bristol Motor Speedway, and the answer is the same — that drivers can game the system and only be aggressive when needed. At current superspeedway races, with it being harder to charge from mid pack to the front, drivers appear content to get out of the race, not with a chance to win, but to get out of the pit gate mostly unscathed.

If this is truly the case, then one of the sport’s most exciting tracks may have a bigger problem than whether or not a big rig carrying an American flag is shown on a TV broadcast.

3. Are Kyle Larson’s Superspeedway Demons Gone?

If you want to debate what driving talent has to do with a strong finish on a superspeedway, one needs to only consider the recent showings by Kyle Larson.

Foul fortune seemed to find Larson at Daytona, Atlanta and Talladega. That is, until recently, as Larson nearly won this year at Atlanta and now has two top fives in a row at Talladega.

Larson being caught up in the mistakes of others was no fault of his own, and that has nothing to do with driving ability; it has everything to do with fortune.

It does not hurt Larson’s mental approach, either. When you complete races on certain types of tracks, it certainly does not hurt when you put on the long-range glasses later in this season, when playoff implications will hang over Talladega.

The No. 5 team does not need any more confidence, for sure. But if it has more of it, that could be bad news for other teams in a championship hunt.

4. Driver Safety Should Always Come First. Always.

The jeers were understandable as Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race ended before the checkered flag. At this point, watching a superspeedway race in this series and thinking that Austin Hill won’t win is like watching Jaws and expecting Quint to somehow survive.

So, it is easy to understand the distaste for Hill’s latest win, as well as the fact that a last-lap crash on the 2.66-mile track was enough to end the race early, preventing a race back to the checkered flag.

There’s one problem with that, though.

When a driver takes a hit like Connor Zilisch did, safety crews need to respond ASAP. There is no way of knowing how seriously hurt a driver is, so every second counts. Yes, even at a track as big as Talladega.

Driver safety should always come first with zero exceptions. End of discussion.

5. Is May the best time for IndyCar’s Alabama Visit?

If you like multiple forms of motorsports and live in or near Alabama, these two weeks are tremendous. That’s because this weekend, the Yellow Hammer State hosts another major racing event with the NTT IndyCar Series paying its visit to Barber Motorsports Park.

This event’s placement in the sport’s biggest month, May, makes it an outlier. With eyes trained on the lead-up to the Indianapolis 500, how much draw could a race anywhere else pull in? And now with it on the heels of Talladega, how likely is it that in the weeks ahead event promotions resonated with casual fans of motorsports?

The racing at this road course is no issue. The fact that the series has raced here each year but 2020 since 2010 more than backs that up. If the series truly wants to elevate this race weekend, moving it away from the spring slot may be worth considering.