Talladega's 'Big Ones' Leave Drivers With Coin-Toss Odds in Avoiding Carnage

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Talladega Superspeedway, Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR Crashes, NASCAR Tracks, Sprint Cup, FanHouse Exclusive, NASCAR

When the 43 best drivers in the country take to Talladega Speedway Sunday on Halloween, they will carry with them an unbroken streak of big-crash horrors dating back to the spring of 2007.

The so-called Big One -- which we'll arbitrarily define as a crash involving 10 or more cars -- has occurred at the 2.66-mile, high-banked oval for six straight races now.

Considering NASCAR's more lenient "Boys, have at it" policy in 2010, and the fact that more than half the field -- 24 of 43 cars -- crashed at one point or another in the spring race, the odds of a quiet Sunday afternoon in Alabama seem slim indeed.

In fact, the odds are slim indeed.

Based on the last 11 races, dating back to the spring 2005 event, an average of 20.45 of the 43 cars have been involved in a yellow flag for a crash -- or slightly less than half the field.

For every race.

If you count the fact that a number of cars were involved in two incidents in a single race, the average jumps to 23.45 cars per race involved in incidents, or slightly more than half the field.

Either way you look at it, the odds in recent years of any one driver getting involved in a wreck at Talladega are about 50-50, or a coin toss.

 

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