Full Throttle

TALLADEGA, Ala. - They bumped. They banged. And they wrecked.

Some drivers blamed their rivals. Others blamed NASCAR for a Nextel Cup race that featured a multi-million dollar parking lot of damaged cars. Twenty-five cars crashed on 133rd lap of Sunday’s Aaron’s 499, and six cars crashed in the waning laps, forcing the 188-lap event at Talladega Superspeedway to be extended.

The 25-car pile-up - one of the largest at a track known for its multi-car crashes - started when Mike Wallace was knocked around and bounced Scott Riggs into the wall approaching turn 1. Cars spun and slid in all directions, blocking the track.

“It was like being in the middle of a nightmare,” said runner-up Tony Stewart, who stopped his car to avoid the carnage and watched as five cars came to a halt around him without scratching his car.

How the incident started was unclear. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was behind Wallace and had bumped him. Wallace also had contact with Jimmie Johnson, running on the inside of Wallace, before hitting Riggs.

Wallace wouldn’t blame anyone. Asked if he was hit from behind, he said: “You don’t spin out in the middle of the straightaway. You have to make your own viewpoint there. I was looking out the front of the car and the next thing I knew I was looking at the grandstand.”

Said Earnhardt: “[Johnson] ran [Wallace] into the fence. I was pushing [Wallace] and the guy beside him, which I was told was [Johnson] who squeezed him.”

Johnson asked his crew over the radio if he started it but was told no.

The incident raised questions about bump drafting - bumping cars from behind as they raced at more than 190 mph. That has become typical as rules made the cars evenly balanced. Bumping another car helps the line of cars go faster. The unwritten rule is it’s acceptable in the straightaways but not in the turns. Bumps in the turns can cause crashes since the cars are not straight.

NASCAR officials addressed the issue of bump drafting in the pre-race drivers meeting, telling drivers to limit when they do it.

“The bump draft is limited to only where you need to do it on the backstraightaway,” David Hoots, NASCAR’s managing event director said in the meeting. “That’s the only time you should be trying to do it. When you do it going into [turns] 3 and 4, or through the tri-oval in 1 and 2, you’re setting yourself up to have a big problem and you all know what I’m talking about it.”

Rusty Wallace, involved in that first incident, said NASCAR’s stance was not strong enough.

“I don’t think the fellow that delivered the speech to tell them how to not bump draft did do too good,” Wallace said. “He was just kind of nonchalant talking about it in the drivers meeting. I’d been standing up there with a baseball bat talking to them.”

The day’s other major incident came one lap from the scheduled end when Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick and Johnson ran three-wide as they raced to get in the top five.

“I was in the middle of something,” Harvick said. “I don’t know if [Johnson] got into the wall or [Earnhardt] came up.”

The accident damaged the cars of Johnson, the points leader, Earnhardt, Harvick, Greg Biffle, Martin Truex Jr. and Travis Kvapil.

Johnson finished 20th and remains the points leader. He has a 130-point lead on Kurt Busch. Earnhardt finished 15th. Harvick placed 12th.