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I can’t remember any speed this great. So far as I know Bill Elliot got up to 212 and that is when the restrictor plates finally came in. The necessity was when Bobby Allison nearly went into the stands. I’ve been to the track three times and I can remember when one of the cars nearly went into the stands. The best place to watch the race is at the end of the front stretch at the corner and it necessary to stand to appreciate the speeds. I saw my first race in 1990 if I recall correctly and it was something to behold as Dale Earnhardt led the pack into the turn. I saw one of the wrecks where cars went everywhere and Mark Martin was involved and it is a wonder he wasn’t killed. The smell and smoke is incredible.

There are really no good options here except to flatten the track out like Pocono or reduce the power still further by using V6 engines so the cars can separate further and eliminate the packs. However, those engines are so raspy that it would make everyone deaf. That is one of the reasons they quit using them and they were less reliable.

Probably the best and most enduring suggestion I read a long time ago would be to close both Talledaga and Daytona. I can’t imagine how they would cut the speeds by flattening out the tracks as the track would not be visible from the stands. I suppose they could introduce chicanes like Watkins Glen but that makes it a road race in effect.

The “cookie cutter” tracks are godawful and boring. Also the coverage is over saturated and there is no good reason to go to the track because you can see it so much better on a HD big screen set at home without all of the heat and misery of being at the track.