NASCAR delivers with safe Talladega

But it took the loss of the sport's greatest hero to put NASCAR under the microscope of public opinion. Four deaths in less than a year is unacceptable by today's standards.

So as Winston Cup arrived at Talladega Superspeedway - the first restrictor-plate race track since Earnhardt was killed at Daytona - there was fear, anxiety and trepidation by the competitors, officials and fans.

Talladega is considered Winston Cup racing's most dangerous track because of the nature of restrictor-plate racing, which keeps the entire pack of 43 race cars together in one large pack which usually results in several major crashes.

The 43 drivers in Sunday's Talladega 500 delivered with the safest race of the season as all 500 miles were run without a caution period. It was the first caution-free race at Talladega since 1997 and the first caution-free race in NASCAR since Dale Jarrett won the 1999 Miller Lite 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

"To dodge a bullet from the media would be a big task, but I think we need to know ourselves we can do this and not wreck going straight," said race-winner Bobby Hamilton. "I think we proved that today and the fall race last year proved it. NASCAR knows Daytona is a little bit different animal, with the way the cars run there, it's different.

"We don't have to run over each other on the third lap. It got pretty hairy with three or four laps to go, but that's when it's crunch time with 43 cars running at the end."

The drivers knew they weren't only racing against themselves, but against negative public opinion on Sunday. If another major crash injured, or even killed, another driver, the sport would be in peril.

At the end of the race, there was not one crashed race car, no debris on the race track and every driver went out the back gate the same way he came in on Sunday morning.

"Mike Helton (NASCAR president) gave us a pretty stiff lecture and Michael Waltrip gave us a little bit of a sermon before the start of the race to put us in the right mindset for what we were going to have to go through today," said second-place finisher Tony Stewart. "I think everyone knew we all had to take care of each other and that was one of Michael Waltrip's quotes, that we were all in charge of taking care of each other.

"We produced a fairly good race today, we are all rolling cars out of here and we all get to go home tonight. That means more to us than anything right now."

Helton's words were taken seriously and all 43 drivers listened. "It needed to be said today," Hamilton said. "Last year, it was said but we didn't pay attention to it. You get real aggressive out there. They need to be more firm at these places. We have got to be safe. We were careful out there today and I think we had a good race.

"It gives us a higher grade. I think our grade average went down after Daytona. After what happened, it was devastating to everybody. Dale Earnhardt gave you something to write about all the time. Now, we have a missing link there. We still have a business to run here. Guys, we need all of you. We need you to put on a show. We can put on a show and still take care of each other."

Helton wasn't the only one to issue the warning at the driver's meeting before the race. Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip also spoke to his fellow drivers, issuing a plea for safety and caution.

"Mike stepped up and said what he said about the black flag below the yellow line," Hamilton said. "Then, Michael spoke up and said `Darrell Waltrip always speaks for us in these situations, he's not here, so I'm going to. Let's just put a show on for these people. They are here to see a show and we can put a show on. We don't have to do stupid stuff.

"`I promise, I'll give you my word, I will take care of you all if you all take care of me. Let's be safe out there today.' It was just silence after that."

The silence spoke volumes as the drivers accepted a huge responsibility to put on a competitive, but safe race.

"I wasn't really worried about today," Hamilton said. "Everybody's cars looked good in practice. We race close quarters. The cars drive so good now, you can hold on to them. It is pretty wild out there.

"Today, everybody did everything in their control not to have it happen. I think they did a heck of a job on that. It really makes you proud to be associated with the group of guys we have here today."

NASCAR enforced a rule that prohibited drivers from passing below a yellow line painted on the apron of the race track. The inside line is the preferred line for passing, but the area below the yellow line is considered out of bounds in green-flag racing.

"I think it was the greatest thing they could have ever done," Hamilton said. "I was for them putting rumble strips up there, but we would have been wrecked if we hit them. I think they got a couple people black-flagged today and it was well deserved. They told us last fall and there were still some passes down there.

"When Mike Helton got up and said that, they made an example out of a few of them. My spotter said, don't get below that yellow line because they are black-flagging. We know that they are serious and that is good."

The result was 27 lead changes among 26 drivers, with a record 29 drivers finishing on the lead lap of a 500-mile race. And, the yellow flag was never waved.

"It can happen here, as long as nobody wrecks and blows an engine, it's easier here than it is any other track," Stewart said. "When you get in the circumstances of how close we run, it's hard to do it. Everybody did such a good job. When you put 43 professional drivers out there and they all have the same attitude, even though we want to win the race we have to take care of each other at the same time. This can happen.

"It was important to all of us. I made the comment to the media on Friday when I was asked what I thought of coming back here after the big wreck at Daytona, that's something I want to move away from. We did this once and we know we can go caution-free, so we can do it again."