FanHouse Talladega

Because of the struggling economy, 2009 could be the best year in a long, long time to see a handful of NASCAR races for a great value.

Thanks to this whole recession thing, several tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit aren't exactly selling too many tickets at the moment, and the speedways have wisely dropped some prices trying to get people through the gate. Here's a few of the offers that would make some really great -- but really late -- stocking stuffers:

Before the Sprint Cup action gets too fired up again in Charlotte, here's a quick look back at some of the best images of a dramatic weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

Reed Sorenson's future seat at Gillette-Evernham Motorsports might get a little cold before he takes the reigns of his new Dodge after Patrick Carpentier got the boot from the organization Tuesday afternoon.

Carpenter failed to make last Sunday's race at Talladega, and later had somewhat of a confrontation in plain view of the entire Talladega garage with his crew chief who blamed Patrick -- not the car -- as the reason the No. 10 car wasn't in the race.

Carpentier, who was already scheduled to leave the team at the end of 2009, later posted a response to the incident on his web site:

"I think it's a complete lack of respect," said Carpentier. "I never was shy to take the blame when I thought it was my fault, but here, everybody knows that it's like driving in a straight line."

"I've looked at the timing data and we were already three-tenths below the time we needed to qualify when I went below the line. I went low because I felt we had to try everything. I gave it all I had, but now he blames me? This is totally unacceptable. It's not as if my teammates were on the first row! They both ran slower than me!"

It's hard to deny Carpentier's logic, but at the same time, he and his publicist had to know that it was a risky move by posting the team's dirty laundry for everyone to see -- especially when its against a team that had a gossip-filled firing of Jeremy Mayfield a few years ago that revealed a team owner's relationship with a female driver, among other things.

In most sports, rules that apply directly to a particular event are known at the very least before said event starts.

In NASCAR, though, only part of those rules in place, and the rest is up to the drivers to figure out based on past knowledge, or more correctly, what NASCAR's future rule will be.

Yes, NASCAR drivers are now expected by the sanctioning body to be as talented as Miss Cleo -- sans the lawsuits and deceptive billing and advertising claims.

Case in point? Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway that Tony Stewart was handed after Regan Smith was disqualified by NASCAR for making a pass that wasn't within the vaguely-stated and otherwise not consistently applied rules.

NASCAR clarified those rules for future use -- Regan Smith no longer has to wonder if he should wreck the leader for a win because that's what NASCAR seemingly wants -- on Monday through a statement from the sport's president, Mike Helton.

"In NASCAR's opinion he was not forced below the yellow line. NASCAR correctly took immediate action to enforce the policy by penalizing the #01 and scoring the #20 as the race winner," Helton said.

"Since the end of the race there has been some confusion as to what is allowable during the last lap at Daytona and Talladega. To be clear, as we go forward, there will be no passing under the yellow line at any time during NASCAR races at Daytona or Talladega, period. This includes any passing below the yellow line near the start/finish line on the final lap."

Well, I'm certainly glad we got that after the finish of Sunday's race, because, you know, knowing the rules might have changed the outcome a bit -- especially after the confusion that even NASCAR's employees had over the rule for the past few months.

NASCAR fans got a pretty doggone good show Sunday afternoon at Talladega -- especially if you're a fan of edge-of-your-seat-for-500-miles action.

But more than the action, what the fans at the track and the ones at home were ultimately left with was a big, big question.

When in the world is NASCAR going to find a consistent, plausible rule book?

I'll state it bluntly: Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s rookie driver Regan Smith got screwed on the final lap of the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway after NASCAR handed Tony Stewart the win -- his first of 2008. Smith, they said, broke the out-of-bounds rule by making a pass of Stewart under the yellow line just before the start/finish line.

Smith crossed the start/finish first and had seemingly handed Stewart a seventh-career 2nd-place finish at the Alabama track.

Smith deserved to be doing burnouts.

He deserved to be celebrating an improbable win in victory lane.

And, most of all, he did not deserve to be getting penalized for something a well-known driver got away with en route to a victory at the same track in 2003.

His name? Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Rookie driver Regan Smith crossed the start/finish line in first place at the end of Sunday's Amp Energy Drink 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, but it was Tony Stewart who was celebrating his first 2008 Sprint Cup series win in victory lane.

NASCAR awarded Stewart the win after the powers-that-be decided that Smith's move under Stewart as the field came through the tri-oval for the final time was illegal.

For Stewart, it was the best of times as he celebrated a win at a track he's never won at in Sprint Cup competition despite finishing second six times at the track, but for Smith, it was a heartbreaking defeat that left him with plenty of questions -- as well as everyone that watched the race.

With 15 laps to go in Sunday's AMP Energy Drink 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, a good portion of the Chase for the Sprint Cup contenders looked ready to challenge for a win in a race known for being a wild card on the Chase schedule.

And with 14 laps to go, they found out why Talladega was such a wild card.

Heading in to turn 3, Carl Edwards was running second in the outside line of cars when he pushed a little too hard on teammate Greg Biffle while the two were bump-drafting. Biffle lost control of his Ford and slid into his other teammate Matt Kenseth.

With all three cars sliding across the track, chaos ensued in the pack behind them.

Whether or not they suffered a tire problem on their own car, several Sprint Cup drivers and teams felt the effects of multiple tire issues during Sunday's AMP Energy Drink 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

The first problem struck on lap 53 on the backstretch of the 2.66-mile circuit when Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann spun sideways after the right-rear tire exploded on the No. 44 Toyota. Directly behind him, Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon swerved to miss the spinning Reutimann and caught the nose of Jon Wood, sending the front-end of the No. 24 in to the wall.

The impact for Gordon sent him behind the wall for cosmetic, suspension, and radiator repairs. He would return after about 30 laps, but the car that had looked quite competitive early in the event later lost an engine while trying to make up points.

NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Denny Hamlin's battle for the 2008 championship took another blow Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway after a hard crash sent sent him to a local hospital for observation.

Hamlin was leading on lap 99 of the 188-lap AMP Energy Drink 500 when his No. 11 cut a tire in turn 2, catapulting his Toyota into the outside wall. He was able to climb from the mangled race car under his own power, but immediately had a seat on a stretcher before being placed in an ambulance.

As is usual in the era of NASCAR impounding the cars following qualifying for three of the four restrictor plate races each season, the top dogs in qualifying for Sunday's Amp Energy Drink 400 at Talladega Superspeedway aren't the normal ones.

In fact, one would have to look back 11 spots to find the first driver who's an eligible entrant in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.