从挥下第一面绿旗到托尼·斯图尔特（Tony Stewart）备受争议的胜利车道之行，“Amp Energy 500”与其说是征服塔拉迪加超级赛道（Talladega Superspeedway），不如说是一场生存考验。
rom the first wave of the green flag to Tony Stewart’s controversial trip to victory lane, the Amp Energy 500 was as much an exercise in survival as conquering the track at Talladega Superspeedway.
争夺杯赛冠军（Chase for the Cup）的12名车手在这个任务面前惨遭滑铁卢，其中9人遭遇撞车或轮胎故障。
It was a task the 12 drivers in the Chase for the Cup failed miserable, as nine of them wrecked or had tire problems.
“塔拉迪加是个艰难的地方，”车队老板杰克·鲁什（Jack Rousch）说，“你来到这里，试图避开别人的撞车事故，但不幸的是，当你正向前方发起冲刺时，也可能会卷入自己的事故中。”出人意料的是，周日对争冠车手打击最大的一记重击，恰恰是由输不起的两名车手造成的。
“Talladega is a tough place,” car owner Jack Rousch said. “You come here and try to avoid somebody else’s wreck, and then unfortunately you can be making a charge to the front and get involved in your own.”Surprisingly, the most damaging blow to the championship contenders on Sunday was dealt by the two drivers with the most to lose.
鲁什·芬威车队（Rousch Fenway Racing）的队友卡尔·爱德华兹（Carl Edwards）和格雷格·比夫尔（Greg Biffle）在还剩15圈时引发了一场撞车事故，波及了6名争冠车手，并险些吞噬积分领先者吉米·约翰逊（Jimmie Johnson）。
Rousch Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle triggered a wreck with 15 laps remaining that involved six Chase drivers and narrowly missed consuming point leader Jimmie Johnson.
“我非常幸运，身后没有车手跟得太紧，”约翰逊说，“如果有人从后面撞我，我就会被卷入其中。一切就都结束了。”“Amp Energy 500”伴随着一连串的大型撞车事故和轮胎故障，这正是限制进气板比赛的反对者们指出塔拉迪加的比赛不应被纳入争冠赛的理由。
“I was very lucky to not have anyone following me too closely,” Johnson said. “If somebody hit me from behind, I would have been collected in it. It would have been over.”The Amp Energy 500, with its array of big wrecks and tire failures, is exactly what opponents of restrictor plate racing point to as the reason races at Talladega should not be included in the Chase.
尽管如此，这场比赛还是有许多次领跑权交替、激烈的尾流跟车，以及一个颇具争议的结局：获胜者雷根·史密斯（Regan Smith）因在黄线下方超越斯图尔特而被取消成绩，导致官方将一场雪中送炭的胜利判给了斯图尔特。
Still, the race had many lead changes, intense drafting and a controversial finish in which winner Regan Smith was disqualified for passing Stewart below the yellow line, causing officials to award Stewart a much-needed victory.
“我必须承认：大家在塔拉迪加对保险杠的利用程度给我留下了深刻印象，”约翰逊说，“如果你能将前后保险杠紧密相连，就能创造奇迹——这就是为什么每个人都那么频繁地使用它。”不过最重要的是，塔拉迪加超级赛道为争冠赛注入了一点刺激感。
“I have to admit: I was impressed with how well everyone used the bumpers [at Talladega],” Johnson said. “If you can get hooked up bumper-to-bumper, you can make stuff happen — that’s why everybody was using it so much.”Most importantly, though, Talladega Superspeedway injected a little excitement into the Chase for the Cup.
约翰逊在这个周末过后在积分榜上保持着舒适的领先优势，但他身后的竞争非常胶着，如果48号车队表现挣扎，几位车手将迅速重返冠军争夺战中。
Johnson came out of the weekend with a comfortable lead in the standings, but the race behind him is very close, and if the No. 48 team should struggle, several drivers will be right back in the championship hunt.
“我们甚至连争冠赛的一半都还没过——什么事都还可能发生，”斯图尔特说，“在数学意义上宣布你出局之前，你都还有机会。你永远不知道每周会发生什么。”对于车手来说这可能令人神经紧张，对车迷来说有时也会感到沮丧，但限制进气板比赛确实令人兴奋。塔拉迪加不负其争冠赛中“外卡之战”的名号，但正如争冠车手们在周日所发现的那样，这也是一段疯狂的旅程。
“We’re not even halfway through the Chase — anything can happen still,” Stewart said. “Until they say mathematically that you’re out, you still got a shot. You never know what’s going to happen from week to week.”It may be nerve-racking for the drivers and sometimes frustrating for fans, but restrictor plate racing certainly is exciting. Talladega lived up to its billing as the wild-card race in the Chase, but as the championship contenders found out Sunday, it also was a wild ride.
《纳斯卡赛况》（NASCAR NOW）下期预告：美洲银行500（Bank of America 500）地点：北卡罗来纳州夏洛特的洛伊斯赛车场（Lowe’s Motor Speedway）绿旗挥动：周六晚上7点电视转播：ABC电视台赛道：四圆椭圆形赛道，弯道倾角24度，前直道和后直道倾角5度容量：16.5万人卫冕冠军：杰夫·戈登（Jeff Gordon）威尔逊的选择：吉米·约翰逊了解纳斯卡最新动态——每周一和周五下午5点40分请锁定93.1 WPOC收听《威尔逊赛况报道》（Wilson’s Race Report）。
NASCAR NOWUp next: Bank of America 500Where: Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Charlotte, N.C. Green Flag: Saturday, 7 p.m.TV: ABCTrack : Quad-oval with 24 degree turns with a 5 degree frontstretch and backstretchCapacity: 165,000Defending champion: Jeff GordonWilson’s pick: Jimmie Johnson Get up to speed on the latest in NASCAR — listen to Wilson’s Race Report every Monday and Friday at 5:40 on 93.1 WPOC.