Anyone who's seen Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, or even recently, Chase Elliott draft at these restrictor plate tracks knows it is not something that requires no skill. I'd even argue that it's not a skill that is even EASILY learned. Sure, it's possible to ride around in the back all day like Michael Waltrip in the Daytona 500 and get an 8th place finish due to attrition. But he didn't gain that finish from skill, and everyone knows that. It was more attrition than anything.
Earnhardt, Keselowski, and Hamlin all have an ungodly amount of wins at these plate tracks, and that is no coincidence. Chase Elliott is soon to be there too, based on his performance at Daytona this season. Logano, Austin Dillon, and the Busch brothers are one notch below the aforementioned drivers in terms of skill at these plate tracks. The record speaks for itself. If it is such an easy skill to garner, why do the same guys win all the plate races?
It is no coincidence that Keselowski and Chase Elliott are both proteges of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. It is obvious that they learned their skills drafting from the Pied Piper himself.
Hamlin, since 2008 when he discovered tandem drafting, has always been a great plate racer. It seems like he wins The Clash and/or a Duel race every year. He's won The Clash 3 times, and his Duel race 3 times, with a Daytona 500 and a Talladega win to accompany those. That totals to 8 restrictor plate Cup wins.
Keselowski has 4 Talladega wins and a Daytona win, totaling to 5 restrictor plate Cup wins.
Dale Jr. has 6 Talladega wins, 2 Daytona 500s, 2 Daytona 400s, 2 Clash wins, and 5 Duel wins. This amasses to 17 restrictor plate Cup wins. If it is such an easy skill to learn, and it's so randomized, how could one driver win at these style of tracks 17 times, exceeding his closest active competition by 9 wins? The simple answer is this: Restrictor plate racing is not an easy skill to learn. It is not random. It is just as legitimate as any other style of racing.
Of course, some might bring up Derrike Cope, David Ragan, Trevor Bayne, or Michael Waltrip. Here is my rebuttal to each case.
Derrike Cope, on that winning day in 1990, had a great car and was giving it the drive of his life. Every driver, no matter his skill level, has his day where everything comes together for him, his day where for once, he doesn't screw it up with an error. The 1990 Daytona 500 was Derrike Cope's day. He positioned himself to be behind Earnhardt on the final lap, and was there to capitalize on Earnhardt's troubles. No fluke there. Plus, Cope backed up his Daytona 500 win with a win at Dover later in the season. Can you say that Dover is a track that requires a shallow skill level to win at? I didn't think so. Cope had unrealized potential as a driver. A lot of that can probably be put on his shoulders for not putting in the work necessary to be a top-tier driver, but he had potential.
David Ragan and Trevor Bayne both took advantage of the tandem drafting era to score their first career wins. I will say, the tandem drafting era (2009-2012) was probably the most random era of plate racing in NASCAR's history. Nobody was able to say they were any better at it than anyone else. That being said, we no longer live in the tandem drafting era, and it was short-lived as it was. Bayne and Ragan are both respectable drivers anyway. Bayne, in Roush equipment I might add, has been a Chase contender since last season. David Ragan had a hell of a 2008 campaign in the #6 car, in addition to Xfinity wins in 2009 at Talladega and Bristol. Of course, somewhere along the line, the wheels fell off of David Ragan's career as a top-tier driver right when he began to show serious potential. But at one point in time, the potential was there and therefore, somewhere inside David Ragan rests a talented racecar driver that sometimes reveals himself.
As for David Ragan's 2013 triumph at Talladega, keep in mind this win occurred in NASCAR's first season using the Gen-6 car. Nobody had seriously figured out how to pass, or even race this car on plate tracks. It was all a game of who got a great restart, followed by a single file train around the track after 5 laps that lasted the duration of the green flag run. On the last restart of the race, Ragan managed to line up with his teammate and shoot to the front, being the only car on the track with a devoted pusher behind him instead of an individual going for the win themselves. This of course, can no longer occur due to the entire field having great knowledge on making these cars work at plate tracks now.
Michael Waltrip wasn't nearly as bad as everyone gives him crap for. He had numerous races on non-plate tracks where he seriously contended and could've won if some things had gone differently. Waltrip was at times, unlucky, but that comes with the sport. That being said, his specialty was always restrictor plate racing. Every driver has a specialty. Jimmie Johnson is great at 1.5 mile racetracks. AJ Allmendinger is a road course ace. Denny Hamlin is fantastic at short tracks. And Michael Waltrip, much like these aforementioned drivers, had a specialty of his own, that being at restrictor plate tracks. This specialty was only augmented when he became a driver for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. He now had the knowledge of the all-time master of restrictor plate tracks at his disposal. Don't forget, Dale Earnhardt had 26 Cup restrictor plate wins. Is that a coincidence? His drivers had access to that knowledge, and his knowledge allowed his cars to be set up accordingly to dominate. Give someone like Waltrip, who's already good at plate tracks, a teacher and great cars, and he will dominate. That domination did not occur because anybody can win those races. That domination occurred because he had the tools at his disposal to become a great plate driver.
Upset because wrecks can occur that take out the field? You won't find the greats like Hamlin, Keselowski, or Earnhardt in those wrecks very often. They're good enough to stay at the front.
