Hey Carbon our driver made it to the Chase!!!

[gn7]

I have never been to Talladega, but I have been to Daytona a couple times. Its the speeds and the proximity of the cars. You look at the train most of the race, and all 43 cars are in 2 rows virtually bumper to bumper, IF THEY AREN'T ACTUALLY PUSHING!!
At Daytona, when they go by on the front straight, its one huge chunk of sound. There is no individual engine. Just one big one. Lap after lap. When they are out of sight, you can talk to the person next to you in a normal voice, because they are all together on the back straight a 1/2 miles away, and it will some time before you see a car again. Its not Fontana, Texas or Las Vegas where they get all spread out.
When it happens, its almost always a aero deal. Somebody got upset by air and its on. If you have ever driven something large like a enclose trailer, motorhome, or even a van near a semi, you will sometimes feel the vacuum pull you towards the semi. Same thing happens at those tracks and sometimes the guy loses it. Or the ass end gets light from air packed under it by a car that makes a run at him or is too close behind in turn. Right on him is OK, but a run up can disrupt the car. Its what started the crash that Dale Sr died in. Rusty Wallace got a run on the old man, he tried to block Rusty to protect Jr and Michael Waltrips lead(he owned both cars, even though he drove for Childress) and the ass got lose when Rusty's car packed air up under Sr's ass end.
Once there is a oooopsie, there simply is no where to hide because they are all so close. It just like dominos.
Sometimes its spotter error and the driver thinks he is clear, and sometimes the driver screws up. But its almost never something mechanical or a cut tire. It doesn't take much of a bump to start it.
Yes they are bunched up partially due to the restrictor, and partially because it is faster. Lose the pack and you head straight back. Lose the car behind you and you are looking for another car to hook up with. The Train is faster than any one car, so they stay bunched up to stay in with the group. But also, they really aren't running flat out the whole time. They are testing different cars to see who they run the best with. They deliberately go to the rear to see how many laps it takes to make it to the front, so when the time comes to make a move they know when to start the move. They are "experimenting" the entire race so they know what they are going to do on the last few laps.
Track position in that race at 15-20 laps from the end is nothing. Its not about position up till then, its about strategy and a plan. Then they execute it when the time comes. The race is like a basketball game. The whole thing could be decided in 10 laps. Running 475 miles only earns you the right to be up front when its time.