The first complete repaving of the 2.66-mile Talladega
oval since 1979 drew raves from most of the drivers after the race.
Kurt Busch, who finished third, said, ``I think the paving job
they created here is the best job I've seen at any racetrack we go
to recently. They did a good job smoothing the surface. It was
seamless between the high lane, low lane, middle lane, wherever you
go.
``It made it comfortable and, when you make a track more
comfortable, it seems to equalize the cars even more.''
Busch said NASCAR's last-minute move to smaller openings in the
carburettor restrictor plates to help keep the cars under 200 mph on
the new pavement, was also a success.
``Taking a 64th (of an inch) away from (the holes in) the
restrictor plates equalized the cars even more,'' Busch said. ``What
it does is create a great spectator view from the TV, from the
grandstands. It creates an element to where you don't know who's
going to win because it extends it to five or six more cars. It's
good for competition.''
