NASCAR has cut its historic teeth on the bump-and-grind of last-lap dust-ups.
Wreckin'-and-racin' is an honored tradition, along with hazy hangovers in the infield and the noisy buzz of patriotic flyovers.
But the chaos is never pretty. Consider the controversial twist in Sunday's Daytona 500 when Austin Dillon nudged leader Aric Almirola out of the way because ... he could.
It was an acceptable move or a cheap shot, depending on which driver you cheer for and your perception of how far drivers can push the competitive envelope.
The Daytona 500 is always an outlier because of the restrictor-plate mayhem that factors into the mix. Only 10 of 40 cars starting the race finished on the lead lap. But NASCAR's tweaks in the aero package seem to make handling more difficult. We will see how that comes into play this week in Atlanta, the standard norm in terms of aero setups.
But if drivers have problems side-drafting and can't slingshot for a lead in the closing laps, then look for trouble on Turn Two.
"With this aero package, as big as the holes are getting punched in the air, it's certainly almost inevitable that it's going to be some kind of contact for the lead late in the race, which some could argue that's a good thing, some a bad thing," third-place finisher Denny Hamlin said after the 500. "It just depends on what end you are. If you're in the stands, you probably love it."
Yes and no, based on the shots Dillon took on Twitter. There is always going to be a fine line between competitiveness and craziness in NASCAR, especially in Daytona.
It was both last Sunday.
"Just everything is on edge," said Jimmie Johnson, who got bounced out of the race in a multi-car accident on Lap 60. "It's a lot of fun. We are flying around here, but it puts handling at a premium. It gets us closer to the edge of traction and we are just slipping and sliding all over."
Onto Atlanta, a standard 1.5-mile oval, with more potential for wreckin'-and-racin'.
As Hamlin noted, don't blame the fans who look at NASCAR as a bloodsport.
"We're the ones driving it," he said. "They're not making us make the mistakes that we're making."
