Auto Racing | NASCAR stresses safety at Talladega track

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Michael Waltrip pulled up to the back of Jimmie Johnson's car, settled in on his bumper and shoved him all the way around Talladega Superspeedway as the drivers worked on a strategy for NASCAR's fastest track.

"We got hooked up and started flying," said Johnson.

But NASCAR doesn't want to see such aggressive drafting and when Waltrip didn't heed a warning to back off a bit Friday, he was yanked out of the final practice session leading into today's Amp Energy 500 Sprint Cup Series race.

Johnson, a three-time defending Cup champion, will start from the pole. Rain washed out qualifying Saturday and the field was set by points.

NASCAR is seeking to avoid a repeat of the last-lap accidents that marred the last two restrictor-plate races this season. Carl Edwards went airborne into the Talladega safety fence on the final lap of April's race, and Kyle Busch sailed hard into an outside wall in Daytona Beach, Fla., in July.

In Edwards' accident, flying debris injured seven fans in the grandstands. Track operator International Speedway Corp. has raised the fencing to 22 feet from 14 feet.

Note

• Busch used a generous bump from teammate Aric Almirola a few hundred yards from the finish to win the Mountain Dew 250 NASCAR Camping World Trucks race at Talladega.

Busch has won six races in the truck series this year.