Many think merging onto the highway or exiting the pits is a no brainer routine task, but the Aaron's 312 at Talladega Superspeedway on ABC showed us that it has become something that is taken for granted. You have to appreciate the art it takes to get out of the pits or merge onto the highway in order to do it correctly.

First, I want to address a problem we sometimes see. The areas of the apron of the track used to enter the pits and exit the pits (known as exit and entrance ramps for everyday folks on their commutes to and from work each day) aren't always clean and a sandy surface can cause a lack of grip and drivers should be aware of this and take caution during commutes to work during the week and pitting on the weekends. This wasn't the problem at Talladega though, but has been at some tracks.

Now, for the problems we saw at Talladega. Restrictor plate racing has caused some issues since its inception over 20 years ago, but this one wasn't caused by the restrictor plate, but perhaps magnified by the restrictor plate.

Using a restrictor plate on the car slows the acceleration of the race car so that it takes about a lap after leaving the pits to get up to full race speeds. Knowing this means that exiting the pits should be done carefully and respectfully knowing that as you approach turn one after leaving the pits that you are nowhere near race speeds. With this knowledge you have to be aware of the traffic around you that is at race speed as you exit the pits. The restrictor plate racing does another thing when at full race speeds and that is keep the pack closely grouped together and in that group it is common for the pack to be racing three abreast.

Taking the above into consideration, here are some helpful tips that could assist everybody in merging into high speed traffic on highways or race tracks from eDriver Inc. which owns the web site DMV.org.

eDriver, Inc. DMV.ORG says, "The procedure (How To Merge Into Traffic) requires extreme awareness because the last thing you want to do is have the driver in the vehicle that you are merging in front of end up in your passenger seat."

Note that at Talladega this is exactly what happened to Lepage and Carl Edwards. Carl ended up in Lepage's passenger seat, which is the last thing either of them or the 14 others that wrecked wanted.

DMV.org continues, "The idea behind this is when you pull onto the entrance ramp, you slowly begin building velocity. At the point where you can make eye contact with the highway, you need to immediately start assessing the gaps and the speed of existing traffic. Then use the acceleration lane to match the speed flow, and ease your vehicle into an appropriate gap before the acceleration lane ends. A successful merge entails you entering the highway almost at or at the speed limit, while causing no disturbance in the speeds of the vehicles behind you."

The benefit that drivers have on race tracks is the apron of the race track continues all the way around the track (except on road courses) and so if staying on the apron a bit longer is needed then it is available. Unfortunately, this is not an option for highway travel as you end up on the shoulder of the highway, which may not be clear of debris and holes and so you may have to stop when the ramp ends.

What DMV.org says about blend lines, "Where the entrance ramp ends and the acceleration lane begins, note the continuation of the solid white (or yellow line). Do not cross this line and head out onto the highway. It serves as the transition from the on-ramp to the lane, and crossing it can cause other drivers to miscalculate your speed and possibly collide with your vehicle."

Kevin Lepage's spotter at Talladega was heard saying over the radio to Kevin as he approached the track's racing surface, "Watch the blend line."

What DMV.org says you should do. "You should always decide on the space you will shoot for before accelerating rather than getting to full speed and then deciding. Why? Well, you only have so many yards in the lane, and if you are at full speed before you know where you are headed, you might run out of room prior to finding a traffic gap. This will cause you to have to stop, cut another driver off, or wind up on the shoulder—definitely not good merging techniques."

Once again, at Talladega there is no such thing as running out of room for a car exiting the pits as the apron of the track is continuous around the inside of the track for a driver to use until the track is clear and provides adequate space for getting up to speed and avoiding traffic on the track.

What happened at Talladega is that Kevin Lepage got almost to the end of the blend line and at probably half the speed of the pack of cars on the track, he attempted to blend in with them. Then, in the garage area and thankfully still alive and uninjured, he decided to blame the traffic on the track for not going around him instead of running over him.

Lepage said in an interview on ABC, "As I was leaving pit road, the spotter says 'Pack coming' and I stayed down until I got in turn 1. The first half a dozen cars or so passed me, and the next thing you know I got rear-ended. Everybody is mad at me for pulling up onto the race track, but you go to the driver meeting and they say stay low until you get to turn 1 and then pull up on the race track. My spotter has been spotting for me for a number of years and I think she did a great job. There's 40 other guys out there trying to spot these things, and if they couldn't see me coming out of the pits, then maybe they need to get new spotters."

A couple things to note about Lepage's comments.

First of all, whether you are exiting the pits or entering a highway, you do not have the right of way. The traffic on the track or highway has the right of way. Expecting a driver on the highway to stop for you to get onto the highway is wrong as the drivers behind them may not be able to see why a driver ahead of them is slowing abruptly and will cause an accident. It is the job of the driver entering the highway to get up to speed and find a gap in the traffic to safely blend in to the flow of the highway.

Same thing goes when exiting the pits to drive onto the race track. Lepage said, "...stay low until you get to turn 1 and then pull up on the race track." He continued, "There's 40 other guys out there trying to spot these things, and if they couldn't see me coming out of the pits, then maybe they need to get new spotters." It isn't the spotters' and drivers' of 40 other guys responsibility to avoid the great Kevin Lepage who is exiting the pits. It's the bozo Kevin Lepage's responsibility to make sure the track is clear before he drives onto it.

Secondly, according to NASCAR, who confirmed this for ABC during the race, Lepage must not have been listening when they explained how to exit the pits during the driver meeting. Also note that Kevin said his wife, who is his spotter, did a great job and after having heard over the radio the comment, "Watch the blend line." I agree with Kevin, she did do a great job, it was Kevin who screwed up.

Thirdly, during the race, NASCAR penalized two other drivers for pulling up onto the track before turn one and would have probably done the same to Lepage had he not done it directly ahead of the entire field and cause a 16 car wreck. Penalizing Lepage after the wreck when his car had to be brought to the garage on a rollback would just be a stupid waste of time.

Finally, Lepage said that about a half dozen avoided him when actually, only the first two cars passed him and that was because he hadn't yet driven up onto the track yet when they went by. The three wide racing behind them had nowhere to go. David Reutimann moved up to avoid him as the third car in line and surprised the fourth car in line, Mike Wallace, who then swerved up into Reutimann causing him to wreck anyway. Edwards, who was behind Wallace had a wreck starting directly ahead and cars to his right had nowhere to go but through the trunk and up over the cockpit of Lepage's car.

The lesson here is that the car merging onto the track or highway is responsible for safely merging into the traffic traveling at race or highway speeds. It isn't the responsibility of the traffic on the track or highway to make evasive high-speed maneuvers to avoid a merging driver.

Everybody walked away at Talladega without injury in the 16 car wreck caused by Lepage, but they have 5 point safety seat belt harnesses and Hans devices and roll cages to protect them. A passenger car on the highway has a shoulder and lap belt and an air bag. Also, a NASCAR driver doesn't get to drive in NASCAR if they don't have any talent, but everybody that can pass the test gets a drivers license. Where you might be confident about your driving talents and skills the others around you may not be confident of their own or yours.

Be safe out there! Nobody wants to be stuck in a 2 hour traffic jam or parked in the hot sun in a race car during a red flag and you don't want to end your day in the hospital.