First off, we need a name for this Talladega business. I'm going with Talladega fence-slide till we can come up with something better. (And yes, I know we're running this into the ground -- or into the fence, as the case may be -- but there's a good reason for that, as you'll see in a moment.)

Well, so much for a quiet NASCAR season, huh? In a year dominated by -- yawn -- far too much talk of crew chiefs' job security, all of a sudden we've got ourselves a full-on debate surrounding Sunday's events at 'Dega. All of us looked forward to the Big Ones, we got the Big Ones, and then we got something more. So what does that say about 1. us, 2. the state of NASCAR, 3. the future of racing at Talladega?

Writers from across the land have weighed in on the issue, and fortunately, there is absolutely no consensus of opinion. Pick a side in this issue, and there's somebody out there vocally defending it. Right here, Jay Hart said that this race signals the necessity of immediate change at Talladega. Over at Life in the Turn Lane, David Poole echoes that sentiment:

The real problem is the same as it has been for the 40 years this track has existed. From the very first weekend of racing held here, when speeds were too fast for tires to withstand and anybody with any regard for what's really safe would have called off the race, the problem is and always has been this race track.

It was crazy -- and I mean that word literally -- to ever let things get to a point where Bill Elliott could run 215 mph here. It was crazy to react to Bobby Allison's wreck into the fence, one that looked entirely too much like the wreck Carl Edwards had here Sunday for the comfort of anybody with good sense, by trying to write rules and change the cars to make this place safe. It's crazy to ask drivers to participate in the kind of racing that goes on at Talladega today and it's crazy for them to willingly do so.

It's also sad that fans who profess to love this sport and the people who compete in it not only tolerate this madness, but embrace it and celebrate it.

Oh, but there's more.

The Orlando Sentinel's David Whitley goes a step further, advocating a new drivers' strike:

[Dale] Earnhardt [Jr.] said the media and NASCAR have a responsibility to "come to their senses." In doing so, he ignores the one group that could change things tomorrow.

Drivers.

They should stop talking and start walking.

That's what Richard Petty, David Pearson and other top drivers did when Talladega opened 40 years ago. They had the lug nuts to tell NASCAR founder Bill France the track wasn't safe.

Of course, they came crawling back after France booted them, but still -- it's an intriguing idea. But how about the fans? As ESPN's Ed Hinton notes, NASCAR can't count on them to scream for safety innovation:

They want to participate in the danger.

In '87, after Allison flew, I went down to talk to spectators during the hours-long red flag to repair the fence. Several people had already been sent off in ambulances, one woman with a serious eye injury. The front row was jammed with Dale Earnhardt fans in black T-shirts, their arms and faces still bleeding from the shrapnel from the Allison wreck.

"If our man Earnhardt can take risks for us," said one man, "then we'll take risks for him, by being as close as we can when he comes by."

But on the other hand, this was a pretty damn good race, as Scene Daily's Jeff Gluck contends. Moreover, he wants everyone to relax about all the sky-is-falling business:

I don't feel bad. I don't feel guilty.

That race yesterday at Talladega was one of the most exciting in years, with maybe the best ending of the decade.

And I'm supposed to feel sorry about that?

Spare me.

I'm not going to apologize for enjoying that race or that finish. It was awesome, spectacular, mind-blowing...whatever you want to call it.

But reading my peers' stories today makes you wonder what people really want: Is NASCAR a thrilling sport or a safe, boring game? Maybe we should all just go play Scrabble, where no one can get hurt.

Plenty of voices, plenty of opinions. Now it's your turn -- where do you stand? And if you've seen something written that you particularly agree (or disagree) with, feel free to add it here. The floor is yours, friends. Just don't get too close to the fence.