Points leader Carl Edwards should just sit in his No. 99 Ford and wait until the race weekend begins. At the very least, he should avoid any statistics pertaining to Talladega Superspeedway.
There are two worries for Edwards going into this weekend, one personal, the other historical.
For one, Edwards’ statistics at Talladega pale in comparison to most other tracks. His Driver Rating of 67.8 makes Talladega his worst track in terms of the Loop Data stat (by the way: second-worst is Martinsville, which awaits on deck, at 81.1). His average finish of 20.9 also makes Talladega his worst track. Edwards has scored just four top-10 finishes in 14 starts, which includes four DNFs. He has led laps in seven different Talladega races, but never more than eight in any given event. A bit of optimism: Edwards is coming off a sixth-place finish in April, his best Talladega result since 2005.
Two, Chase points leaders have a varied history at Talladega. Recently, the points leader has thrived. In the last three Chases, the points lead – each time held by Jimmie Johnson – has grown after the Talladega race.
But prior to that, trouble. The breakdown:
- In 2004, Jeff Gordon lost the points lead at Talladega after a 19th-place finish. Kurt Busch took over, and held on for the remainder of the season. That year, Talladega was the third race of the Chase.
- In 2005, Johnson entered Talladega with a seven-point advantage over Rusty Wallace. After the race, in which he finished 31st, he trailed Tony Stewart by 82 points.
- In 2006, Jeff Burton’s points lead shrank from 69 before Talladega to just six leaving it.
- In 2007, Johnson again lost a points lead at Talladega. He went into the race with a six-point advantage over Jeff Gordon, and left trailing his teammate by nine.
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