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NASCAR’s elite from their Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series moves to the massive high banks of the Talladega Super Speedway this weekend. This track is famous for smiling on surprise winners who normally run in the mid pack at other speedways. This track is where drivers ram the rear bumpers in front of them at 200 MPH, aka bump drafting, to gain a position. This is the track where you will find 200 MPH traffic jams with four lanes of traffic literally inches from each other. This is home of the “big one”, a multi car crash that sometimes sends a car airborne and upside down. This is the home of some of the most exciting stock car racing you will ever see.
THE STORY BREAKDOWN
During the Talladega weekend there will be a lot of media coverage and speculation regarding Shell/Penzoil’s announcement this week that said they were leaving Richard Childress Racing, and driver Kevin Harvick, to join Roger Penske Racing and their driver Kurt Busch. This announcement will crank up the early arrival of NASCAR’s annual silly season and will center on how it will impact the Childress operation and their efforts to resign Harvick whose contract expires at the end of this season.
You can also expect to hear more speculation regarding driver Kasey Kanhe and what he will be doing next year. We already know Kahne is leaving Richard Petty Motorsports and will take over the #5 seat for Hendrick Motorsports beginning in 2012. The big guessing game here remains what will Kahne be doing in 2011?
You can also expect to hear a about Kanne’s current sponsor, Budweiser, and their possible next move in NASCAR racing. In an extremely short period of time there were reports that said Richard Petty Motorsports was trying to convince them to stay, there were reports that said they would be with Kahne through the 2011 season, there are reports that says Richard Childress has been talking to the famed beer company trying to link them up with his driver Kevin Harvick and they were even reports that said Ty Norris, an executive with Michael Waltrip Racing, rolled out the hospitality red carpet for Budweiser representatives last weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway.
Keep an eye on the Ford teams during Sunday’s Sprint Cup race. We will finally be seeing the somewhat official debut of their new FR9 engine. All of the Ford teams with Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports will be racing the new engine this Sunday. The teams experimented with the new engine last February at Daytona but it was mostly during practice sessions, qualifying and the Gatorade Duels. Only the Fords of Bill Elliot, Matt Kenseth and Elliot Sadler ran the new engine in the Daytona. Sunday’s Talladega race will mark the first time that the majority of the Ford teams will be using this engine in an official NASCAR points race.
Race fans can also expect a lot of interviews regarding NASCAR’s recent decision to replace the wings with the traditional spoilers on the cars. Look for a lot of opinions on how the return of the spoiler may impact down force and side drafting under the high speed, restrictor plate racing, conditions of Talladega.
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THE RACE BREAKDOWN
The Aarons 499 is 188 laps, 500.8 miles, around the Talladega Super Speedway’s massive 2.66 mile quad oval. The four turns has 33 degrees of banking and 18 degrees of banking in the tri oval area. The total length of the front stretch is 4,300 feet and banked 16.5 degrees. The back stretch is 4,000 feet long and virtually flat with only two degrees of banking. The pit road is spacious measuring 3,000 feet by 48 feet. The pit road speed is 55 MPH. The speedway currently has seating for 143, 231 fans. The purse for Sunday’s race is $5,982,252.
The speedway’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held in September 1969 which was won by Richard Brickhouse. Since that time 81 Sprint Cup races have been held there with 39 different drivers sent to victory lane. The late Dale Earnhardt Sr holds the track record for most wins at ten as well as most top five finishes-23 and top ten finishes-27. Among the modern day active drivers Jeff Gordon has the most wins at six but team mate Dale Earnhardt Jr is right behind him with five including four consecutive wins. Gordon also has the most top fives among the active drivers at 13 while fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver Mark Martin has the most Talladega top tens at 22. Chevrolet has sent their drivers to Talladega’s victory lane a record holding 35 times. Hendrick Motorsorts has the most team wins at ten but Richard Childress Racing is right behind them with nine. Brad Keselowski is the defending race winner from April of last year. Jamie McMurray won the fall race last October.
Talladega racing is famous for its close finishes. Since the inception of the electronic scoring loops, established in 1993, every race ending under the green flag has had a margin of victory of less than one half of one second. Those close finishes often produces frequent lead changes throughout the racing. The most lead changes at Talladega is 74 set in the spring of 1984. The record for the fewest amount of lead changes is 28 set in the fall of 2008.
With the Talladega Super Speedway’s reputation for launching the “big one” you would think that the stats regarding caution flag and laps would be rather high. Actually they’re not that bad. The track record for the most caution flags is only 11 set in 2004. The record for most yellow flag laps is 62 set in the spring of 1972. In direct comparison there has been three times when a Talladega race ran caution free. The last time was the fall of 2002.
Sunday’s Aarons 499 has 46 entries vying for the 43 starting positions. 11 of those entries are on the go or go home list meaning these teams are not guaranteed a starting berth because they are outside of NASCAR’s top 35 in owner’s points.
The race will be broadcast live on Fox Sports with the pre race show beginning at 12 pm eastern time. The race re broadcast will be Wednesday, April 28th, on the SPEED Channel at 12 pm eastern.
Unfortunately weather could be a huge problem during the Talladega weekend. In fact, the forecast looks so bleak we could possibly be watching another round of Monday morning racing. The Talladega official forecast calls for the presence of thunder storms on Saturday with a daytime high of 76 degrees. The Sunday forecast is also bleak with showers expected with a daytime high of 79 degrees.
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THE VEGAS BREAKDOWN
The Las Vegas based WSE-World Sports Exchange, for the first time in ages DOES NOT have Jimmie Johnson on top of their weekly wager rankings. Instead they have a quartet of drivers at the top listed at 10 to 1 odds that includes Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. It’s also interesting to note that this is also the first time in ages that the WSE hasn’t placed Earnhardt at the bottom of their weekly rankings.
However fear not Jimmie Johnson fans. The WSE has your favorite driver ranked right behind the leaders at 12 to 1 odds. At 15 to 1 odds are a group of five drivers that includes Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin and Jeff Burton. Rated at 20 to 1 this week are drivers Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne and Brad Keselowski. At the bottom of the WSE list this week you will find Brian Vickers, Joey Logano and Greg Biffle at 30 to 1 odds while Michael Waltrip Racing team mates David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr come in at 35 to l.
Now for the disclaimer: NASCAR wants us to remind you that these numbers are for entertainment purposes only. They neither encourage or condone the placing of wagers on their races. Perhaps a better approach would be to convince all of the gamblers to pool their money and sponsor the 2011 tire bill for Richard Petty Motorsports’ #9 Dodge.
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THE NATIONWIDE SERIES BREAKDOWN
NASCAR’s Nationwide Series will also play a feature role during the Talladega weekend with Saturday’s running of the Aarons 312. The race is 117 laps/311.2 miles with a purse of $1,366,933.
The race has 49 entries vying for the 43 starting berths. 18 of those entries are on the go or go home list meaning they are not guaranteed a start in the race because they are currently outside of NASCAR’s top 30 in owner’s points. 12 of the entries are double duty drivers or those who will be competing in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series events at Talladega.
Chevrolet has the most manufacturer’s wins in the Nationwide Series at Talladega with seven trips to victory lane. However Ford is the defending race winner. David Ragan, Roush Fenway Racing, won the race last year.
In some notes of interest, Steve Arpin will make his official Nationwide Series debut this Saturday. The ARCA Series stand out will be driving the #7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in place of the recently released Kelly Bires.
The series’ Raybestos Rookie Of the Year race is extremely close going into Saturday’s race. Brian Scott, Braun Racing Toyota, leads the standings with 71 points but it’s only a two point lead over James Buescher driver of the Phoenix Racing Chevrolet. The gap between first and fourth in the rookie standings are only six points.
The Aarons 312 will be broadcast live by ABC Sports Saturday afternoon beginning with the pre race show at 230 pm eastern time.
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