FMCM
It’s very possible that we will indeed see a big one, aka multi car crash, this Sunday at the Talladega Speedway. The tight racing conditions there often reminds me of rush hour traffic on the Los Angeles freeway system. The cars are bumper to bumper, door to door and the slightest mistake, or momentary loss of focus, can become a bad situation in a mere matter of seconds.
If there’s going to be a Chase event that will greatly alter the profile of the Sprint Cup championship Sunday’s race may be the one. We’ve already heard reports that Chase points leader Jimmie Johnson is planning a conservative approach to restrictor plate racing at Talladega by hanging back in the field and waiting until the final laps of the race to make a run to the front of the pack.
We all know that this approach has been known to work in the past at Talladega. This is the one racing format where a driver can come across the stripe in 25th place and then one lap later cross the stripe again as the new race leader. The late Dale Earnhardt Sr, a ten time winner at this track, was a master at making this move. But Johnson will have to be very careful. The same draft advantage that can quickly move a car to the front of the pack can be taken away by other drivers and that’s when you start heading backwards again.
There’s one aspect here that virtually certain: if Johnson can score another top five finish this Sunday at Talladega he will virtually have a lock on his history making fourth consecutive Sprint Cup championship.
Johnson goes into Sunday’s race with a 118 point lead over Hendrick Motorsports team mate Mark Martin a driver who has made it clear in the past that he’s not a fan of restrictor plate racing. In fact, Martin has already gone on record saying that he fully expects to get caught up in a big one just like he did last year early in the race. But Martin knows very well that Sunday will be his one golden opportunity to take a serious run at catching Johnson because the next two events, Texas and Phoenix, are venues where Johnson has very good numbers.
The same goes for Jeff Gordon, -150 points, who completes the trio of Hendrick Motorsports drivers at the top of the Chase standings. Gordon leads active drivers in wins at Talladega with six. Like his team mate Martin, the four time NASCAR champion is going to have to drive hard and make sure his other team mate, Johnson, is somewhere in is rear view mirror in order to gain ground towards the top of the standings.
Also be aware that the organization he represents, Hendrick Motorsports, knows quite a bit about getting the job done at this race track, They lead the team win category at Talladega with ten trips to victory lane.
DON’T OVERLOOK THE POTENTIAL DARK HORSES
Tony Stewart, fourth in the standings at -192, is the defending 2008 race champion and a strong candidate to win again Sunday. He’s also well aware that this might be the one race where he can make some progress on Johnson’s points lead. Also be aware that Stewart Haas Racing has that all important connection to Hendrick Motorsports.
Juan Pablo Montoya, 5th in the standings at -200, will be returning this Sunday with the same attitude and game plan that led to a good finish at Martinsville: “we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.” Montoya set the fast time in qualifying last April and that clearly proves he knows the fast way around Talladega.
But the ultimate potential dark horse may be Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. We’ve all been following this team’s story all season long. There’s been non stop reports on performance levels and even focus issues. There’s also been overwhelming cases of bad luck such as three blown right front tires during last week’s race. If ever there was a race for this team to turn things around Talladega is it. Earnhardt has four consecutive wins, from October of 2001 to April of 2003, at this speedway. He understands restrictor plate racing and he learned the process from the very best: his father. The fact that his primary sponsor, Amp Energy, is also the race sponsor is an extra momentum booster.
By the way look for a drastic new look on Earnhardt’s car during the Talladega weekend. His #88 Chevrolet will feature the names of 70,000 race fans who were winners of the recent concluded “Get On The 88” promotion.
On the topic of dark horses don’t over look Kyle Busch who may be thinking about giving crew chief Steve Addington a parting gift. Talladega will be Addington’s last race with Busch before new crew chief Dave Rogers takes over next week.
When it comes to success from restrictor plate racing don’t overlook the name of Michael Waltrip. The highlights of his NASCAR career have come from restrictor plate races at Talladega and Daytona.
