‘Dega’s Wild-Card Reputation is Heightened by New Championship Format
Unpredictability is what fans expect of the high-banked racing action at Talladega Superspeedway since opening the gates in September 1969. Competition derailed by the ‘Big One, or by drivers’ concern about tire wear while approaching 200-mph on a 2.66-mile tri-oval rising from the Alabama countryside, looking like Daytona on steroids.
Some will recall when drivers boycotted and NASCAR’s President Bill France Sr got things back on track – literally – by assembling a field of second-tier drivers and making sure the show would go on. Richard Brickhouse was Talladega’s first winner. Richard Childress finished 23rd. And from the beginning no one would have predicted that outcome.
And that was only the beginning in terms of the race. While there were never again makeshift fields at Talladega, there have been a number of surprise winners in victory lane – both before and after horsepower-reducing restrictor plates making close-quarter racing the norm.
From Richard Brickhouse, to Dick Brooks in 1973, Lennie Pond in 1978, Ron Bouchard in 1981, Bobby Hillin Jr in 1986 and Phil Parsons in 1988 – all Talladega one-win wonders, in the Sprint Cup Series.
Now toss in the four drivers getting their first – but not their only – series win at Talladega, including Davey Allison in 1987, Ken Schrader in 1988, Brian Vickers in 2006 and Brad Keselowski in 2009.
For those newer to the sport, go to spring of 2013 when David Ragan and David Gilliland finished first and second.
All this history is why Talladega is NASCAR’s ultimate wild-card race. That reputation is back into play this week, with Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 and again at full force on October 19th when the Chase for the Sprint Cup is midstream.
Toss in the new Chase format this year and the card gets even wilder. A race victory virtually assures a driver of making the Chase field, now expanded to 16 drivers. That means this spring’s surprise could become this fall’s championship contender. And just like that any one of 43 drivers can go from ‘Dega to the Chase!
And now comes another wrinkle – Knockout qualifying, a first year initiative pumping new life into competition for the Coors Light Pole Award. Given the unique qualifying format for the Daytona 500 in February – time trials locking in the front row followed by two 150-mile races that decide the rest of the field – this weekend is the first restrictor-plate KO setting and this is a good thing too. Talladega single-car runs on the world’s largest oval track were at times less than compelling. Knockout qualifying fixes that on Saturday.
So who is the favorite for the Pole? That’s hard to say, and impossible to predict – after all it’s Talladega.
Junior at the Front? Book it
As unpredictable as Talladega is, it does offer a number of guarantees – action, intrigue and Dale Earnhardt Jr at the front of the field.
In 28 Sprint Cup Series starts, Earnhardt has led at least one lap in 25 races. Only ten drivers have led more races at Talladega, including his late father Dale Earnhardt, who leads that list with 38. Only one active driver ranks ahead of Earnhardt on the Talladega races led list – Jeff Gordon, with 34.
Simply put – consider Earnhardt a favorite to win this Sunday’s Aaron’s 499, the second restrictor-plate race of the year. Of course, Earnhardt’s restrictor-plate record is solid – he won the Daytona 500 to open the 2014 season. A second win of the season would lock Earnhardt into the Chase, no matter how many winners after race 26. And there’s plenty of evidence to build a case that he’ll do exactly that – a second win of the season at Talladega this weekend.
Earnhardt has five Talladega wins in his career and though the last came in 2004, he’s threatened in nearly every race since. The last time the series races at Talladega, in October, Earnhardt finished second to Jamie McMurray. It was his fourth career runner-up finish at Talladega.
Logano, Keselowski on Championship Fast Track
Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano are a team for each other. Young – Talented – Headstrong, and now, absolute championship favorites.
With his second victory of the season – this time at Richmond – Logano is certainly one of the 16 drivers to make the Chase Grid, provided he remains in the top 30 in points after race 26 and attempts to qualify for every race.
Keselowski won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and is all but assured a spot in the Chase – presuming there aren’t more winners than Chase spots – an unlikelihood.
And both have a hard-nosed edge, one that adds a juicy dimension to their persona. That edge was on display at Richmond, as Keselowski and Matt Kenseth exchanged paint on the track, and words off-track.
All that rounds out a story that could end with a 2014 Sprint Cup championship. Both are most likely in the Chase, and both have seen success on 1.5-mile tracks – which make up five of the ten Chase tracks.
Up next is Talladega – which also hosts a Chase race. Keselowski nabbed his first series career win there in 2009 while with Phoenix Racing. He won again in 2012 with Penske. Logano has struggled there of late, finishing outside the top-20 in four of the last five races at the track.
Four Champions Still Searching for an Elusive Win
What do Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth all have in common? Of course, the obvious answer to any NASCAR fan whether novice or avid is that they all have Sprint Cup Series titles – 14 among the four.
But there’s something else that links these four past champions together in 2014. Heading into Talladega for the tenth race of the season, none of them have yet seen victory lane as a winner. All four have at least one win at Talladega, with Gordon leading the way with six. Johnson has two, while Stewart and Kenseth both have one. Kenseth’s win was the most recent, coming in fall 2012. However, Gordon’s spring 2005 triumph, when he led 139 of 194 laps was the most dominating performance of the ten combined victories.
With heightened emphasis this season on winning races and the ‘win-and-you’re-in’ format for the Chase, it’s likely that most of them, if not all, will collect at least one victory by the time the postseason begins.
That last time one of these four drivers didn’t win one of the first nine races in a season was two decades ago – in 1994, before three of them even made their first starts in any NASCAR national series.
McMurray is One to Watch at Talladega
Last October, Jamie McMurray won his seventh career Sprint Cup Series race, and his fourth in the series at a restrictor-plate track.
in 2013 at Talladega, McMurray won for the first time in the Sprint Series since 2010, snapping a 108-race winless streak. McMurray led only one lap until he was to the front with just 15 laps to go. He held that spot the rest of the way, once again showing he has a knack for restrictor-plate racing. McMurray has won twice at Daytona, including the 2010 Daytona 500, and twice at Talladega Superspeedway.
As the series returns to Talladega this week for the Aaron’s 499, a win for McMurray would hold added value, potentially securing him a spot on the Chase Grid. Despite his success in restrictor-place races, McMurray acknowledges unpredictability with the style of racing at Daytona and Talladega, and has even surprised himself with his own success.
“Yeah, completely surprised,” McMurray said after the seventh victory of his career. “In these races, it becomes much more intense, and everyone starts taking bigger risks.”
Milestone Watch
The milestone watch continues at Talladega Superspeedway for Kyle Busch as he needs only 30 more laps led to become the 15th driver to reach the 10,000 laps-led plateau in Sprint Cup Series history. Busch has led 30 or more laps only once in his 18 career starts on the series’ largest track.
Also on a milestone watch, Denny Hamlin is making his 300th Sprint Cup Series start on Sunday at Talladega. In the first 299, Hamlin has 23 wins, ranking him tied for 30th on the all-time Sprint Cup Series wins list.
Television coverage of the Aaron’s 499 on May 4th is on FOX at 12 pm ET with a Green Flag at 1 pm ET. Radio coverage is on MRN and Sirius XM, channel 90.