I’m not going to blame any of the drivers for what happened after the race last weekend at Charlotte. All I am going to say is that the pressure is building with drivers championship hopes on the line and if you thought last weekend was intense just wait and see what happens this weekend at Talladega.
The third and final Chase race in the Contender round will be run at Talladega Superspeedway on a restrictor plate track. The only two drivers who are safely into the next round are Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick. None of the other ten drivers still in the Chase are guaranteed to move on to the Eliminator round. Some of these drivers are desperate to win this race, and that combined with a restrictor plate race is going to make for some very interesting racing.
GEICO 500
Talladega Superspeedway is a 2.66-mile tri-oval track with a lot of banking in the corners. This is the reason NASCAR requires restrictor plates on the cars to slow them down or they would be running between 225 and 230 miles per hour, which they deemed too dangerous. Because of the restrictor plates, the drivers all end up in one big bunch, and the close quarters racing often ends up in “The Big One”. Now, put this together with desperate drivers who need to win to move on to the Eliminator round and you are going to see some fireworks to be sure.
Matt Kenseth: I am picking Matt to win this race and move on to the next round. Matt has lead more laps than any other driver at Talladega over the past two season by a big margin and won one of those races. He is always calm during the early stages of races and knows how to draft. He doesn’t have any enemies on the track and all of the other drivers trust him and will draft with him. This is what it takes to win this type of race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale needs to win this race to guarantee himself a spot in the Eliminator round. If he doesn’t win I think he needs to finish in the top five to have a chance to advance. With that said, Dale has lead the second most laps of any driver at Talladega over the past two seasons and finished second in this race last year.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie is another driver who almost has to win this race to keep his hopes of defending the Sprint Cup championship. Jimmie is just behind Junior in laps lead here over the past couple of years and should have a car capable of winning this race and qualifying him for the next round.
Kyle Busch: Kyle hasn’t lead a lot of laps over the past few races here, but he has finished in the top five in three of his last five starts at this track. Once again, Kyle needs to be patient during the early part of the race and just stay out of trouble. He doesn’t need to win this race, all he needs to do is stay clear of confrontations and huge wrecks and he will advance.
Greg Biffle: Greg was eliminated from the Chase in the first round and hasn’t had very good handling cars lately. However, he has been very good at Talladega lately, finishing in the top six in three of his last five starts. This team really has nothing to lose and will be a car that others who need to be up front will want to draft with come Sunday.
Clint Bowyer: Another driver who failed to make the Chase this season, Clint has been superb at Talladega over the last five years. During that ten race stretch, Clint has won two races, had four top five finishes, and seven top ten finishes. This is the consistency other drivers are looking at when trying to find someone to draft with and get them to the front of the field.
Jeff Gordon: Jeff knows that all he needs to do is stay out of trouble early in the race and come away with a good finishing position to move to the next Chase round. I have a feeling you are going to see a large group of drivers who are not desperate for a win this weekend hanging out in their own pack behind the main pack early in the race and making their move late in the race. Jeff could be one of these drivers.
David Ragan: David won the spring race here last season and has finished in the top ten in four of his last five starts here. This tells me that even though his team doesn’t have the money or the resources that the big name teams have, they are very competitive in this type of race. Another plus of using David this weekend is that he has nothing to lose and can just run his race.
Kasey Kahne: Kasey always seems to be very good here early in the race and then something happens to him either in the pits or on the track late in the race. This team is very capable of winning this race and should be able to run with the leaders for the entire race if they so choose. Having a clean pit stop and great restart late in the race will be key to this teams chances of winning.
Brad Keselowski: Brad might not have a lot of friends on the track this weekend, which could hurt his chances of winning this race, but he does have a teammate. That teammate is Joey Logano, who we all know is already qualified for the Eliminator round and will be there to help Brad win this race. If they can find each other on the track, Joey will be the driver that can push Brad to a victory.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR TALLLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Matt Kenseth
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Greg Biffle
- David Ragan
- Aric Almirola
- Brian Vickers
Yahoo Driver Group C
- Michael Waltrip
- Danica Patrick
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
- Matt Kenseth
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Jimmie Johnson
- Clint Bowyer
- Kyle Busch
Dark Horse: David Ragan
Stay Away From: Brad Keselowski