The News Desk

In every poker game there is a wildcard, in the Race for the Chase, you have a wildcard and that is Talladega.  There are so many ways for the Chase for the Cup to be shuffled at Talladega.  “The Big One” is the usual culprit for the shakeup in the point standings.  For proof you just need to look at recent history.  In 2004 Jeff Gordon was leading the point standings when the series headed to Talladega.  When he left Talladega he was no longer in the lead and finished third in the standings.  In 2005 Jimmie Johnson was the leader going into Talladega; he finished thirty-first, lost the lead and finished fifth that season.  In 2007 Jimmie Johnson was in the lead and left Talladega in second.  So be ready for the carnage that will, most certainly, occur. 

The big question in my mind is does Jimmie Johnson have anything to fear?  Absolutely!  Twice he has come into Alabama with the points lead and has gone home out of first place.  He currently has a ten point lead over second place Carl Edwards and a 30 point lead over Greg Biffle.  Johnson needs to avoid trouble and have a top ten finish to preserve his points lead.  Talladega hasn’t been the best track for Johnson.  He has five top tens, four top fives, one win, one pole and five DNF’s

Fortunately for Johnson it has been a dreadful track for Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.  Edwards has eight starts, three top fives, one top five, two DNF’s with an average finish of 24.0 and a driver rating of 70.5.  Biffle is actually worse than Edwards at Talladega.  Biffle has 11 starts, zero top fives, zero top tens, four DNF’s, with an average finish of 25.3 and a driver rating of 68.0. 

There is one driver in the chase that stands above the rest at Talladega and that is four-time champion, Jeff Gordon.  Gordon has 31 career starts at Talladega, he has six wins, 13 top fives, 16 top tens, seven DNF’s, with an average finish of 15th and a driver rating of 96.9.  It is in the realm of possibility for Gordon to pick up a win to break his winless streak and continue his streak of 14 years with at least one win.  Gordon and the 24 team had a good run in Kansas last week. 

Whenever you come to a plate track you have to look at Dale Earnhardt, Junior to pick up a win.  In 17 career starts he has five wins, 7 top fives, 10 top tens, 4 DNF’s with a driver rating of 86.6. 

One driver in the chase that would like to see anyone else have a bad week is Kyle Busch.  The collapse of this dominate team is almost epic in proportion.  His prospects of pulling out of his slump are not good in Alabama.  Kyle has seven starts with one win and four DNF’s, average finish of 27.3 and a driver rating of 70.7.  The Chase for the Cup is over for the 18 team, they could pick up some wins, but there are too many drivers between them and the top spot to get past at this stage in the season.