September 28, 2006

By Rebecca Gladden

Rebecca Gladden

We're just two weeks into the 2006 Chase for the Championship, and one thing is apparent: Every race is critical for NASCAR's top ten drivers.

Several title contenders have seen their fortunes rise and fall dramatically at Loudon and Dover. Compare the standings of the Chase drivers two races ago to those after last weekend's race:

Standings after Richmond: 1. Matt Kenseth 2. Jimmie Johnson 3. Kevin Harvick 4. Kyle Busch 5. Denny Hamlin 6. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 7. Mark Martin 8. Jeff Burton 9. Jeff Gordon 10. Kasey Kahne

Standings after Dover: 1. Jeff Burton 2. Jeff Gordon 3. Matt Kenseth 4. Denny Hamlin 5. Kevin Harvick 6. Mark Martin 7. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 8. Jimmie Johnson 9. Kasey Kahne 10. Kyle Busch

Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch have had particularly bad luck, while Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon improved their standings the most. Both Kahne and Kyle Busch have admitted that their title hopes are gone.

All ten Chase races will play a role in the final outcome of the season, but Talladega is no doubt the most unpredictable.

The series will visit the superspeedway on October 8th, and while many consider it a fan favorite, drivers view the track with trepidation.

"If you take a poll, and the guys weren't being politically correct and were telling you the truth, then only about five or six of them would say they had a good time racing at Talladega," said Mark Martin after this year's spring race at the Alabama track. "It's just so stupid. Beyond stupid. The biggest problem I've got is the last three races, I didn't even make it to the first pit stop before I was wrecked, and none of which I had anything to do with other than trying to stay out of trouble."

The problem with racing at Talladega is the restrictor plate itself, a safety innovation introduced by NASCAR in 1988 for use at Dega and Daytona.

Originally intended to create safer racing, the plate works by reducing horsepower, thereby reducing speed. Ironically, the device has become synonymous with a huge multi-car pileup euphemistically known as "The Big One," which seems to be inevitable during the course of a plate race.

The Big One can strike at any time, leaving behind it a path of destruction as wide as a southern tornado.

Chase driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. was once almost unstoppable at Talladega, winning five of the last 10 races here, including four in a row from 2001 to 2003. But Hendrick drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have put a chink in the DEI armor, winning three of the last five Talladega races.

Johnson, who won the spring race here, told USA Today that recent resurfacing of the track is another cause for concern among Chase contenders: "Talladega is probably the biggest wild-card race we have in the Chase. There is so much that you can't control there with the three-and four-wide racing. It's a place I know every driver and team is worried about once you get into the Chase. It's a track that people are sweating.

"They just repaved the track, so I'm not really sure what to expect. I still think that the track is wide enough where we'll still have three- and four-wide racing. There might be a little more tire wear and more tire heat, which may affect the handling of the cars, but I would say new asphalt always gives us more grip. I think the cars might drive a little easier, might be easier to run side-by-side in bigger packs. I would think the speeds might slow down a little bit. Having that much grip with the restricted engine might drag the cars down a little bit. We've seen that before - that sometimes if you get too much grip on a superspeedway it will slow the cars down.

"I think we're all going into Talladega with some question marks. One, what will the new surface be like? And two, how do you avoid getting in trouble?"

When it comes to Talladega, the teams that find an answer to that last question will be the only ones to leave the track unscathed.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.