(By Greg Engle)
Posted: Friday,October 30th, 2009
(By Sarah Farlee, CupScene.com Senior Staff Writer)
The AMP Energy 500 at the Talladega International Speedway could be considered the lottery of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. It will take more than just skill and strategy for a winning combination – it’ll take luck.
Jimmie Johnson, who has a 118 point lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, knows that this is the weekend where anything can happen. A slight miscue or another driver’s mistake could erase Johnson’s lead.
“You don’t have any control,” said Johnson. “So much can happen.”
The drama at Talladega will have the grandstands on their feet as the field comes to the checkers. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
“I need to just worry about doing my job and not let the emotions affect my effort and my focus,” Johnson added. “We need to go out and execute.”
Johnson’s team has been flawless when it comes to executing on race day. Mark Martin’s team knows how to get to victory lane too, but Martin knows that Talladega is a wildcard – and control isn’t a word used to describe racing at the Alabama track. The Hendrick Motorsports veteran is adamant about refusing to worry about control and just let the race happen.
“Somehow or another I just feel lucky about this one,” said Martin, who was caught up in a melee on lap five of the spring race. “So I don’t know. I feel like it will be okay. If it’s not, it will still be okay.”
“To me it’s my opportunity to really get back into the running for it,” Martin added. “So I plan on going there and driving like I know I am not going to wreck.”
Martin’s approach to Sunday may work for him, but Jeff Gordon says that not one approach to the race works better than another. Gordon, who leads active drivers in wins at Talladega with six, says it’s all about steering clear of the middle.
“Rarely do you escape when you are in the middle of it,” said Gordon. “You can be aggressive or you can be conservative — either approach can be good or bad. And I don’t believe one approach works better than the other.”
Gordon, who says his approach will likely be on the aggressive side and that picking a strategy, is dependent on the starting position and that the ‘big one’ will happen. No matter what, Gordon plans to race from the drop of the green flag.
“It’s just whether you get caught up in the crash or not, or whether it comes early or late in the race,” Gordon added.
Fifth place point’s driver Juan Pablo Montoya is 200 points behind Johnson and is interested to see what kind of strategy plays out, like Gordon, he says there are multiple ways to approach the race.
“Do you need points and you want to try and lead as many laps? Or do play conservative and play it at the end? It is always a challenge especially with the side-by-side restarts; it is going to be “whew”, pretty wild,” said Montoya.
“You come off the truck with whatever you think is fastest. And if it doesn’t do anything crazy, you park the car. You probably do 10 laps of practice; make sure all the temperatures look good. Qualify the car and race it and see what happens.”
The element of the unknown has several drivers on the edge. That edge can often mean white-knuckles coming down to the checkers.
“I don’t know what driver first called it a high-speed chess match,” said Kurt Busch, who has a 12.1 average finish at the Alabama oval. “That’s a pretty good analogy and I’ve always thought of the competition that way.”
“It often gets really hairy out there and you’re forced to really hang it all out on the line,” Busch added.
The intensity that Busch described brings an element of excitement that has fans holding their breath as the field moves in unison at 200 mph.
“Talladega is a unique racetrack,” said Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who has five wins at the Alabama oval. “It’s a great race to watch, and it’s a fun race to be in.”
“You will never hear people complaining about the action or the level of racing,” Earnhardt added. “We always put on a great show, and there’s always a lot of drama.”
The drama at Talladega will have the grandstands on their feet as the field comes to the checkers. Ryan Newman says whatever will happen – will happen.
“Realistically, you never know what to expect,” said Newman.
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