Fast and Furious This Weekend At Talladega

I love watching racing at Talladega.  It’s NASCAR’s longest track and it’s fast.  But I hate what happened at that track and Daytona last year with that tandem racing – two cars following each other around the track.  Boring.  But a number of changes were made in the offseason.  They changed the size of the restrictor plate and the front grille openings to bring back that pack racing that so many people like.  It worked at Daytona in February and it was great.  Look for more of the same this weekend.

It’s gonna be hot at Talladega this weekend.  With temperatures at close to 90 degrees, teams will be dealing with possible overheating issues.  That means they’ll have to make adjustments during the race and the team that does the best job might lead to a win.  And running in packs leads to overheating so it’ll be interesting to see how the whole thing unfolds.

Clint Bowyer has won the last two fall races at Talladega. He came in second to Jimmie Johnson by just a sliver in last year’s spring race.  But from Richard Childress Racing he’s now on the Michael Waltrip team and he’s hoping for the same kind of success.

Last year’s spring race set a NASCAR record for lead changes with 88.

In the spring race two years ago, Kevin Harvick ended a 115-race winless streak when he edged out Jamie McMurray at the finish line.

Then there’s Jimmie Johnson who’s had some tough times at Talladega.  He’s finished 26th or worse in three
of the last six races there.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a five-time winner at Talladega, including a track-record four consecutive victories.  But Junior’s winless drought has climbed to 138 races. His last victory in Cup racing came in June 2008 at Michigan.

Entering the weekend, Earnhardt stands second to Greg Biffle in the points standings.

Nationwide drivers will get things rolling Saturday afternoon.  Last year’s race featured 56 lead changes, 11
cautions and two red flags to clean up the track, one of them after a 21-car wreck.