For fans, this Sunday’s GEICO 500 may be the most anticipated race in the Chase. For drivers, possibly quite the opposite. Either way this Sunday’s “Contender Round” closing GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway promises to be a drama filled wildcard race that will most certainly put a big mark on the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup. If you thought Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 produced fireworks with all the bumping and banging that was followed by off track confrontations, just wait until this Sunday’s race at Talladega closes the door on 4 more drivers chances at a Championship.
If you think drivers will not be on edge this Sunday, then you obviously do not understand the circumstances or the racing that is produced by Talladega Superspeedway. When 43 drivers renew pack racing in the draft this Sunday at 200mph, the slightest mistakes could potentially be devastating for some of the drivers trying to advance to the next round of the Chase. The “big one”, as they call it, often accompanies restrictor plate racing because you have so many drivers racing inches apart at tremendous speeds. Therefore when things go wrong, drivers do not have time to get out of the way which usually leads to many cars getting caught in incidents that are out of their control. Just the slightest incident or misfortune this Sunday, could cost some drivers their pursuit of a championship.
For drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, and Dale Earnhardt Jr, the outlook is grim. Both Junior and Johnson are tied for last in the points. After problems at Kansas for all 3 drivers, Earnhardt battled a broken gear shifter at Charlotte which resulted in another bad finish. Jimmie Johnson was running as high as 4th at the time of the last caution with about 12 laps to go but elected to change tires. The call by Chad Knaus did not payoff as Johnson could not make up any ground and actually dropped back to a 17th place finish. During that last green flag shootout, Keselowski also dropped from 5th to 16th place as the #2 got into both the #11 of Denny Hamlin and #20 Matt Kenseth which led to some entertaining altercations once the race ended. Either way all 3 driver’s chances of advancing are nearly gone after Charlotte provided more frustration. Junior, Johnson, and Keselowski will enter Sunday’s GEICO 500 needing one thing and one thing only, a victory!
Meanwhile if you look towards the top of the standings, things are still very dicey. The top 7 in the standings are separated by just 15 points. Then you have Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth trailing the top 7 by 17 points for that 8th and final cutoff position. Of course all that can and will change when the wildcard factor of Talladega unfolds on Sunday. Expect to see several guys ride around the back early in attempt to miss any early accidents. Surely there will be a lot of strategy with guys playing it safe until the end especially for those drivers from 3rd through 7th that are trying to protect their points position. However those drivers will not be able to play it too safe because they do not have a big enough cushion to being able to afford a bad finish.
Therefore every driver is still going to have to put their self in the midst of that wild pack of cars and race their way to the next round of the Chase. Meanwhile for guys like Keselowski, Johnson, and Junior, they are going to have to do everything possible to score a win. Rest assured you will see some bold moves from those drivers if they have a shot in the closing laps on Sunday. The good news is that Keselowski, Johnson, and Junior all have a pretty solid Talladega background on their resume. Rest assured this Sunday’s race is going to be wild, exciting, and filled with drama throughout every lap. This is exactly what NASCAR wanted with this new Chase format and Talladega is poised to deliver!
