SPRINT CUP SERIES – CAMPING WORLD RV SALES 500,

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES – CAMPING WORLD RV SALES 500, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2 P.M. ET ON ESPN

Talladega Could Scramble Chase Standings

With the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ at the mid-point – five races down, five races to go – it’s still a five-way battle for the top spot with 37 points separating leader Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch. Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 500 at Talladega Superspeedway has the potential to scramble the standings and bring additional drivers into the championship picture. The halfway leader has won the championship five times including four of the past five seasons.

Champions Solid In ‘Dega’s Fall Event

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion has yet to win Talladega’s fall race during the nine-season Chase era. Their best championship season finish is second – Jimmie Johnson in 2007 and Tony Stewart in 2011. Eight times the champion, however, finished among the top 10 and led at least one lap in seven of the nine seasons. The champion averaged a fall Talladega finish of 7.7 vs. 18.8 by the season’s runner-up finisher.

Johnson Has Big Edge In 2013 Restrictor-Plate Racing

Jimmie Johnson is far and away the master of restrictor-plate racing in 2013 with two victories at Daytona and a fifth-place finish in Talladega’s spring race. Johnson’s average finish is 2.3. Rivals Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch each have at least one plate-race DNF this year. Their combined average finish is 25.9.

Kenseth Hasn’t Replicated Last Year’s Plate Success  

Matt Kenseth is the defending winner of the Camping World RV Sales 500. Kenseth also won the 2012 Daytona 500 and added third-place finishes in last season’s other to restrictor-plate races for an average finish of 2.0. Moving to the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in 2013, Kenseth finished eighth in Talladega’s spring race but was 37th and 33rd in Daytona’s events.

Gordon, Junior Top Active Talladega Winners

Jeff Gordon’s six Talladega victories – the most recent in 2007 when he recorded a season sweep - are the most by an active NASCAR Sprint Cup driver. Dale Earnhardt Jr. can match his Hendrick Motorsports teammate’s total by winning Sunday’s race. Chase qualifiers Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth also have won at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.

Spring Winner Ragan, Keselowski Top Week’s ‘Spoiler’ List

Front Row Motorsports’ David Ragan and David Gilliland ran one-two in Talladega’s spring race as further confirmation every driver in the 43-car field has a shot a victory at the Alabama track. Ragan tops a “spoiler” list that includes Charlotte Bank of America 500 winner Brad Keselowski, who captured his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega in 2009 and repeated last spring. Non-Chase drivers have won ‘Dega’s fall race four times – the most at any track in NASCAR’s postseason.