Five
races into NASCAR’s postseason, the top of the standings are virtually
unchanged. Matt Kenseth opened the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ with
a three-point lead over Jimmie Johnson. They’re separated by four
markers entering Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 500 at Talladega
Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET, ESPN, MRN, SiriusXM Satellite Radio).
Talladega’s
two races always have been crap shoots, events anyone among the 43-car
starting field can win. Longshot David Ragan and Front Row Motorsports
captured ‘Dega’s spring race, in which Johnson finished third and
Kenseth eighth.
Avoiding
the early exit – through accident or engine failure – is this week’s
goal, along with a solid performance. Past champions during the
nine-season Chase era have averaged a finish of 7.7 in ‘Dega’s fall
race.
Kenseth
is the defending winner of Sunday’s race and posted an average finish
of 2.0 in 2012 restrictor-plate races. Johnson, this year’s Daytona 500
winner, counts two wins and a third in this year’s plate competition.
Closest
pursuers Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch also have visited
Talladega’s Victory Lane. Gordon’s six wins are the most at the track by
an active competitor.
Talladega’s
fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola (3:30 p.m. Saturday, FOX Sports 1, MRN,
Sirius XM) opens the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ longest stretch
– five consecutive weekends, ending with the Nov. 15 finale at
Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Matt
Crafton, the championship leader since his April victory at Kansas
Speedway, carries a 41-point lead over reigning series champion James
Buescher into the 250-mile, 94-lap event. Defending race winner Parker
Kligerman, now a NASCAR Nationwide Series campaigner, returns to the
series along with two-time Talladega truck winner Kyle Busch.
NASCAR
Nationwide Series teams return to competition Nov. 2 at Texas Motor
Speedway. Austin Dillon is the standings leader by eight points over Sam
Hornish Jr.
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