Talladega Weekend Preview
Oct. 22, 2015
Staff Report
NASCAR Wire Service
Earnhardt Jr. must win at Talladega to keep championship hopes alive
Most
drivers dread going to Talladega Superspeedway when they're in need of a
high finish. Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn't most drivers.
Earnhardt
heads to the 2.66-mile behemoth for Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 Chase
for the NASCAR Sprint Cup cutoff race (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN) in a
win-or-go-home situation.
Too far down in the standings to realistically advance on points (11th
out of 12, 31 points below the cutoff), he has to visit Victory Lane to
move on to the eight-driver Eliminator Round.
“I
wouldn’t rather be going anywhere else than Talladega for the next race
if we need a win," the 12-time Most Popular Driver said. “That is a
good opportunity for us. Even
over Daytona, I think we can go to Talladega and do the job.”
Earnhardt
ranks tied with Jeff Gordon for the active lead with six wins at the
Alabama track, and has won two of the three restrictor-plate races this
season, including the
May contest at Talladega. In addition to his six victories, he owns 11
top-five and 15 top-10 finishes in 31 starts at the superspeedway.
Earnhardt
is chasing history on Sunday as well. A visit to Victory Lane would
make him the first driver to win three restrictor-plate races since his
father Dale Earnhardt
in 1990.
“At
Talladega, you give more mentally than you do physically,” Earnhardt
said. “In a plate race, you need to make decisions with confidence and
make them quickly. If you have
any kind of hesitation, someone makes that decision for you and takes
away that opportunity.
“We’re
taking the same car we won with earlier this year, so it’s got great
speed and we feel confident. It really helps when you have a great car.”
Jones and Crafton hope to avoid ‘Big One’ in championship hunt at 'Dega
With five races to go in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, one mistake can doom a driver’s championship hopes.
Erik
Jones and Matt Crafton are both well aware of this. Jones leads Crafton
by a mere four points in the series standings. Not far behind is
third-place Tyler Reddick, who
can take advantage of a Jones or Crafton slip-up to close his 16-point
deficit in the standings.
The
drivers continue their championship quests in Saturday’s fred’s 250 at
Talladega Superspeedway (1 p.m. ET on FOX) where accidents are the norm,
not an exception. A driver’s
day can just as easily be ruined by the mistake of another driver as
his own error at the 2.66-mile behemoth.
“You’re
stuck, three-wide, even four-wide, and you can’t do anything about it,”
said two-time defending NCWTS champion Crafton, describing the perils
of Talladega. “Your fate
is in everyone else’s hands and that’s a helpless feeling for a driver.
It puts on a good show though.”
Jones explained his strategy is simply to avoid wrecks on Saturday -- an undertaking easier said than done.
"The
biggest thing we've done there in the past that has worked out well has
just been staying on the bottom and staying out of trouble and trying
to stay up front and stay
out of trouble,” Jones said. “We did a good job last year of staying
out of trouble and getting a top-10 finish out of it. Hopefully this
year we can do the same.”
A
winner of two NCWTS races this season, Jones just wants to survive
Saturday and gain ground in the remaining four races if he has to.
“I
feel like we can make up some more points at some other tracks rather
than there, as long as we can just get through Talladega,” Jones said.
NASCAR Race Weekend Guide
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Race: CampingWorld.com 500
Track: Talladega Superspeedway
Date and Time: Sunday, Oct. 25 at 2:30 p.m. ET
Tune-in: NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM Ch. 90
Distance: 500.08 miles (188 laps)
What to Watch For:
Joey Logano, the only driver locked into the eight-competitor
Eliminator Round
of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, goes for his third straight
win. ... Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. realistically must win at
Talladega to advance to the Eliminator Round ... Brad Keselowski
attempts to defend his fall 2014 victory at Talladega.
... The four drivers who are both winless and lowest in points in the
Contender Round following Sunday’s race will be dropped from the Chase
for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Race: fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola
Place: Talladega Superspeedway
Date and Time: Saturday, Oct. 24, 1 p.m. ET
TV: FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Ch. 90
Distance: 250.04 miles (94 laps)
What to Watch For:
Timothy Peters tries to win at Talladega for the second consecutive
season.
... Daytona winner Tyler Reddick attempts to sweep the NCWTS
superspeedway races. ... Brian Keselowski set to make NCWTS debut in the
No. 29 Ford for brother Brad Keselowski’s racing team. ... Erik Jones
looks to maintain his four-point standings lead over
Matt Crafton.
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