This Week in Auto Racing April 23-25

This Week in Auto Racing April 23-25

Martinsville, VA (Sports Network) - The Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series head to Talladega Superspeedway, where it should be another exiting and wild affair at NASCAR's longest and perhaps most controversial track.

Sprint Cup Series

Aaron's 499 - Talladega Superspeedway - Talladega, AL

Ah, Talladega. What stunning event will occur at the famed Alabama track this time around?

Talladega undoubtedly features a lot of exciting and wild racing, but has turned into a nightmare for NASCAR lately, as far as safety is concerned.

NASCAR dodged a bullet at Talladega one year ago when Carl Edwards walked away from a violent crash into the catch fence along the frontstretch. However, eight spectators sustained injuries when they were struck by debris from Edwards' car. None of the injuries were life-threatening.

On the final lap, Edwards held the lead with Brad Keselowski on his back bumper. When they approached the finish line, Keselowski attempted to pass, but Edwards blocked as the two drivers made contact. Edwards spun, hit Ryan Newman and then sailed into the fence.

"That was just wild," Edwards said. "That was very close to winning my first race at a superspeedway, and I learned a lot from it. I hope going back that I can find somebody to work with those last couple laps, whether it's Brad or somebody else.

"It would be nice to be in that position again and have another chance to do that, and I think we will, eventually. But that was a really dramatic finish. I guess I'm looking forward to that race a little more now because of how close we were than maybe I would have in the past."

Recreating a scene from the 2006 Will Ferrell comedy "Talladega Nights," Edwards climbed out of his battered car and pulled a Ricky Bobby-like stunt by jogging to the finish line.

When the Sprint Cup Series raced at Talladega last November, Newman was involved in a horrifying crash on the backstretch during the final laps. his car flipped several times before coming to rest on the infield grass. Safety officials had to turn his car right-side-up and then cut the roof off to free him.

[Carl Edwards] NASCAR dodged a bullet at Talladega one year ago when Carl Edwards walked away from a violent crash.
Shortly after, a 13-car pileup occurred on the final lap, which ended the race under caution. Mark Martin's car went airborne and then flipped on the track.

NASCAR also received criticism for announcing a bump-drafting ban through the high-banked turns at Talladega just hours prior to the start of the race. After NASCAR informed teams the ban would be strictly enforced, drivers responded by running single file for a majority of the race, and therefore creating a boring affair for the fans.

Since then, NASCAR has modified the car and revised some of its rules on policing drivers on the track. The recent replacement of the rear wing with the spoiler on the cars will be a major factor at Talladega. The spoiler got its first good test under race conditions earlier this week at Texas. Talladega will be a bigger test.

"I think it's definitely a step in the right direction," Newman said. "The testing data, from what I've been told, proves that with the spoiler versus the wing with the car going backwards and the 'lift-off speed,' as they call it, I don't know.

"I think that making it safer not just for us drivers, but for the fans too, keeping the car on the ground is what it's all about. We'll see. Just like we did in Atlanta, we saw there that a car could fly with a wing on the back of it."

Before the Daytona 500, NASCAR eliminated the bump-drafting ban at its restrictor-plate tracks. Jeff Gordon, who leads all active drivers with six wins at Talladega, said he didn't notice that much of a change in bump drafting at Daytona in February, but admitted he wouldn't be surprised if it occurs more often this weekend at Talladega.

"I never really thought bump drafting went away," Gordon said. "Daytona is more of a handling track, so I don't think we saw the bump drafting get that aggressive there. "We'll really see how aggressive we can be this weekend, but I also think if it gets too aggressive, then the drivers may want to just 'ride' in the middle of the race.

"It's just a matter of time before the drivers decide it's time to go, and you see the whole field spread out three and four-wide."

Last year's spring race featured 57 lead changes, and the fall event saw the lead swapped 58 times. Don't be surprised if we see that many exchanges again -- maybe more -- on Sunday.

"It's hard to have a bad race at Talladega, and that's why I tell my friends this is a race track where they should attend a race, especially at the end when it's wild and crazy." Gordon added.

Forty-six teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Aaron's 499.

Nationwide Series

Aaron's 312 - Talladega Superspeedway - Talladega, AL

After winning the last two races, Kyle Busch has moved atop the Nationwide Series point standings. Busch, the 2009 series champion, currently holds a 20- point lead over Brad Keselowski and a 65-point advantage over Kevin Harvick.

Earlier this week, Busch tied a series record with his fifth consecutive win at Texas. Dale Earnhardt recorded five straight victories at Daytona in the early 1990's, and Jack Ingram won five in a row at South Boston, VA during the mid '80's. Busch captured the victory at Phoenix earlier this month.

He has won a Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series race at Talladega, but has yet to drive into victory lane for a Nationwide event there. His best finish in six starts at Talladega is fourth, which came in 2004.

Right now, Busch has no plans to run a full-time Nationwide schedule this season, in order to concentrate more on his Sprint Cup efforts.

"I'd like to, but we know how difficult it is to run both and what it takes away from the premium spot, which is the Sprint Cup Series title," Busch said. "The summer months get tough. When you have the companion races, I don't think it does anything. But, when you go from Sonoma (CA) to the new road course race in Wisconsin, you are going to have to skip all of Saturday in Sonoma to be there for that event in the Nationwide Series."

While Busch claimed the points lead, Carl Edwards fell from second to fifth in the standings (-106) after finishing 30th at Texas. Edwards suffered a broken axle during the mid-stages of the 300-mile race and fell 36 laps behind.

"We're coming back to Talladega this year with the same car that David Ragan won in last year," Edwards said. "I feel very good about our chances Saturday in the Nationwide race. The guys have been working very hard on the car back in the shop, and they are excited about it. We'll just go to Talladega and try to stay out of trouble and hopefully gain some points back. We had terrible luck at Texas, and we want to dig back from that."

Edwards' average finish in six Nationwide races at Talladega is 19.

Current ARCA Racing series points leader Steve Arpin will make his Nationwide debut at Talladega. Last week, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced that Arpin would drive the No.7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports at Talladega and later in the month at Richmond. The 26-year-old Canadian has won two of the first of the first four ARCA races this season.

Talladega will be the final race at a restrictor-plate track for the current Nationwide car. The series' new car will make its debut in the July 2 race at Daytona. It also will run at Michigan and the fall events at Richmond and Charlotte before full integration is planned for next year.

The new car will feature a wider body and chassis, similar to the current Sprint Cup car.

Forty-nine teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Aaron's 312.