This Week in Auto Racing October 21 - 23

This Week in Auto Racing October 21 - 23

Talladega, AL (Sports Network) - The second half of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship kicks off this weekend with the "wild card" race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Sprint Cup Series

Good Sam Club 500 - Talladega Superspeedway - Talladega, AL

Following the death of Dan Wheldon in last Sunday's IndyCar event at Las Vegas, safety has become a major concern in this weekend 500-mile Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. Talladega features a lot of exciting and wild racing, but the track has also experienced its share of controversy over the years, particularly in regards to safety.

IndyCar endured its darkest moment in the early going of the scheduled 300- mile Las Vegas race when a horrific 15-car crash claimed the life of Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and former IndyCar champion. Wheldon's car went airborne into the catch fence along turn two before it erupted into flames during the lap 11 incident. The 33-year-old Englishman died of blunt head trauma.

There has not been a fatality on the racetrack in any one of NASCAR's three national touring series since Dale Earnhardt was killed in an accident on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. SAFER barriers (soft walls), the current cars and the head and neck support (HANS) device have all played a vital role in NASCAR's safety initiatives.

"I think NASCAR has implemented some incredible safety features for our cars over the years to allow us to go to Talladega," Jeff Gordon said. "While the drivers might not always be thrilled and sometimes the fans aren't always thrilled about the type of racing going on out there, I do feel very safe inside the cars. That's something that's evolved over the years and something that we all have worked together on through experience, through seeing wrecks, going through wrecks, understanding how to contain the cars inside the racetrack, trying to keep the cars on the ground with new aerodynamics, with the roof flaps.

"I think the spoiler is a plus versus the [rear] wing when the cars get turned backwards. I feel very confident in that going to the racetrack this weekend at Talladega."

Last Saturday night at Charlotte, Jimmie Johnson walked away unscathed after crashing head on into the outside wall during the closing laps of the race.

"It was a big hit," Johnson said during Monday's electronic fuel injection test session at Charlotte. "The NASCAR safety guys came by and discussed a lot of that with me. The numbers were high, but if you look at the frequency and how long the impact lasted, it was spread out over a long period of time, because of the soft wall and the steel cage that we have around our car. It makes it a very forgiving impact in a the scheme of things.

"The velocity was very high, but the "g" number [force of gravity] was average, which is great. That g number should have been doubled if it wasn't into a soft wall. I was very fortunate to have the safety that we do on these tracks and on these cars, because it was a huge hit."

Talladega has seen its share of multi-car crashes, commonly known as "the big one," and at times, cars have sailed into the air and then slammed into the catch fence at the 2.66-mile, high-banked track.

"I guess if you really look at the big picture and why we run restrictor plates is so the cars stay on the ground," said Johnson, who won at Talladega in April. "It doesn't matter the type of race car. If it's off the ground, you cannot control it in an accident."

Bobby Allison's spectacular crash along the frontstretch in the spring 1987 race at Talladega led NASCAR to mandate restrictor plates to reduce speeds for races at Talladega and its sister track, Daytona International Speedway.

But restrictor-plate racing led to big packs of cars running two, three and even four-wide, just inches apart from each other, and moving at speeds more than 200 m.p.h. Multi-car wrecks at Talladega have involved as many as 30 drivers in a single incident.

NASCAR dodged a bullet at Talladega in April 2009 when Carl Edwards walked away from a crash that was somewhat similar to Allison's wreck. However, eight spectators suffered injuries when they were struck by debris from Edwards' car. None of the injuries were life-threatening.

Since last year's fall race at Talladega, NASCAR has been tweaking the rules package for restrictor-plate racing, which has created two-car breakaways and therefore produced record lead changes at both Talladega and Daytona.

"Talladega is fast and high-banked, and we all know what we're in for when we go there," NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said.

NASCAR recently changed the size of the restrictor plate for this race. The plate has increased by 1/64 inch, putting it at 57/64-inch diameter. This will provide teams with an additional 7-10 horsepower. NASCAR has also altered the pressure relief valve on the cars' cooling system.

After a record-tying 88 lead changes in this year's spring race at Talladega, the track has set up a bonus plan for Sunday's event here. If there are 100 or more lead changes in the race, the driver who takes the lead the most times (not the most laps) will collect a $100,000 award.

Talladega will be the sixth race in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Just 35 points separate leader Carl Edwards from eighth-place Johnson. Kevin Harvick is five points behind Edwards, while Charlotte winner Matt Kenseth trails by seven markers.

Johnson's current 35-point deficit roughly equates to 145 markers from the old points system (1975-2010).

With five races to go in the 2006 season, Johnson overcame a deficit of 146 points to win his first of five consecutive championships. So don't count him out just yet.

Talladega is the "wild card" or "crap shoot" race in the Chase, so anything can happen as far as the championship battle is concerned.

Forty-seven teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Good Sam Club 500.

Camping World Truck Series

Coca-Cola 250 - Talladega Superspeedway - Talladega, AL

After winning the last two races, Ron Hornaday Jr. is right back in contention for the Camping World Truck Series championship.

What a remarkable comeback the 53-year-old Hornaday has made in the past couple of months. Following his 24th-place finish in August at Bristol, Hornaday trailed then-leader Johnny Sauter by 69 points.

Hornaday, a record four-time series champion, cut his 42-point deficit in half after taking the checkered flag at Las Vegas for the first time in his career this past Saturday. Leader Austin Dillon and James Buescher, who ranked second in points heading into Las Vegas, crashed at separate times during the race.

With four races to go, Dillon holds just a five-point lead over Sauter and a seven-point advantage over Buescher. Hornaday is 21 down, while Timothy Peters trails by 25.

The series moves on to Talladega Superspeedway, where Hornaday has yet to win.

"With four races to go, Talladega is a track where we will just have to hold our breath all weekend and hope we don't get caught in the big one," he said. "We are in the midst of this championship battle and would really like to make it out of Talladega with momentum."

This will be the third race in a row that Hornaday drives the No.2 Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc. Team owners Kevin and DeLana Harvick moved Hornaday from the No.33 to the No.2, since that truck is presently leading in the series' owner point standings. Crew chief Bruce Cook will remain with Hornaday at least for Talladega.

Cale Gale drove KHI's No.33 at Las Vegas, but Nationwide Series regular Mike Wallace is taking over driving duties this weekend.

"I am very excited about the chance to race for KHI, especially when I'm going to be racing a truck that I know has an opportunity to win the race," Wallace said. "I've won at Talladega before in the ARCA Series, and I'm excited to have the opportunity to win again. Hornaday is back in the run for another championship, so I think we'll be able to work together and help him along as well and hopefully accomplish a sweep for KHI this weekend."

Kyle Busch is the only Sprint Cup Series regular competing in this race. Busch has won the truck event at Talladega the previous two seasons. Last year, he nipped Aric Almirola at the finish line by only 0.002 seconds, making it the closest finish in series history.

Forty-one teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Coca-Cola 250.