Recipe for disaster? Talladega could be make-or-break race for Chasers

High speeds, high tension, high drama: Welcome to Talladega Superspeedway.

NASCAR’s biggest track plays host this weekend to Chase race number four, a race known as a high-speed chess match. A game where one wrong move could spell disaster.

While every one of the 43 drivers entered Sunday want to win, the order of the day for most, especially those in the Chase will be to simply survive.

“I'm ready for it,” said Roush-Fenway Racing driver Greg Biffle who arrives at Talladega third in the standings.  “You can either be on edge at times in the race, or at other times it gets strung out. You just never know what to expect. Pit stops can be important but at the end of the day, there's not really a whole lot you can do to prepare for what can happen on the track without a moments notice.”

What can happen on the track without a moments notice is the multi-car crash known is the ‘big one’. Talladega is famous for the huge pileups that seem almost inevitable when 43 cars race door to door at 190 mile per hour for four hours. And while the tension of Talladega racing has many drivers dreading this weekend, some are actually looking forward to it.

“It's always a lot of fun,” said Dale Earnhardt Junior who has five wins here.  “It’s more of a mental race than a physical race. It's not really who has the best car; it's the guy who makes the best moves and makes the right decisions there at the end of the race.”

But for those who don’t make the right decisions, or end up getting caught up in the ‘big one’, Sunday’s race could end their hopes for a shot at the championship. So what kind of strategy will it take to be successful at Talladega?

"Whoever is beating and banging the hardest, I'll try and pick a different spot to be in on the racetrack,” said Biffle. “At the beginning of the race I might be at the back or I might try to get to the front. If we qualify well, maybe try to stay up front with track position, but it's kind of the luck of the draw. You just pick where you think is the best place to run and try to get your car there."

The point’s leader has even more reason to dread this weekend. In the short history of the Chase, four years, only once has the point’s leader still led the standings after Talladega. In 2006 Jeff Burton held a lead of only six points leaving Talladega. He finished the year in seventh.

The somewhat dubious distinction of point’s leader heading into Talladega this time around belongs to Jimmie Johnson who took the top spot after winning at Kansas last week.

“I really don't know what to do,” Johnson said. “The last couple of Talladega’s have been pretty calm. Everybody has been relatively respectful to what's going on. The Spring race is always exciting. But last Fall was pretty mellow. So I just don't know. It's one of those things where you just kind of judge the situation at the time and just take it from there. It's really tough to map out strategy."

Drivers like Johnson will simply want to leave Talladega with their points position in tact. Others, like Earnhardt Junior who is eighth in the standings, will actually hope to make up ground and attempt to stage a rally and move up in the points. 

“We just kind of got to go for broke, really throw it out there and take some chances, really take some risks,” Earnhardt said. “The only way to really gain points on anybody right now, for anybody who's outside of the top five in points is to be first when the checkered flag falls.”