The 10 drivers competing in NASCAR’s Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, in order of points standings:
Jimmie Johnson
CAR: No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet
CHASE POINTS: First, 5,362
POSITION CHANGE: Plus 5
WHAT HAPPENED: Johnson scored his third victory of 2005 last weekend at Dover International Raceway to rocket five spots in the standings and take over the top spot. It marks the first time since late July that Johnson has been first in the points, and he’ll do his best to stay there despite an iffy track record at Talladega: He has just two top-10 finishes in seven career starts at the Alabama superspeedway.
SPEAKING: “I think when you’re the points leader you want the season to be over right then and there. But I don’t think we’re going to think about it too much. It doesn’t do us any good with a track like Talladega where there is so much on the line,” Johnson said.
Rusty Wallace
CAR: No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge
CHASE POINTS: Second, 5,355
POSITION CHANGE: Plus 2
WHAT HAPPENED: Wallace moved within seven points of the top spot in the standings with a third-place finish in Dover. He’s finished in the top 10 of both Chase races, and will try to continue the trend at Talladega. But Wallace has struggled there, scoring just one top-five finish in 45 starts at Talladega. Even more troubling to Wallace is that he’s never won at either Daytona or Talladega – the only two restrictor-plate tracks on the circuit.
SPEAKING: “There certainly are several that I can remember where we should have won, but just weren’t able to pull it off for one reason or another. We have one last chance remaining and that’s this weekend at Talladega. We’re definitely coming in there with all our guns loaded and ready to go,” Wallace said.
Ryan Newman
CAR: No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge
CHASE POINTS: Third, 5,350
POSITION CHANGE: None
WHAT HAPPENED: Newman tried for a weekend sweep at Dover by winning the Busch and Nextel Cup poles, then winning the Busch race. But he finished fifth in the Cup event to fall short of his goal. Still, it moved him just 12 points out of the lead. He has never won a restrictor-plate race, and his career-best finish at Talladega was a fourth in 2003.
SPEAKING: “For the first time in my career, I’m looking forward to going to Talladega. If we can qualify well again, and stay up front all day, the racing is actually fun. The closer you are to the front, the more likely it is that you’ll avoid the mess. That’s what our plan is for this weekend,” Newman said.
Mark Martin
CAR: No. 6 Viagra Ford
CHASE POINTS: Fourth, 5,341
POSITION CHANGE: Plus 3
WHAT HAPPENED: Martin took two tires on the final pit stop in an effort to race for the win at Dover. It didn’t work, and he finished fourth. Now he heads to Talladega, where he is the only Chase driver to win a race. Martin has two wins and 21 top-10 finishes there – but hates the track.
SPEAKING: “Everybody knows that I’m not the world’s biggest fan of restrictor-plate racing. I know that it’s really exciting for the fans and I know that if I were at home you couldn’t pry me away from the TV, but for the drivers it can be pretty frustrating because nothing is really in your control. Talladega may really be a wild card here, because you just can’t predict what’s going to happen,” Martin said.
Tony Stewart
CAR: No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet
CHASE POINTS: Fifth (tied), 5,339
POSITION CHANGE: Minus 4
WHAT HAPPENED: Stewart had a rare bad day in Dover, struggling the entire race with the handling of his Chevrolet and finally finishing 18th. Stewart has shown to be a legitimate threat at restrictor-plate tracks of late, and heads into Talladega with the same car he drove to a dominating victory at Daytona in July. He’s now looking to break through at Talladega, where he’s finished second four times.
SPEAKING: “The Talladega weeks are always fun weeks for me because I go fishing and it’s a week where I don’t turn my cell phone on and I don’t worry about the race car. It’s just a week to kind of hit the reset button, and by the time I get to the track, I’m fresh and ready to go. I always have fun when I come to Talladega,” Stewart said.
Greg Biffle
CAR: No. 16 National Guard/Subway Ford
CHASE POINTS: Fifth (tied), 5,339
POSITION CHANGE: Minus 4
WHAT HAPPENED: Biffle dropped in the standings because a late flat tire forced him to pit and left him with a 13th-place finish in Dover. His slide could continue because Talladega is not his strongest track. Although he scored his first Cup victory at Daytona, Biffle has never finished higher than 13th at Talladega.
SPEAKING: “Restrictor-plate racing is difficult in that as a driver, you can only do so much. Your car will only go as fast as it will go, and that’s what you’ve got for the day. You can try to draft with the fastest cars, but that’s about all the control a driver has in a restrictor-plate race. We’ll just need to stay out of trouble and hopefully get out of there with a top-five or top-10 finish,” Biffle said.
Jeremy Mayfield
CAR: No. 19 Dodge Dealers/ UAW Dodge
CHASE POINTS: Seventh, 5,281
POSITION CHANGE: Plus 1
WHAT HAPPENED: Nothing really. Dover was a noneventful race for Mayfield, who finished seventh. Mayfield has been decent at Talladega, where he has three poles, two top fives and two top 10s. His best finish was a fourth, in April.
SPEAKING: “We go into every race to win. If that’s not possible, then we’re after every point we can possibly get. We’re going to fight, scratch and claw for every position and point we can get. At Talladega, you do that with a bit of finesse. The race demands three hours of total concentration by 43 drivers. We know a single mistake can lead to the big one. It’s that intense,” Mayfield said.
Carl Edwards
CAR: No. 99 Office Depot Ford
CHASE POINTS: Eighth, 5,259
POSITION CHANGE: Plus 1
WHAT HAPPENED: Edwards was quiet at Dover, never making much of a splash. He worked his way near the front in the end and left with a ninth-place finish. Edwards has just two Talladega starts and both ended terribly – he’s placed 32nd and 42nd.
SPEAKING: “I know it seems strange, but I do like Talladega. I would really like to redeem myself this weekend. It’s been difficult, but I’m starting to understand ‘Big Picture’ racing better and that’s what will make us a better team,” Edwards said.
Matt Kenseth
CAR: No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford
CHASE POINTS: Ninth, 5,238
POSITION CHANGE: Minus 4
WHAT HAPPENED: Kenseth had several flat tires at Dover to put him out of contention, then wrecked late and ended up finishing 35th. Kenseth only has one top-10 finish at Talladega, and isn’t that excited about racing there.
SPEAKING: “The first thing that comes to mind when I think about returning to Talladega next weekend is that I hope I don’t hit anything. I don’t want to lie and say that I look forward to going there, but I look forward to going there more than I have in the past because I think we can be competitive and hopefully we can be in the lead draft and stay out of trouble,” Kenseth said.
Kurt Busch
CAR: No. 97 Irwin Industrial Tools/Sharpie Ford
CHASE POINTS: Tenth, 5,192
POSITION CHANGE: None
WHAT HAPPENED: Busch had a terrible day in Dover, falling a lap down when he had to pit under green. Then he ran over debris and cut a tire, and finally got a penalty for speeding on pit road. It all led to a 23rd-place finish. Busch is decent at Talladega, with six top 10s in nine career starts.
SPEAKING: “Kurt’s done pretty well here over the years. We’re bringing the same car and backup that we took to Daytona for the 500 and at this race earlier this year. These guys have done a great job with the race cars all year, and especially last weekend and in (New Hampshire), but we haven’t had the finishes. So we need a good run this weekend,” said crew chief Jimmy Fennig.
