Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won five times at Talladega and three times he captured the AMP Energy 500. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

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It’s been more than two years — 23 races — since a Chase race has been won by a driver not part of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

The drought, extending to Greg Biffle’s (No. 16 3M/Filtrete Ford) Sept. 30, 2007 victory at Kansas Speedway, could end this week especially if past Talladega performances are considered.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP Energy “Get on the 88”/National Guard Chevrolet) is one obvious candidate. So is Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&Ms Toyota), Michael Waltrip (No. 55 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota) and 2009 Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DeWalt Ford).

Earnhardt is a five-time Talladega winner three times capturing the AMP Energy 500. Busch won last spring’s Aaron’s 499 and finished fourth at Martinsville — his first top-five finish since Sept. 20.

Then there’s this spring’s surprise winner Brad Keselowski, who’ll drive the same No. 09 Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet. Two non-Chase drivers have won the Amp Energy 500: Brian Vickers (No. 83 Red Bull Toyota) in 2006 and Dale Jarrett in 2005.
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Trivia: What is the biggest point deficit made up over the final four races of a Cup season?
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Juicy quotes

Mark Martin: “Talladega is the lotto. I used to think that if you took a fast car down there, you would be speedy enough to be ahead of the trouble, but that’s not the case anymore.”

Carl Edwards: “A year ago, I didn’t want to go there at all because I knew the potential for losing points. But right now, I know the potential for Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin and those guys to lose points. So greedily, I’m kind of hoping to go there and have things get mixed up and gain some points.”

Juan Pablo Montoya: “For a fan, it doesn’t get much better than that. I’ll tell you the truth I get a kick out of it. I always get a kick out of it.”
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Parting ways

This week’s race will be the last for a Kyle Busch-Steve Addington driver-crew chief combination. Dave Rogers, current crew chief of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 NASCAR Nationwide Series team which captured the series owner title in 2008, takes over at Texas Motor Speedway. Addington, who headed the team over five seasons (and backed Busch to 12 victories) will be assigned to another job in the JGR organization. “We hope … they can use the final three weeks of this season to begin working on communication and setups for the 2010 season,” said JGR President J.D. Gibbs.
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Milestones

Today’s race is the 100th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race to be held in the state of Alabama. All but 20 of those races have been held at Talladega Superspeedway. Six other Alabama tracks held events from 1951 through 1968; the most recent at Montgomery Speedway, a .5-mile track. That race, was won by the NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Bobby Allison. Allison, from Hueytown, won four times at Talladega.

Kurt Busch will make his 325th start. Martin Truex (No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet) will make his 125th.
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Trivia answer:

In 1992, Alan Kulwicki made up 144 points on Bill Elliott to win the championship.
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Up Next: Texas Motor Speedway

The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup heads to Texas Motor Speedway for next Sunday’s Dickie’s 500 (ABC, 2:30 p.m.)

Carl Edwards won both spring and fall races at the track in 2009. Edwards has won three times at the 1.5-mile track, most by any driver.

There have been 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at the Fort Worth facility since 1997. TMS has hosted spring and fall races since 2005.

Jimmie Johnson is the only driver to win a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. Johnson won the Dickies 500 in 2007.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Jim Pedleyis a veteran, award-winning sports journalist who has worked at, among other places, the Boston Globe, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Kansas City Star. Pedley spent more than 10 years covering auto racing for the Kansas City Star. Pedley can be reached at jpedley@racintoday.com

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