Have a FaceBook, Twitter, or other social networking account?

Link them to your fanatic account!

Add An Account

TAKE ME TO...
NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
JENSEN: Aaron’s 499 Blog
Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Budweiser Shootout All-Star race at Daytona in February, but he’s still looking for his first points race victory with Hendrick Motorsports.
Tom Jensen  |  Posted April 26, 2008   Talladega, Ala.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a heavy favorite at Talladega. (John Harrelson/Getty Images Photo)

SPEEDtv.com's Tom Jensen blogs the latest news heading into the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Check back for updates and don't forget to leave your comments below!

Blog Post: Sunday, April 13, 2008 2:04 AM

MASTERS OF AVOIDING DISASTERS Want to win at Talladega Superspeedway? The most important factor is staying out of trouble and avoiding “The Big One,” the huge multi-car pileups that restrictor-plate racing tends to breed. Of course, that’s easier said than done. “You have to be smart,” said Jeff Gordon, winner of two consecutive races at the 2.66-mile track. “You can’t just put yourself in a bad position. You gotta understand your surroundings. You see yourself getting in a bad position and there’s a way to get out of it, then you get out of it.”

“Stay out of trouble – that’s what it’s all about,” said Kasey Kahne, driver of the Gillett Evernham Motorsports No. 9 Dodge Charger. “It’s all about the last couple of laps – getting in the right line with the right drivers behind you. You just never know who they’re going to be. I’ve tried to go with Junior (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) a couple times and it hasn’t worked. I’ve went with Junior and it has worked. I‘ve went with other guys - you just never really know, but you try to make the right guess and hope that it works out.”

WORTH A LAUGH Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman might have the best sense of humor in the Sprint Cup garage, although it is decidedly dry. Along with Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Bobby Labonte and Martin Truex Jr., Newman is one of a group of marquee free agents who are in the final year of their respective contracts and should command big dollars next season. You’d never know it from talking to Newman, though.
“I’m sitting happy in my seat right now, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t be happy some place else,” said Newman, who drives for Penske Racing. “ … I haven’t even gotten a phone call. Being at the top of the free agent list hasn’t gotten me anywhere yet.”

Asked who is agent is, the Purdue University engineering graduate smiled. “I’m my agent,” he said. “I went to college for four years. It’s got to pay for something.”

AN INTERESTED OBSERVER Kevin Harvick, who is one of Tony Stewart’s closest friends in the Sprint Cup garage, is taking a decidedly neutral stance as Stewart pursues his next NASCAR contract, which could include team ownership for Stewart. “I am not going to get in the middle of all of that. I don’t really know one way or the other,” said Harvick, who drives for Richard Childress Racing. “I am here to be Tony’s friend. Whether he would drive at Joe Gibbs Racing or at RCR in the fourth car or own his own team doesn’t really matter to me. Tony is one of my best friends and I want to be a sounding board if he is going to do something and don’t want to be politicking to get him to do one thing or another. I want to be his friend and help him through the process. It is no different than any of the rest of us. I want him to make the right decision for himself.”

POINTING TOWARDS THE FRONT While the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be just 25 percent completed after Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, point totals already are of critical importance to teams and drivers.

“We’re paying attention to points and anybody that says we’re not is lying,” said Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and the current NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader. “Anybody that says they weren’t paying attention to points when we went to Daytona is lying.”

That said, there isn’t much teams can do differently at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend to protect their point positions, Burton said. “The harsh reality of it is, there’s not a whole lot we can do about it other than race the race we know how to race,” he said. “I don’t go into this race thinking, ‘Oh my God I’m the point leader I gotta not get in a wreck,’ any more than if I was 25th in points. What I think about is what do we need to do so we’re in the right position at the end of the race to get the best possible finish we can get. If we do that, then the points will take care of themselves. … I’m not thinking about points in the sense of a panic mode or a worrying mode. I’m thinking about points because it’s what we do.”

JUNIOR WANTS VICTORY Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Budweiser Shootout All-Star race at Daytona in February, but he’s still looking for his first Sprint Cup points race victory since May 2005 and his first with Hendrick Motorsports. “We’re looking forward to getting that (first) win (with HMS). You think about it. You dream about it. You want that feeling,” said Earnhardt, one of the favorites to win Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. “You want to be able to celebrate like that. And so we’re working really hard. We’ve got a great opportunity this weekend to win here at Talladega. We’ve had a lot of success here. We’re going to have a lot of strong competition, I’m sure. But we’ve got a good shot. We’ve got a good race car and great crew chief. I feel like I can do a good job here. We’ve got a great opportunity, no doubt. We always come into this race as a favorite and I’d like to keep it that way for a long time.”

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to



SPEED will televise the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXIV and the NASCAR Sprint Showdown live on May 17, as well as provide more than 90 hours of support programming prior to the event. Stay tuned to SPEEDtv.com for frequent updates on the history of the event and all the details about this year’s action.
Watch and Win!
tom_jensen's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2012

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.