Wild scene at Talladega

NASCAR 2008
THIS WEEK
SPRINT CUP
SPRINT CUP
Aaron’s 499
Where: Talladega
Superspeedway at Talladega,
Ala.
When: 2 p.m. Sunday. Track
dimensions: 2.66-mile tri-oval
with 33-degree banking.
Broadcast: Television — Fox
1:30 p.m.; Radio — Motor
Racing Network, Sirius
Satellite Radio 128, 1:30 p.m.
Race format: 188 laps.
Last year’s winner: Jeff
Gordon.
Track schedule: Friday —
practice, 2:30 p.m.; Saturday
— pole qualifying, 11:15 a.m.
(Speed).
Notes: Bill Elliott set the
NASCAR record for speed
with a qualifying lap of
212.809 mph on April 30,
1987. A year later, NASCAR
reduced speeds with smaller
carburetors and restrictor
plates to keep cars from
becoming airborne during an
accident. ... Dale Earnhardt has
10 career wins at Talladega,
and Jeff Gordon has six after
sweeping both races a year
ago. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is
third with five wins. ... Seven
drivers — Lennie Pond, Phil
Parsons, Bobby Hillin Jr., Ron
Bouchard, Richard Brickhouse,
Dick Brooks and Brian Vickers
— posted their first and only
Cup win at Talladega.
Up next: Crown Royal 400
at Richmond International
Raceway on May 3.
SPRINT CUP POINTS
Wild scene at Talladega
Sony Pictures
The fans help give Talladega Superspeedway its reputation as one of the wildest stops in auto racing — wild enough to make the
title of a Will Ferrell movie: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Track brings out craziness in fans and drivers
By DON COBLE
Morris News Service
Jeff Burton has
10 top-10 finishes
in his career
at Talladega
Superspeedway.
Driver
Pts.
1. Jeff Burton
1,215
2. Kyle Busch
1,135
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
1,129
4. Jimmie Johnson
1,116
5. Kevin Harvick
1,112
6. Denny Hamlin
1,078
6. Tony Stewart
1,078
8. Clint Bowyer
1,044
9. Carl Edwards
1,041
10. Greg Biffle
1,039
11. Kasey Kahne
929
12. Ryan Newman
915
12. Jeff Gordon
907
14. Martin Truex Jr.
897
15. Matt Kenseth
869
NATIONWIDE SERIES
Aaron’s 312
Where: Talladega
Superspeedway.
When: 3 p.m. Saturday.
Broadcast: Television — ABC,
2:30 p.m.; Radio — Motor
Racing Network, Sirius
Satellite Radio 128, 2:30 p.m.
Race format: 117 laps.
Last year’s winner: Bobby
Labonte.
Track schedule: Thursday
— practice, 4 p.m.; Friday
— pole qualifying, 5 p.m.
Notes: Kyle Busch takes a
three-race winning streak into
the race. ... Jeff Green ran
193.493 mph in 2002, to set
the qualifying record. Kevin
Harvick averaged 145.710 mph
in 2006 for the fastest race. …
Joe Nemechek has a trackrecord five pole positions.
Up next: The Lipton Tea 250
at Richmond International
Raceway on May 2.
CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS
O’Reilly Auto Parts 250
Where: Kansas Speedway at
Kansas City, Kan.
When: 6 p.m. Saturday. Track
dimensions: 1.5-mile tri-oval
with 15-degree banking.
Broadcast: Television
— Speed, 5:30 p.m.; Radio
— Motor Racing Network,
Sirius Satellite Radio 128,
5:30 p.m.
Race format: 167 laps.
Last year’s winner: Eric
Darnell.
Track schedule: Friday —
practice, 3:30 p.m.; Saturday
— pole qualifying, 1:40 p.m.
Up next: The North Carolina
Education Lottery 200 at
Lowe’s Motor Speedway on
May 16.
TALLADEGA, Ala. — At
night, when many fans at
Talladega Superspeedway
are sleeping or in a drunken
stupor, race drivers can move
freely amid the darkness and
confusion into the infield to
see a world few ever see — or
believe.
When it comes to
debauchery born of tradition
and alcohol, Talladega has an
atmosphere like no other. It’s
Mardi Gras, spring break and
a bachelor party, wrapped in
one.
The racing is just as wild.
Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 will
have one of the biggest infield
crowds of the NASCAR season.
Speedway officials predict
as many as 50,000 will spend
the night at the track, many
arriving as early as Tuesday.
Most come to party.
There will be swimming
pools filled with Jell-O, loud
music, tattoos, mullet haircuts
and old school buses painted
to resemble Dale Earnhardt
Jr.’s race car. One of Jimmie
Johnson’s favorite infield
activities is mud wrestling.
“One of the wildest things I
ever saw there was a gentleman
with a bullhorn standing in a
mud puddle saying there was
going to be wrestling there in
15 minutes,” Johnson said. “I
came back, and sure enough
there was mud wrestling going
on in the mud hole. There
was a crowd of people there
watching. I am sure that is just
the tip of the iceberg that goes
on there. Those people really
have a big time there.”
The pinnacle of debauchery
came several years ago when
a man stole the pace car
minutes before the race. He
made several laps around the
NASCARmedia.com
A win by Jeff Gordon (No. 24, far left) in last year’s Aaron’s 499 shows how interesting the racing
can be at Talladega Superspeedway. Gordon was in last place for most of the race before rallying.
2.66-mile raceway as drivers
watched from pit road. He
eventually was trapped on the
track by police and speedway
trucks.
Drivers usually stay inside
the protected confines of
their motor-home lot on race
weekends. But Johnson said
it’s common to drive around
Talladega at night to absorb the
craziness.
During the race, drivers
generally return the favor.
“The race at Talladega is
always wild and exciting,”
Johnson said. “You know
there’s going to be three- and
four-wide racing. It’s crazy. It’s
the wildest place we race.”
From the start, Talladega
separated itself from the
other tracks on the NASCAR
schedule. Drivers for the
first race walked out in 1969,
because they were concerned
about the speeds and tires.
NASCAR president Bill France
replaced all of them with
ARCA drivers, and that led to a
victory by Richard Brickhouse.
The track is still fast. Bill
Elliott ran 212.809 mph there
in 1987 to set the sport’s speed
record, but a crash by Bobby
Allison a year later led to the
creation of restrictor plates.
His car got airborne and
nearly landed in the main
grandstands at 200 mph.
Restrictor plates choke about
40 mph from the engines to
keep cars on the track.
The element of danger
— and a 20-car crash that’s
generally part of the show
— only adds to Talladega’s
unique charm. In the past 10
races, the average number of
cars involved in an accident is
13.
But unlike other tracks,
drivers also can make dramatic
passes. Dale Earnhardt won
there in 2000 by going from
18th to Victory Lane in the final
10 laps. A year ago, Jeff Gordon
spent most of the race in last
place, only to rally to a victory
in the final 100 miles.
Michael Waltrip has a win
at Talladega, and he still
considers it one of his favorite
tracks.
“You are going to see some
four- and five-wide racing,”
he said. “It is not out of the
question. I think Talladega
is the closest thing to a video
game I have ever driven. That’s
basically what you are doing.
“The race there used to be
all about the car. Now the cars
are so equal that it is about who
can be set on fire and sweat ice
cubes. It’s that intense for 500
miles.”
On and off the track.
GREEN FLAG:
NEWS AND NOTES
NASCAR still king
The Indy Racing League
is taking NASCAR’s lead in
attracting new fans.
The open-wheeled series
promised to mold its business
model around NASCAR when
it broke from CART in 1996.
Now that IRL and CART have
combined, they’ve moved that
program into overdrive.
Graham Rahal, 19, grabbed
headlines earlier this month by
winning at St. Petersburg, Fla.,
as the youngest winner in IRL
history. Danica Patrick took
it to another level last week
in Japan, becoming the first
woman to win on an oval.
Much like NASCAR, the IRL
has learned to push a good
story. The series will be at the
Kansas Speedway on Sunday,
and that race is certain to
cut into the ratings for the
Aaron’s 499 at the Talladega
Superspeedway.
“It’s definitely been
publicized, and people are
finding out about it,” Patrick
said. “We are all working hard
to do everything we can to
capitalize on all of the great
moments that happen with
all of the different drivers in
the league. I guess this week
it’s me.”
Rahal predicted an increase
in IndyCar popularity — at
NASCAR’s expense. He said
sponsors and fans will return
to the open-wheeled series
as they realize NASCAR has
become too expensive and too
predictable.
NASCAR’s history is dotted
with well-timed storylines,
too. The first nationally
televised race ended with a
crash — and fistfight — on
the final lap of the Daytona
500 in 1979. Richard Petty
won his 200th career race
with President Ronald
Reagan watching from the
grandstands. Bill Elliott
won the Winston Million
bonus during his first try at
Darlington in 1985, and Dale
Earnhardt Jr. won at Daytona
International Speedway in
2001, just five months after
his father was killed at the
same track on the final lap of
the Daytona 500.
Officials at the Richmond
International Raceway
reported a significant bump
in ticket sales for the IRL
race June. 28. Next week’s
NASCAR race, however,
already is a sellout.
UPS and Edwards?
Carl Edwards is in the
final year of his contract with
Roush Fenway Racing and
sponsor Office Depot, and
that’s opened the door for UPS
to join the sweepstakes.
The overnight-delivery
company is looking to move
its sponsorship to a new team
next year, and Edwards has
become the company’s leading
candidate. Office Depot also is
interested in returning.
Time to celebrate
All-star drivers not only will
race for more than $1 million
next month at Lowe’s Motor
Speedway, they will compete
to see who has the best
celebration.
A competition to see
who does the best burnout,
doughnut and celebratory
slide into Victory Lane will be
part of the all-star weekend.
The winner will have $10,000
donated to his favorite charity.
DON COBLE/Morris News Service
NEWSMAKER: JIMMIE JOHNSON
Johnson content his Hendrick team is rounding into form
Defending Sprint Cup Series
champion Jimmie Johnson had
an extra week to celebrate his
first win of the season. He used
the time to rest and get ready
for this Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at
Talladega Superspeedway.
In a recent
conference
call, Johnson
talked about
the slow start
at Hendrick
Motorsports
and what’s
ahead for the
Johnson
team as it
prepares for another Chase for
the Championship:
What did you do during the
break last weekend?
We kind of feel like we
should be testing again, to be
honest with you. We are getting
closer. We are winning races,
but we still need to make up a
little ground. I think the whole
team is going to take a little off
time and then we have some
more testing in store for us as
the next couple of weeks come
into play. I am in Charlotte now
enjoying catching up from the
long start to the season.
What kind of businessman
is your teammate, Dale
Earnhardt Jr.?
I really haven’t talked business with him. Watching from
afar, I think he is diversifying
his opportunities. I think that
is smart. I don’t know the intimate details, of the business
deals, and how that is structured. He has a great following, and he is smart in picking
things in different areas to expand business into. Certainly, I
wish him all the best and hope
it all works out.
Are there business
interests that you like?
I really like dirt. Land,
especially in today’s world and
market, I think the smartest
thing [is] if you can buy the dirt
and build buildings and stuff
on top of it. It makes sense to
come in and offer retail space.
To have a bar or restaurant like
Junior is doing, it just seems
like it takes a lot of maintenance and a lot of time to stay
on top of that stuff. I have
taken a lot of advice from Mr.
Hendrick over the years, and
one of his sayings is that “God
quit making dirt a long time
ago.” So that is where I focus.
Is the relationship between
a driver and crew chief as
much about psychology as
mechanics?
There is a relationship. It is
a team sport, and when you
don’t have data, and you don’t
have modern tools to understand what the car is doing, it
boils down to the driver and
the crew chief. When you see
crew chiefs and drivers that
have been together for a long
time, you can see some really
cool things take place.
Did the Phoenix win give
your team a needed boost?
I think our second-place
finish in Texas did as much
for us mentally and emotionally as the victory in Phoenix.
I felt like we were going to be
on par with our short-track
stuff, and Martinsville showed
that. The win certainly was
great medicine for the team.
We have been worried about
our intermediate-track stuff,
and having a successful race
in Texas gave us a shot in the
arm. We are playing a little bit
of catch-up on the mile-anda-half tracks, but I think our
short-track stuff, our roadcourse stuff and speedway
stuff is going to be just where
we need it.
Have the setups changed
dramatically for Talladega
in the past seven years,
especially when you get the
car ready for the final 10
laps?
Yeah, I think so. I think
that the Car of Tomorrow and
the new pavement give more
opportunities to different cars
and drivers in the closing laps.
The track is racier now because
of the whole package. There is
enough room now where it’s
not like Daytona, where you
need to handle as much. So
with the big hole that this car
punches in the air, you can
take advantage of that.