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Richmond produced a wild finish this time last year. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was on a 71 race drought and within just 3 laps of a victory when he slammed into the wall in turn 3 after Kyle Busch slid up the track into his No. 88 as they both battled for the lead on lap 398. Kyle was showered with beer cans over the catch fence as the cars circled the track under caution before the green white checkered.

Now it’s time for some real racing, real close, and real fast. This is the race the veteran fans look forward to each year. Talladega is rich in history for some of the most exciting racing of all the tracks. One small mistake out there and, let’s just say, don’t make any mistakes.

Talladega Superspeedway completed its fourth repaving on Sept. 19, 2006. The new surface should be ready for some better grip and hopefully tires won’t be an issue at this race. Hendrick Motorsports has won 10 races, more than any other organization. Mark Martin has been of fire with pole positions lately so watch for this team to do well this weekend.

Track Tough On Even The Best

Four former champions make up the top four points positions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.

For that to continue into next week, the four champions – Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart – must tame the unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway.

The statistics suggest that’s easier said than done. All four have had their difficulties at Talladega. The track ranks near the bottom of each driver’s statistical success list.

Jeff Gordon

Lowest Avg. Driver Ratings

                            Driver

Jeff Gordon ended a 47-race winless drought with his victory at Texas two weeks ago. Now the statistics suggest it could be Kevin Harvick’s or Mark Martin’s turn to do the same.

Both drivers are solid at Phoenix International Raceway – site of Saturday night’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 – and both carry a hefty winless drought with them into the desert.

(Photo by ICON Sports Media)

Harvick’s last win came in the 2007 Daytona 500 – 78 races ago. Martin has gone 97 starts without a victory (121 races). His last win came at Kansas in 2005.

Joey Logano might want to invest in lessons for the new Gibson, hand painted by artist Sam Bass, Les Paul edition guitar he won at Nashville Superspeedway Saturday. He took the lead for good with nine laps to go in the race to finish ahead of Kyle Busch. The pair of Joe Gibbs racing team members swapped the lead back and forth for a total of 172 of the 225 laps in the race.

Carl Edwards started on the pole but the strong Gibbs team was no match for Number 60 Save-A-Lot Foods Ford.

Jeff Gordon, in a familiar place atop the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, has inserted himself into the always hot-button discussion: Who’s the best driver in the sport today?

Though Gordon’s winless drought reached 47 races after last Sunday’s event at Martinsville, Gordon ranks atop a number of key statistical categories:

As predicted, the weather got the advantage on qualifying and with Gordon leading, the pole position was his. The cars and drivers did however get a chance to practice on track and Denny Hamlin was fastest in the first session with Harvick second and finally Gordon was third fastest in his DuPont Chevrolet.

The weather may be a factor the entire weekend with storms coming up from the gulf coast bringing vast amounts of rain and possibly flooding in the forcast.

Coming into this season, the performance of Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman with “new” team Stewart-Haas Racing was arguably the biggest question mark. Both drivers had spent their entire careers with one organization – Stewart logged 10 years with Joe Gibbs Racing, Newman had seven full seasons with Penske Racing.

After five races, Stewart sits solidly in seventh in the standings, while Newman is just 27th. But comparing both drivers to past individual performances, Stewart has statistically dropped off, while Newman has stayed consistent.

Tony Stewart After Five Races (2005-Present)

                               Avg.

Kyle Busch takes the checkered flag coming out of turn four, winning the Food City 500 in Bristol Tennessee, with a commanding victory. He led 378 of the 503 laps ran due to the green-white-checkered flag.

A late race yellow flag brought out by #20 Joe Gibbs driver Joey Logano n lap 394 for a blown engine didn’t stop the charge by Denny Hamlin to try for a win, but Busch was determined to stay in front and take his second victory of the 2009 season.

NASCAR powerhouse and uber team Hendrick Motorsports has fallen on hard times. Or so it seems in the early part of the season.

If not for Jeff Gordon, Hendrick would be having an embarrassing start to the season. Coming off of his third title in a row, the newly bearded Jimmie Johnson sits thirteenth in points thanks to a ninth place run at Atlanta.

(Photo by Icon Sports Media)

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is mired at 24th in points after an 11th place finish at Atlanta.

Mark Martin sits even further back in 34th after a DNF and 31st place finish at Atlanta.

Last year, Kyle Busch made history in March 2008 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

He became the first driver to win a Sprint Cup race for a foreign manufacturer since 1954.

Let’s run down the numbers at Atlanta and see who’s hot statistically speaking.

One of the best parts of the start of any race season is the incredible fluctuation of the point standings. And this year is no exception. This week I take a look at the top ten (twelve) and see how things have evolved over the first four races.

Matt Kenseth will try his hand at making history this weekend going for win number 3 in a row.

Drew Blickensderfer and the crew have been flawless so far, getting Kenseth out in a hurry and in the right place at the right time.

Kenseth is no stranger to great finishes at Las Vegas either. He won back to back races during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. He finished runner up in 2006.

Matt has the fourth best driver rating here of 107.8 with a high of 135.8 (2nd best). He has 5 top 10’s out of the last 6 races here.

Jeff Gordon dominated the rain interrupted Auto Club 500, but did not win. Jimmie Johnson was leading until rain stopped the race on lap 87.

The race was continued on Monday. Johnson was leading the race until Carl Edwards took it away with 13 laps to go.

The race ended under caution as Dale Jarrett spins out. These same drivers mentioned are strong front-runners at California.

Read on as I run down California by the numbers showing who has a better handle on the track than others.

Track Facts:

Size – 2 miles

Race Length – 250 laps / 500 miles

Banking / Corners – 14 degrees

Banking / Frontstretch – 11 degrees

Banking / Backstretch – 3 degrees

The Stock Car Gazette for Thursday, 2/19/2009 was unfortunately too large to be posted here on our website.