Tag Archives: Talladega

Final Rankings: Talladega I, 2013

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Here are my final driver rankings for today’s race at Talladega. I had to abandon my usual process because qualifying was rained out and the practice data isn’t comprehensive or consistent. So, I took my early rankings and tweaked them according to some impressions I gleaned from practice and the opinions of several other NASCAR handicappers. The results:

  1. Matt Kenseth
  2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  3. Clint Bowyer
  4. Brad Keselowski
  5. Ryan Newman
  6. Kyle Busch
  7. Kasey Kahne
  8. Jeff Gordon
  9. Greg Biffle
  10. Tony Stewart Continue reading →

Early Rankings: Talladega I, 2013

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Here are my early driver rankings for this week’s race at Talladega. I compiled them by crunching the loop and qualifying data for the past two races at Daytona and the past two races at Talladega, which reflects speed, the ability to pass and the ability (and inclination) to run a lot of laps up front:

  1. Matt Kenseth
  2. Ryan Newman
  3. Kasey Kahne
  4. Jeff Gordon
  5. Kyle Busch
  6. Greg Biffle
  7. Tony Stewart
  8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  9. Jimmie Johnson
  10. Joey Logano Continue reading →

Final Rankings: Talladega II, 2012

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Here are my final driver rankings for today’s race at Talladega. I compiled them by crunching the qualifying data from Talladega on Saturday, and then melding it with the historical data (the practice data ain’t worth diddly, so I ignored it):

  1. Matt Kenseth
  2. Greg Biffle
  3. Kasey Kahne
  4. Jeff Gordon
  5. Ryan Newman
  6. Carl Edwards
  7. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  8. Clint Bowyer
  9. Tony Stewart
  10. Marcos Ambrose Continue reading →

Early Rankings: Talladega II, 2012

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Here are my early driver rankings for this week’s race at Talladega. I compiled them by crunching the loop and qualifying data for the 2011 and 2012 races at Daytona and Talladega, which reflects speed, the ability to pass and the ability (and inclination) to run a lot of laps up front:

  1. Matt Kenseth
  2. Greg Biffle
  3. Kasey Kahne
  4. Jeff Gordon
  5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
  6. Carl Edwards
  7. Marcos Ambrose
  8. Jeff Burton
  9. Ryan Newman
  10. Tony Stewart Continue reading →

Final Rankings: Talladega I, 2012

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Here are my final driver rankings for today’s race at Talladega. I compiled them by crunching the qualifying data from Talladega on Saturday, and then melding it with the historical data (the practice data ain’t worth diddly, so I discarded it):

  1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  2. Jeff Gordon
  3. Clint Bowyer
  4. Jimmie Johnson
  5. Matt Kenseth
  6. Greg Biffle
  7. Paul Menard
  8. Carl Edwards
  9. Jeff Burton
  10. Tony Stewart Continue reading →

Early Rankings: Talladega I, 2012

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Here are my early driver rankings for this week’s race at Talladega. I compiled them by crunching the loop and qualifying data for the 2011 and 2012 races at Daytona and Talladega, which reflects speed, the ability to pass and the ability (and inclination) to run a lot of laps up front:

  1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  2. Clint Bowyer
  3. Jeff Gordon
  4. Jimmie Johnson
  5. Matt Kenseth
  6. Paul Menard
  7. Greg Biffle
  8. Jeff Burton
  9. Carl Edwards
  10. Tony Stewart Continue reading →

Mid-Week Rankings: Talladega I, 2011

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Here are my mid-week driver rankings for this week’s NASCAR race at Talladega . I compiled them by crunching the loop, practice and qualifying data for the fall 2010 race at Talladega and the February 2011 race at Daytona:

  1. Clint Bowyer
  2. Juan Pablo Montoya
  3. Mark Martin
  4. Kevin Harvick
  5. Jimmie Johnson
  6. Paul Menard
  7. Jeff Gordon
  8. Kurt Busch
  9. Joey Logano
  10. David Reutimann Continue reading →

Race Preview Update: Talladega II

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Dale Jr. and crew chief Lance McGrew talk turkey during practice Friday. (Photo John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Practice and qualifying are in the books at Talladega, but unfortunately we still don’t have a great idea of how Sunday’s race will unfold because the prelim data’s value is extremely limited. If you look at the practice speed charts, the cars at the top are the cars that just happened to run fast while practicing running in the draft. Those numbers come from a relatively small number of laps and don’t provide much of a window into what will transpire during the 500 mile nail-biter. Qualifying helps give an idea which cars have the most total speed, but that’s probably the last time the cars will run solo this weekend. Plus, a number of drivers didn’t even get on the track in Happy Hour, and that throws the numbers way off.

That’s not to say the data is totally worthless, however. And if you add in the 10-lap averages, impressions gleaned from watching the prelim telecasts (including driver and crew-chief interviews), and the historical data, at least a fuzzy handicapping picture emerges.

That’s what I did, and I came up with this top 17: Continue reading →

Race Preview: Talladega II

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This late race bash-up took out nine cars at Talladega this spring. (Photo John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

The series returns this week to the king-size track in Talladega, Ala., the track that provides the most unpredictability on the circuit (Daytona is a close second). NASCAR forces the teams to run a restrictor plate on the carburetor on this 2.66 mile, high-banked track because without it, drivers would reach speeds well over 200 mph, posing an unacceptable risk to everyone near the track.

The problem with capping horsepower, of course, is that it tends to bunch the cars up in packs, and packs increase unpredictability in two ways. First, they produce an intense form of drafting tactics in which the cars form lines two- and three-wide. To get up front, drivers must draft in line and shuffle between the lines to move forward. This means drivers with average skills and equipment have a greater chance running well than they do at non plate tracks. Continue reading →

Race Recap: Talladega

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The boys put on a good show at Talladega, with a record number of lead changes and plenty of action throughout most of the race. Predictably, the end came down to multiple multiple-car pileups and three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish.

My picks all had interesting days:

1. Kasey Kahne: The poor guy received a huge amount of bad luck. First, he had a bad sparkplug and fell through the field. He got it fixed, and later led the race for awhile. Then he had trouble getting on pit road and went a lap down. Got his lap back, only to get dinged in someone else’s accident. Got back on the lead lap again, only to get bashed in one of the big late crashes. Finished 21st. Continue reading →