A “wise” man once said, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” And while West River, N.C.’s Richard “Ricky” Bobby was speaking eloquently about racing in general, he could very well be describing the always exciting and breathtaking NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
Talladega plays host this weekend to the Aaron’s 499 Sprint Cup race and, at 2.66 miles in length, Talladega is the largest track visited by NASCAR, surpassing Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and the two road courses at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. So, it’s like Mr. Bobby’s ego – larger than any on the circuit.
When people think about Talladega, they think of speed and tightly grouped packs of cars. The lead tends to get swapped a lot and, for 188 laps, the 43-car field continually walks a fine line when it comes to being either under or out of control. Additionally, there’s always the chance that a driver for one of the smaller teams will break through for a win to become the season’s Cinderella story.
It was this race three years ago where Phoenix Racing became Cinderella. In April 2009, Brad Keselowski wheeled the James Finch-owned Chevrolet to victory lane at Talladega after starting ninth. Keselowski led only one lap in the race, but it was the most important lap – the last one. With that win in the team’s back pocket, Phoenix Racing and its new-for-2012 driver Kurt Busch head into Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 with an elevated level of confidence.
Or, as Bobby would say, “They are winners! That is how winners talk!”
While none of Busch’s 24 career Sprint Cup wins have come at Talladega, the 2004 Sprint Cup champion has come close to notching a victory at the ultra-fast superspeedway tri-oval. Aside from finishing third four times at Talladega, Busch has scored six top-fives and 13 top-10s. He’s led at least one lap in 18 of his 22 career Sprint Cup starts at the track and has failed to finish only four times, with each DNF (Did Not Finish) the result of a late-race accident. And, in the last 14 races at Talladega, Busch has spent the most laps in the top-15 (1,621) and is second in the number of green-flag passes made (4,792).
Busch and his Phoenix Racing team head to Alabama looking for a game-changing win. And they know that despite the close racing, there can be only one winner. For, as Bobby memorably told his friend Cal Naughton Jr., “You can’t have two number ones,” to which Naughton replied, “Yeah, because that would be 11.” And they don’t give trophies for 11th.
TSC
