Restrictor Plate Mayhem

By Mark Young

This weekend's race at Talladega has been circled on my schedule for months.  To me this event has the potential to make or break several drivers who are in the Chase for the Cup.  It is my opinion that Kahne and Bush are out of it and Jimmie Johnson is not far behind from having a repeat season for withering at the end after running up front for the regular season.  Everyone is on edge on the eve of a restrictor plate weekend and I have a feeling that the tension has a bit of a pucker factor for everyone involved.

Everyone dreads the "Big One" at these races.  Everyone is waiting for the inevitable crash that takes out a huge chunk of the field leaving drivers, owners, and crew members red-faced and dejected.  To me this weekend has the potential to really jumble up the standings either by spreading them out or lumping everything into a jumbled up mess thus creating the "drama" our television network friends are always talking about.

Undoubtedly the Hendrick cars are king of the plate races of late and they are surely all going to be contenders on Sunday and that may be trouble in more ways than one for the rest of the field.  Jimmie Johnson does not have the best reputation here having triggered three accidents in recent history.  Two of them from poor decisions to block passing cars and another from contact with another driver.  Jeff Gordon has a chance to make up for his engine troubles last week and I feel he will be a contender for the win on Sunday.  Kyle is the wild card of the group.  Will he have team orders to be a drafting partner for Jeff or Jimmie?  Since he is basically all but eliminated from contention to win the Cup but could play a large role Sunday. 

The DEI cars are hungry to regain their past dominance here and Junior needs a strong run to gain positions in the Chase and create momentum for the stretch run to the finish.  Have they found the power that they have lost to other teams?  Will they stay together long enough to see the finish?  Will anyone work with him in the draft?

The Childress cars have gotten a lot of attention both on and off the track of late.  Jeff Burton finally has a win and is up front tin the standings but still isn't getting the respect he deserves and a strong finish on Sunday could help bolster his status with the media.  Harvick is sitting fifth in the standings and is lurking to move his way up and I believe that if he and Burton can hook up in the draft they could both have a good finish.

I don't look for Mark Martin to play a big role Sunday at all.  He hates these races and the mode he is in to keep his car clean and stay out of trouble could be in jeopardy.  Matt Kenseth is going to need some drafting help from someone in the Ford camp in order to stay up front but if there is none I believe he will find a way to finish up front.

The big question is still will there be "The Big One" and who will be in it?  There has been a lot of drivers that are out of the Chase who are running well and could prove to be spoilers this weekend.  Tony Stewart is running well and is surely a favorite to win.  Could he be the drafting help Junior is looking for?  All three of the Evernham cars are running well but have had bad luck and they too could make things difficult for the title contenders.

Get your chores done early on Sunday race fans this race is going to be a good one.  With a newly paved track and tensions running high I am betting there will be plenty of action for us to see, I just hope we aren't at a commercial break when it happens.