I love this time of year, the morning air is cool, college football on Saturdays and drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship are already discussing Talladega . . . even though it’s 30 days away.
Despite his success here, Mark Martin has never made it a secret that he is not fond of TSS. In 1997, Mark won the fastest 500-mile stock car race ever ran, with an average speed of more than 187 mph, quite an accomplishment to say the least. Yet recently when Mark won at New Hampshire, he mentioned Talladega as the Lottery in the Chase. I guess he considers the AMP Energy 500 a gamble and we’ve already been called the Wild Card. So I don’t totally disagree with Mark, you’ve got to play your cards right at Talladega a little more than at other tracks.
Ever since our second date on the schedule was moved to October in 1997, Talladega has played an integral part in the championship. But this year, being race No. 7 in the Chase, I’m not sure if integral is a strong enough word to describe the AMP Energy 500.
We’ve got some new advertising coming out that I think best describes Talladega – Dream Maker . . . Heart Breaker. What else can you say about a track where so many drivers have scored their first and only victories or had victory snatched from them because of someone else’s mistake or just bad luck?
Dale Earnhardt coined the phrase, “That’s Just Racin” to described just about anything that happed on the track. Come Nov. 1, I’m sure a lot of answers to questions will be, “That’s Just ‘Dega.” And those words might even be uttered in Victory Lane.
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