Pressure on some big name drivers at Talladega

Talladega, where the 'big one' can ruin your day

Since NASCAR announced its revamped Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup nine months ago, the one race that fans marked on their calendar with the highest of anticipation was Talladega Superspeedway's GEICO 500. Well, the wait is over – it's race week at NASCAR's Most Competitive and unpredictable track, and the emotional drama that awaits is an open-ended script that no one knows the ending.

With the GEICO 500, set for Sunday at 1 pm CT, being the final race of the Contender Round of the Chase in which four of the 12 drivers will be eliminated for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) title, there's plenty of storylines. The top headline, however, is that four of the favorites for the title are at the bottom of the standings, and possibly the only way for any of the quartet to move on to the next round will be by a victory in the GEICO 500 – which is an automatic berth into the Eliminator Round of eight.

To say there is a tremendous sense of urgency and pressure in the Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski camps, along with that of Matt Kenseth, is an understatement. Between the foursome, they have 10 triumphs at Talladega, and will need one more trophy on the mantle to guarantee their chance for a Sprint Cup Championship. What makes it even more interesting is that these drivers are not the only ones who are in danger of not making it. In fact, only two drivers are safe – Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick, who both have wins in the Contender Round. That leaves 10 desperate drivers needing a solid finish – some of whom are in more trouble than others and will demand nothing short of a triumph. One of those is Earnhardt, Jr.

"Go out there and win it," says Earnhardt, Jr., on the GEICO 500, who, along with Johnson, trails eighth-place Kasey Kahne by 26 points. "We have won there a lot of times. I know what we need to do. We will just have to build a fast car and hope that we don't have any gremlins and try to go out there and win it," added the five-time Talladega winner.

Johnson meanwhile, is in the same exact position as his teammate. A record-tying seventh NSCS title could be out of reach unless he and his team can figure out the right TSS strategy.

"You just can't predict what's going to happen at Talladega," admits Johnson, a two-time Talladega Superspeedway (TSS) winner. "It's risk versus reward. If you don't have much to lose, you can try to race all day long and try to stay at the head of the pack and out of trouble. I always knew Talladega was out there. It has always been lurking. It's just hiding out there waiting for us."

Keselowski, who had on-track run-ins with Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart, as well as scuffle with Kenseth afterwards in the garage area, this past weekend at Charlotte, is 19 points out of the automatic transfer spot. Kenseth is on the borderline, too, trailing Kahne by a single point. Keselowski says "it's going to be a sight to be seen and a spectacle."

Perhaps Harvick says it best. After his Charlotte win Saturday night, he joked about watching the race differently from his normal view behind the wheel. "I'd park it (his race car) because it'll be one heck of a race to watch. That's what I'd do. I'm parking it and watching it. It's going to be fun to watch. It's going to be crazy, offensive racing."