Contender Or Pretender: Talladega
Kurt Busch (Contender) – Talladega is the most unpredictable track on the schedule. In order to deal with unpredictability you should turn to predictability. Kurt Busch has for the most part been very predictable at Talladega. In two-thirds of his career starts at Talladega Kurt Busch has finished in the top ten. His luck hasn’t been the best here lately but at one point in his career he finished in the top 8 for seven consecutive races.
Mark Martin (Pretender) – Mark Martin hates this track. During his part-time retirement stint he dodged this track for that very reason. The reason why he hates it is because Mark Martin and Luck aren’t compatible. In the last twelve Talladega races Martin has competed in his average finish is 27th. Over those twelve races he only finished in the top 10 twice. Martin’s driver rating at Talladega is an impressively low 61.3.
Brad Keselowski (Contender) – His win from last year can easily be dismissed as a fluke. However he did manage to score the most points in the series here last year. One key thing that is important about Brad Keselowski is that he causes the accidents, he’s not in them.
Greg Biffle (Pretender) – Last year he finished in the top ten in both races but the truth to the story about Greg Biffle at Talladega is that those are his only two here in his entire career. In 14 starts at Talladega Biffle also has 5 DNF’s.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Contender) – Even through his struggles last year Earnhardt Jr. still had what it took to be good at Talladega. His Talladega glory days (2001-2004) are long gone but he still has what it takes to get to victory lane at NASCAR’s biggest track. In twenty career starts at Talladega Earnhardt has won a quarter of them. His Talladega average finish is also the second highest in the series right behind Kurt Busch (only counting drivers who have competed in at least 3 races).
David Reutimann (Pretender) – Talladega will not be the place to turn around David Reutimann’s unlucky fortunes this season. I can’t think of any driver who’s been more unlucky than Reutimann in 2010. In six races at Talladega Reutimann has never finished better than 20th. Four of his career finishes are 26th or worse.
