News for April 24th 2010
NASCAR doubleheader at Talladega
NASCAR canceled all Saturday track activity at Talladega Superspeedway because of threats of extended periods of severe weather.
Track officials said the decision was made on advice from the Talladega County Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service, which said Talladega County was one of the areas in Alabama facing a high risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes on Saturday.
“Fans are strongly encouraged to take necessary precautions to ensure their safety, especially those guests camping on speedway property,” track officials said.
The Nationwide Series race scheduled for Saturday will now be held Sunday following the Sprint Cup Series race. It’s the second consecutive weekend that NASCAR will attempt a doubleheader.
Rain last weekend in Texas washed out both Cup and Nationwide events, and they were run back-to-back on Monday. Drivers who competed in both series totaled 801 miles of racing.
There are 10 drivers scheduled to run both of Sunday’s races, which are scheduled to total 811.30 miles barring any additional “overtime” laps.
Qualifying for Talladega’s Cup race was canceled, and the field for Sunday’s race will be set by owner points. Four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson will lead Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle to the green flag.
With the new schedule set, officials turned their attention to safety.
Fans camping on the sprawling speedway grounds were encouraged to dismantle their tents and seek more stable shelter. Most drivers and crew chiefs are also on property in their private motorhomes located just aside the garage. Security was going motorhome-to-motorhome to advise competitors of areas inside the track where they could seek shelter.
At least one driver, Denny Hamlin, left the property. Hamlin posted on his Twitter page he was headed back to Charlotte, N.C., to catch Game 3 in the NBA playoff series between the Bobcats and Orlando Magic.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., still on the clock as he and Jamie McMurray helped Daytona International Speedway announce a repaving project set to begin in July, said he didn’t know what he’d do during the storms — particularly if there’s a tornado.
“I was gonna ask for advice about the best plan,” Earnhardt said. “I ain’t got my plan together yet. I’ll look up in the sky a lot, I reckon.”
All tickets for either race will be honored Sunday, with seat priority given to those with tickets to the Cup race. Fans with tickets to the Nationwide event will be directed to the nearest open seat.
The Sprint Cup race will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern, as scheduled, and the Nationwide Series race will follow.
Edited: April 24th, 2010
The Race today is “Off” and Talledaga
NASCAR has canceled all track activity at Talladega Superspeedway because of threats of severe weather. The Nationwide Series race scheduled for Saturday will now be held Sunday following the Sprint Cup Series race. It’s the second consecutive weekend that NASCAR will attempt a doubleheader.
Rain last weekend in Texas washed out both Cup and Nationwide events, and they were run back-to-back on Monday. It totaled 801 miles of racing for the drivers who compete in both series.
Qualifying for Talladega’s Cup race was canceled, and the field for Sunday’s race will be set by owner points.
Edited: April 24th, 2010
Earnhardt Plans Strong finish at Talladega
There was once a time when every move Dale Earnhardt Jr. made in a restrictor-plate race was the right one. He could slice his way through the field, drive to the front whenever he wanted, and was always the guy to beat at Daytona and Talladega.
That four-year stretch netted Earnhardt seven victories at NASCAR’s two fastest tracks, and gave him a confidence and air of invincibility.
It’s been over five years, though, since Earnhardt last won a plate race. And though he’s still considered a contender every time he climbs into his car, he’s rarely called the favorite anymore.
Then came the season-opening Daytona 500, when for at least two laps, the old Earnhardt was back. He steamrolled his way from 10th to second with a series of jaw-dropping moves, falling just short of running down winner Jamie McMurray.
“At the end of that race, I just made enough of the right decisions,” Earnhardt said Friday. “If I’d made a couple more — maybe I made a few wrong decisions that cost me the win — and maybe if I had done things just a little differently, we’d be holding the trophy at the end of that race.”
Earnhardt understands why his Daytona drive received so much attention because just like his ardent fan base, he too saw a flash of how things used to be for NASCAR’s most popular driver.
“I did,” he nodded, “I did.”
So he’s not surprised at the growing anticipation from a victory-starved Junior Nation that is desperately hoping Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway is going to be another display of, to borrow from Earnhardt’s personal vocabulary, “awesomeness.”
Earnhardt, fresh off an eighth-place finish in Monday’s rain-rescheduled race at Texas, is tempering the expectations. Performance is as much about skill as it is the quality of race car, and Earnhardt said the current rules package leaves him at the mercy of his No. 88 Chevrolet.
“It’s no disrespect to the cars that I’ve drove in the past, but even people close to me have said I need to be more aggressive,” Earnhardt said of the mantra born out of the Daytona 500 finish.
“You can’t be aggressive when you’re going backward. You can’t be aggressive when you’re trying to sitting there trying to hang on. When the car’s good, I can do that, and I’m willing to do that. I get fired up and see opportunities and see the win standing there in front of me, and I can get aggressive. Every driver is that way when they smell that opportunity.”
But when the car is only mediocre?
“Beating on everybody ain’t going to do nothing but make you a bunch of enemies. So you’ve just go to ride it out,” he said. “When you’re playing offense all day long? It’s easy to look cool and drive on the edge and get everybody up on their feet. But when you’re just hanging on and trying not to wreck and stay out of everybody’s way, it’s difficult to be aggressive and wild and flashy or whatever.”
Of course, he’d prefer to run 500 miles at full speed with his eye only on the checkered flag. He can’t do that, though, during what’s considered to be one of the most critical season’s of his career.
Earnhardt must rebound from last year’s embarrassing campaign, when he finished 25th in the final standings at the same time his Hendrick Motorsports teammates swept the top three spots. He was winless, had just five top-10s and went into the offseason as the top priority for team owner Rick Hendrick.
Now eight races into this year, he’s already grabbed three top-10 finishes and is seventh in the standings.
Still, his winless streak has stretched to 65 races, dating back to Michigan in June 2008. He badly needs a win, but isn’t circling Sunday at Talladega, where he’s a five-time Cup winner, as a must-win race.
“I am anxious to win wherever we can win,” he said. “I don’t really put more emphasis over Daytona or Talladega or any other track. Wherever we can pick up a win, it will be just as celebrated and appreciated as any other race.”
But winning isn’t going to be the primary goal this Sunday or any other race. The big picture right now is making the Chase, and Earnhardt is focused on what he’s got to do to be one of the 12 drivers eligible to race for the Sprint Cup title at the end of the season.
“I’ve just really been trying to race every lap and every track with the mindset of trying to gain as many points each week as we can to add to the total and give ourselves that chance to finish in the Chase,” he said. “The race itself is going to be a real hard one to win, but I feel like we can be up there in the mix and if we don’t win, we can at least get a finish that helps us in the points.”
Edited: April 24th, 2010
Talladega Hopes To Run Saturday
Although the National Weather Service has predicted the strong possibility of severe storms across central Alabama Saturday, Talladega Superspeedway officials said Friday they hope to run Saturday’s track schedule as planned.
Track and NASCAR officials considered the possibility of announcing a postponement of Saturday’s activities Friday because of the severe weather forecast. Officials held one morning and two afternoon meetings with National Weather Service representatives to discuss the situation.
Saturday’s forecast includes an 80 percent chance of precipitation along with strong storms and wind. There is the potential, according to the NWS, of “a major tornado outbreak across Central Alabama.”
Saturday’s track schedule includes qualifying for Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 Sprint Cup race and the Aaron’s 312 Nationwide Series race. A crowd of more than 40,000 is expected at the track for Saturday’s race, but many more are camping in the speedway vicinity with plans to attend Sunday’s Sprint Cup race. More than 100,000 people could be impacted by potential weather problems.
“We’ll be closely monitoring everything tomorrow,” said Grant Lynch, Talladega Superspeedway chairman. “We’ll be on high alert watching the weather as it moves up from the south. It’s going to be a hit-and-miss situation.” (more…)
Edited: April 24th, 2010
Rain, Rain go away from Talladega and Alabama bed and breakfast
Talladega Superspeedway officials were wrestling Friday morning with a troublesome Saturday weather forecast that calls for strong storms, high winds and possible tornadoes in the speedway area.
Track officials were meeting with National Weather Service personnel Friday morning to analyze the forecast. The weather service has issued a “special weather statement” for central Alabama, predicting severe thunderstorms Saturday and Saturday night in central Alabama. There is an 80 percent possibility of precipitation Saturday.
The likelihood of extreme weather is of particular note in the speedway vicinity because thousands of fans are gathering in the area’s campgrounds for the NASCAR weekend. Many plan to camp out in tents and similar structures which obviously could be impacted by strong storm conditions. (more…)
Edited: April 24th, 2010