The Chase For The Sprint Cup Heads To Talladega On Sunday

NFL News - October 30th, 2009 - Written by Scott

The Chase for the Sprint Cup is set to take place this Sunday as the Cup drivers head to Talladega Superspeedway for the Amp Energy 500. Talladega will host the last restrictor-plate race of the season. If history is to play a part on Sunday, Kyle Bush, despite not being one of the Chase drivers, should be one of the very few drivers looking forward to the race on the unpredictable track. Bush has won two of the three plate races this year and finished fourth in one.

This race could be huge in the points standings as Jimmie Johnson is in the lead by 118 points over Mark Martin after finishing second last week at Martinsville. A strong finish this week could propel him to the coveted prize.

"Talladega, there's no telling, but I feel good with the other tracks after that as long as we don't have any mechanicals," said Johnson, who is the sentimental favorite to win this year's title.

Martin remained in second in the standings after he finished 8th last weekend where ran near the front for most of the race. In his last race at Talladega, he finished 43rd after being involved in a car pile-up. He is counting on a different result this time around.

“I have a feeling that I’m going to have a great Talladega race,” Martin said. “I don’t know if our competition will or not. But I wrecked on lap five last time there. I’ve got a feeling that just isn’t going to happen this time. The law of averages is going to get you sooner or later and I think I’ve got some good karma going in there. I’m very optimistic."

Jeff Gordon is currently in third in the point standings and is 150 points behind Johnson. Gordon leads all active racers with six wins at Talladega. Tony Stewart is the defending race champion after surviving two major wrecks and 64 lead changes. He is in fourth place in the Chase standings and Juan Pablo Montoya sits in fifth.

A win by Johnson could possibly seal the deal for him. All of the Top 5 are still alive and in contention, but anything can happen at Talladega. Wrecks are known to occur at this track so the key this weekend for the Chase drivers is to avoid these situations. For those of you doing some NASCAR betting, Kyle Bush is the favorite to come out on top according to Bodog sportsbook with his odds set at 7/1. The others drivers are all listed as well with their odds to win the Amp Energy 500.

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