‘Dega Time! Let’s Go “Real” Racin’ Boys!

Now it’s time for some real racing, real close, and real fast. This is the race the veteran fans look forward to each year. Talladega is rich in history for some of the most exciting racing of all the tracks. One small mistake out there and, let’s just say, don’t make any mistakes.

Talladega Superspeedway completed its fourth repaving on Sept. 19, 2006. The new surface should be ready for some better grip and hopefully tires won’t be an issue at this race. Hendrick Motorsports has won 10 races, more than any other organization. Mark Martin has been of fire with pole positions lately so watch for this team to do well this weekend.

Qualifying doesn’t really mean too much for the end result at this track, the furthest back in the field a race winner started was 36th, by Jeff Gordon in 2000. Two of the last three races have been won from the 34th starting position (Jeff Gordon in 2007 and Tony Stewart in 2008).

The pit stalls are big and wide with plenty of room even if they get in a little hot and ’slideways’, there’s still room to get the work done and out of there in a sub-14 second pit stop. The only problem is getting the cars slowed down to the proper pit road speed without getting a speeding ticket. This is one place where the race will be won on the track, not in the pits.

So buckle up tight folks, it’s ‘Dega time! Our own photographer Steve Langley will be there to capture all the race images for the weekend. We’ll have a selection of photos to show you early in the week.