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The ultimate test of NASCAR’s new Car of Tomorrow comes this weekend. Drivers pilot the mandatory racing machine for the first time at Talladega Superspeedway and it will be the first time the car has been used on any speedway longer than a mile.

Nextel Cup teams had a chance for a trial run at Talladega last month and the speeds ranged from 191 to just over 196 miles-an-hour in the Car of Tomorrow.

The combination of a new track surface and the Car of Tomorrow at Bristol left some fans disappointed in August because it just didn’t seem like the racing was as exciting as it had been in the past. The new paving job gave the drivers a little more racing room and the new car is designed to better withstand the bumps and bangs that normally occur in the Bristol contests.

How the new car will mesh with the Talladega paving job on race day is still a question that the test runs last month did not answer. “The (COT) cars line up better and you can get away with a lot more pushing and shoving,” said Jimmie Johnson after his test session runs at the 2.5-mile track.

“The cars have a lot of downforce and they’re real comfortable to drive, so I think that will lead to a little bit more aggressive driving. The potential is there for more rough driving than in the past.”

Just what the average Talladega fan wants to hear. Rough driving keeps the seats filled at Bristol and the fans filling those grandstands in Alabama have become accustomed to the fender-banging-freight-train style of bumper-to-bumper racing at about two-an-a-half times faster than the encounters at the Tennessee track.

Talladega was repaved last year and the new track surface has provided better grip, resulting in better control, for the drivers.

Talladega Tidbits: Jeff Gordon may have tied the late Dale Earnhardt on the NASCAR all-time winner’s list, but I really don’t think he will ever match Earnhardt numbers at Talladega Superspeedway. “The Intimidator” claimed ten wins at the track and his son, Dale Jr., is already displaying five Talladega trophies at his house and he has claimed second-place pay twice.

Dale Jr. won four Talladega races in-a-row between 2001 and 2003. His last win there was in 2004 and he finished ninth in the April race. The ground around Eastaboga shook when the crowds cheered as Junior led laps in both Talladega races last year, but he was only out front for two laps in the Spring race.

He has been able to lead laps in 13 of the 15 Nextel Cup races at Talladega.

Jeff Gordon matched Dale Jr. in the Talladega wins category with the checkered flag he claimed in April. Jeff has five Talladega victories that he has accumulated since 1996.

Mark Martin, Sterling Marlin and Dale Jarrett are the only other active drivers with multiple wins at the Alabama speedway. Martin won in 1995 and 1997. Marlin’s wins were in 1995 and 1996. Dale Jarrett claimed his two wins in 1998 and 2005, before he switched from Ford to Toyota.

The active drivers with single wins at the speedway are Brian Vickers (2006), Jimmie Johnson (2006), Michael Waltrip (2003), Bobby Labonte (1998) and Ken Schrader (1988).

The top-five finishers of the April race at Talladega were Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, David Gilliland and Jamie McMurray.

Gordon collected the bonus points for leading the most laps in the April race. The No. 24 was scored first for 71 of the 192 laps.

The other drivers leading five or more laps of the race were Denny Hamlin (48), Sterling Marlin (16), Jimmie Johnson (12), Tony Stewart (7), Kurt Busch (7) Casey Mears (5) and Kasey Kahne (5).

There were 43 lead changes between 20 different drivers registered during the race.

The race ended under yellow-flag conditions, the last of six caution flag incidents during the event. The race took just under three hours and 19 minutes to complete.

Gordon was also the pole winner for the April race clocking in at 192.069 miles-an-hour during qualifying.

The Busch drivers have this weekend off, while the Craftsman Truck Series will entertain the Alabama spectators with a Saturday afternoon performance at Talladega.

Dale Jr.’s New Car Debut: Ticket holders to the Atlanta Motor Speedway Pep Boys 500 will get a little extra treat if they are Dale Jr. fans. The ticket stubs from the Oct. 28th Nextel Cup race will also be good for admittance to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. debut his new No. 88.

Dale Jr. will use the No. 88 next year when he becomes a member of the Hendrick Motorsports team next year. Rick Hendrick asked for NASCAR’s special permission to allow Earnhardt to participate in the upcoming Car of Tomorrow tests at AMS. Those test sessions will be held on the Monday and Tuesday following the Pep Boys 500.

It will be the first time Earnhardt has made a public appearance driving the green and white Chevrolet for Hendrick.

Georgia Boys: Peachtree City’s Reed Sorenson registered his fourth top-ten finish of 2007 in the Nextel Cup race at Kansas. Sorenson started 14th and finished seventh in the rain and darkness-shortened race. Reed in ranked 23rd in the point standings for the Nextel Cup Series with seven events left on the schedule.

David Ragan was the top-finishing rookie driver in the Kansas Nextel Cup race. The Unadilla driver collected 16th-place pay and holds down the 21st position in the point standings.

David finished 34th in the Busch race at Kansas, but he still holds onto fifth place in the Busch Series points.

Richard Johns was the only other Georgia driver in the Kansas Busch event. Johns claimed a 26th-place finish in his No. 25 Ford. The Gwinnett County driver has run ten of the 30 Busch events this year.

Saturday’s Allan Vigil Ford 120 will air from 12:00 p.m. until 12:30 p.m. on Newstalk 750 WSB Radio and www.wsbradio.com. For more race information visit our Fastcar Newsdesk at www.captainherb.net.