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 The most recent race in October was decided by a fraction of a
bumper, Joey Logano edging Dale Earnhardt Jr. as a race-ending
caution fell along with a hail of beer cans on the winner's car. The
most recent upset came in the spring of 2013, when David Ragan
scored the one and only victory for Front Row Motorsports and team
owner Bob Jenkins, an upset hailed in the usual manner.
The track's hallmark has been eight first-time winners, including
two rookies. This year the chances of another rookie win -- the
first since Ron Bouchard won a three-way battle at the checkered
flag in 1981 -- are up for three reasons.
Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, the leading contenders for this
year's rookie title, are the two most talented newcomers to come
along in one year since Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. vied for
the title in 2000.
 There's another twist to the rookie angle. Rookie Ty Dillon will
relieve Tony Stewart in the Stewart-Haas Chevy during Sunday's GEICO
500 race to help the three-time champion avoid a high-speed crash
and potential problems for his recently injured back. As the
starting driver Stewart will get the points he needs to be eligible
for the Chase and would get credit for a victory, but a win by
Dillon would certainly add to the lore at the Alabama track.
The first rookie to win was Richard Brickhouse, who like all the
other drivers was competing at Talladega for the first time when it
opened in 1969. Under current rules, Brickhouse, who had started
seven races in 1968, would have been considered a rookie and in fact
was running his first full season. Bouchard won in his second start
at the Alabama track and his 11th career start in NASCAR's premier
series.
Blaney was impressive a year ago in the Wood Brothers Ford. He
started in third place, ran in the lead draft and finished fourth.
Elliott will be starting for the first time at Talladega in a Sprint
Cup car. He led laps in both of his Xfinity Series races, but
finished 37th each time as a result of damage in crashes. Dillon
will be making his first appearance in a Sprint Cup car, if not
start, at Talladega.
"We want to win," said Dillon, who opined that it may take a while
to get Stewart to pit for a relief driver if his race goes well.
Stewart "will get out of the car at some point and I'll get in,"
continued Dillon. "You can make up a lot of ground quickly at
Talladega, so I'm not worried about being behind. Of course, I want
to get as much experience as I can and learn as much as I can but,
at the end of the day, we'll be trying to win the race just like
everyone else."
The only occasion when a relief driver won was in 1977, when Darrell
Waltrip took the checkered flag in the Hoss Ellington-owned Chevy of
Donnie Allison. The DiGard Chevy of Waltrip had blown an engine just
past halfway and Allison became too sick to continue. Waltrip had
scored his first victory at Talladega earlier that spring. Other
notable substitutions came in 1980 for Richard Petty, who had
suffered a broken neck at Pocono and was replaced by Joe Millikan.
In 1992, Davey Allison gave way to Bobby Hillin, Jr. after suffering
an arm broken in two places and a broken collarbone at Pocono.
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Brad Keselowski (2009) and Brian Vickers (2006) are included among
current drivers who scored their first career victory at Talladega,
which involved wrecked cars on both counts. Vickers accidentally hit
Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson in Turn 3 to get the
lead and Keselowski had the inside position at the finish line when
Carl Edwards tried to block him and ended up in the catch fence
above the wall.
Other first-time winners comprise an odd list of drivers who never
won another Sprint Cup race, proving that Talladega is a great
equalizer. That list includes Dick Brooks, Lennie Pond, Bobby
Hillin, Jr. and Phil Parsons as well as Brickhouse and Bouchard.
In addition to surprise finishes, Talladega is well known for a
surprise start of sorts. It was the scene of the one-and-only
driver's strike in 1969, when drivers in the series then known as
the Grand National protested the track's safety. Most of the
regulars pulled out, except for driver Bobby Isaac and car owner
Nord Krauskopf. The race was run mostly with Late Model drivers
recruited at the last minute.
During the preliminary, um, discussions prior to the race, "Big
Bill" France told the Grand National drivers that they were welcome
to leave if they were too scared to race during a meeting in the
garage. LeeRoy Yarbrough took exception and walked up and hit the
NASCAR founder in the jaw, knocking him down and striking a blow in
favor of the boycott.
It is indicative of how times have changed that the most recent
dust-up over safety rules regarding lug nuts ended with NASCAR
electing to focus on driver safety by deciding to enforce the use of
five lug nuts. The dispute began with Stewart protesting the lack of
enforcement on the grounds of safety and was fined by NASCAR
Chairman and CEO Brian France. It more or less ended when the
Drivers Council elected to donate $35,000 to an Autism charity
organization instead of using the money to help pay Stewart's fine.
Given that Talladega is in fact a very dangerous race track due to
high speeds and the close draft, the timing could not have been
better for NASCAR to respond positively to a driver protest.
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