Chasers will have to work way through 'Dega field

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Races at Talladega Superspeedway are not won on Saturday, because the draft rules the racing. It is nice, however, to be somewhere near the front when the race gets going, and that's going to be interesting for the 12 drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Several Chasers had problems on Friday, as both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer were forced to backup cars and Tony Stewart's crew had a major thrash to get his Toyota back together after a multi-car crash triggered by a blown right rear tire (watch video).

The good thing is, Talladega isn't a handling race -- it's a speed race, and a drafting race, and the Chasers are pretty good at it moving through the pack. They'll have to, most of them, since the best Chase qualifier on Saturday will start 12th Sunday.

Carl Edwards was the best of the Chase drivers in qualifying at 186.507 mph. That puts him 12th for the start. Edwards has never won a restrictor-plate race, but he's finished fifth here back in 2005. He also has three top-10s, and his average finish of 24th is ninth of the 12 in the Chase.

Earnhardt Jr., second only to Gordon among active drivers with five victories, ran his backup Chevrolet at 186.428 mph. That was good for 15th, but since he changed an engine during the first practice yesterday, he'll have to go to the back for the start.

Earnhardt Jr. is second to Tony Stewart in average finish at 14.0, and he has seven top-five and 10 top-10s at Talladega -- including a potential victory lost when he tangled with Jimmie Johnson and Brian Vickers on the final lap of this race two years ago.

Jeff Burton, one of the darkhorse favorites for Sunday's race, posted a lap of 186.318 mph, good for 17th. Burton has never won here in 29 starts, but has 10 top-10s and a couple of top-fives. His average finish of 19.1 is eighth among Chasers, but he and the rest of the RCR stable have been fast in practice.

Jimmie Johnson has won here at Talladega, and he's also lost (crashing while running second to Earnhardt Jr. two years ago). His lap of 186.224 mph was good for 20th in the lineup. Johnson has a victory in 2006, a pole, four top-five and five top-10s in 13 starts, but he also has five DNFs. His average finish of 17.5 is dead in the middle of the 12 Chasers. (Continued)