Chasers dreading the dangers of big Talladega

Benjamin Franklin said nothing is certain in life except death and taxes.

That may be true, but in the Sprint Cup garage, there also is a certain sense of dread whenever the transporters roll into Talladega Superspeedway. The 2.66-mile track is NASCAR's biggest oval, and it would be the fastest if not for the horsepower-choking restrictor plates mandated to keep speeds around 190 mph. Its close racing, with the cars inches apart for three-and-a-half hours, leaves the drivers on edge and a moment away from disaster all day long.

Fast facts

What	Amp Energy 500
When	2:20 p.m. ET Sunday
TV	ABC, 1 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 1:15 ET

• Track Page | Tickets | Travel

Sunday's AMP Energy 500 can be an equal opportunity dream crusher. It doesn't matter if you're a four-time series champion and six-time winner like Jeff Gordon -- the intensity of the racing, much of which is outside your control, can send you out of control in the blink of an eye.

"This race is one I feel the DuPont team can win, but at the same time I am trying to figure out how I can avoid the Big One," said Gordon, who is winless thus far in the 2008 season. "These days there is just so little you can do to avoid being collected in it. We're racing three-wide however many rows deep, and you're just getting beat to death bump-drafting down the straightaway. If you're in the middle, it's just bam, bam, bam, bam and you're just trying to hold the car straight. You just hold on tight and if you're in it, you're in it."

There are varying philosophies on how to stay out of the massive multi-car crash that most everyone believes is inevitable. One strategy is to stay up front, well ahead of the buffeting of the draft that can send a car out of control with little warning. The other is to drop out of the lead draft and run well behind the pack, allowing plenty of time to slow down and avoid any trouble. That strategy has worked in the past but is dependent on a timely caution flag to allow the stragglers to rejoin the pack in time for a late-race charge to the front.

"You either race or you ride," said two-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson. "We've seen guys get caught up in wrecks in both philosophies. I have no clue what to do when we get there. We tried the ride thing and it worked out. This spring it didn't, we got torn up. You don't know. That's what makes it exciting for everyone."

Very little seems to throw five-time Talladega winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. off his game at the Alabama track. He has a little extra pressure this weekend with his sponsor also sponsoring the race, but he's using that added pressure as a motivation.

"Every time people add pressure it helps me," Earnhardt said. "It's always good for me -- people pushing me. Last time we were at Talladega, we were having a good old time. It gets a little crazy in the middle of the pack. The best place for me is to be ahead of the field. In the top five is the best and safest place to be. We slid back and got scrambling around back there around 15th and banged around with a couple of guys. That really hurt our chances."

Drivers say racing at Talladega can be fun, particularly when the pressure of the points battle is removed -- as it is during the series' first visit in April. But with the championship on the line, even drivers that enjoy racing at Talladega rather would be somewhere else.

"This time of year, for those 12 guys [in the Chase], there isn't a worse track to put on the schedule for us and our mental stability," Johnson said. "But we're all dealing with the same stuff and it certainly can be interesting. And it can be a turning point in the Chase."

Superstore
• Order today: Gordon's new 2009 Firestorm paint scheme
• More: Junior's Amp Energy Die-Cast | Chase for the Cup