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TALLADEGA, Ala. — Around this time last year at Talladega Superspeedway, Brennan Poole experienced the thrill of winning, followed by the sinking feeling of third-place disappointment in a matter of minutes.
This weekend’s Sparks Energy 300 marks the XFINITY Series’ first stop at the Alabama superspeedway since that day — which brings some unfinished business for the No. 48 team.
“Our guys have been calling it ‘redemption weekend’ this week,” Poole said Friday at the Talladega Media Center with a slight smile.
Poole’s No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was running third in the final overtime lap of the April 30, 2016 XFINITY Series event at Talladega, when the seas – the seas being leader Joey Logano and second-place driver Elliott Sadler — seemed to part with a hard wreck triggered by the pair on the final turn. Poole shot through the middle, cheering inside the car for what he and NASCAR announcers thought was his first career XFINITY Series win.
However, after further review, NASCAR officials ruled that Sadler’s No. 1 Chevrolet was ahead when the caution flag waved — which freezes the field per NASCAR overtime rules — thus awarding the victory to Sadler’s JR Motorsports camp.
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Saturday’s 300-miler is a chance for Poole to finally nab that first career win in the series that has eluded him for 58 races.
“Last year, this is where we were the closest (to a win),” Poole said. “It seems like for whatever reason I can just finish third — I’ve got several thirds, I need to break the plane a little bit and get up to battle for some of these wins and lead some laps and just be a little bit more in contention.”
But that third-place run at Talladega a year ago seemed to spark something for Poole’s No. 48 team; more than 77 percent of his 22 top-10 finishes have come since that day, most recently a trio of eighth-place results at Phoenix, Fontana and Bristol this season.
“We definitely have a lot of confidence coming into this weekend,” Poole said. “But really, even last week, these next string of races are really good tracks for me. Richmond, we were really fast and qualified really well, we just didn’t have the race go the way that we wanted it to … Then going to Charlotte, last year, we ran in the top five both races and had a parts failure that kept us from moving on in the playoffs.
“I’m excited about these next several weeks and feel like we have just as good of an opportunity as anybody.”
One of the beauties of Talladega and all of its restrictor-plate glory is that its Alabama asphalt is practically breeding ground for first-time winners and surprise visitors to Victory Lane. Think Brad Keselowski (2009), Ken Schrader (1988), Dick Brooks (1973).
This — along with fast cars and a 10th-place spot in the series standings — gives Poole confidence heading into race weekend.
“All the cars handle so good here that there’s so many people that have an opportunity to win a race, that literally it could be anybody,” Poole said. “So, it’s really just about putting yourself in that position to be able to make it happen.
“I feel like we’ve got a good team and a fast car where we feel like we could be up there and be in position to win tomorrow.”