Rookie Larson looks to derail Chasers' plans

Jimmie Johnson, after finishing third in Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway, said he hoped to win one of the next two races -- at Kansas and Charlotte -- in order to take the pressure off for the elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway, a track prone to unpredictability even without the added spotlight of the playoffs. That's when Larson, a plucky rookie on the verge of his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory, piped up.

"Hopefully I can be the guy that wins Kansas and Charlotte so all the Chase guys can be nervous going into Talladega," Larson said.

Replied Johnson: "That's fair."

Larson's humor and moxie prompted a chuckle from race winner Jeff Gordon, who has long been an admirer of the 22-year-old's talent. But the laughter could be tinged with anxiety in three weeks at the 2.66-mile Alabama tri-oval, where the postseason field will be trimmed from 12 to eight.

Though Gordon has six wins over the course of his career at Talladega, he rated the chances at 80 percent of being involved in one of track's typical multicar crashes. It's just another reason he hopes Larson's claim is more an idle threat than a promise.

"Well, if he wins the first two, I hope I finish second to him both of those races because that's the only thing that would give me any comfort at Talladega," said Gordon, who notched career victory No. 92 in search of his fifth title. "Yeah, I mean, he's capable of it. He's running good. They've been really running good every weekend. But yeah, if a Chaser doesn't win it's going to make Talladega extremely interesting. Now you guys are going to be writing all your stories hoping that nobody in the Chase wins the next two races. I hope that doesn't happen.

"It's our job to make sure we go out there and win those races, and the guys that aren't in the Chase, it's their job to make their own statement and try to make Talladega that much more interesting and exciting, which would be good for the sport. There's certain things that happen that is more good for the teams and drivers and other things that are good for the fans and media and people watching. Yeah, I don't want to know ‑‑ even think about what that would be like going to Talladega under those circumstances."

MORE: