NASCAR: Five Reasons Why Talladega Will Be A Dud
By Mike Hutton
Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Let’s face it, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. are each facing a must-win scenario to advance to the Eliminator Round of this year’s Chase.
Kenseth is 35 points below the cutoff coming out of Kansas and Earnhardt, Jr. is just one position above him and is 31 points back. With Chase participants occupying, on average, 7-10 of the top 15 finishing positions each week, the opportunity for either driver to make up those points is all but gone. They’re too far back to do so, and need to advance by virtue of a win. Only one of them can do so, so at the very least, one will not advance. It is also very possible that both will not advance.
Because of this, Kenseth and Earnhardt will need to be aggressive on Sunday.
Nobody else dares be so, they’re the only two. That snoring sound you hear from Joey Logano’s motorhome is the sound of the one driver in the field who can rest easily this week, as he has already earned a spot in the next round. The other 40 drivers will need to protect their points position and will be in a defensive mode on Sunday. They are not in a position to take chances or switch to offense.
Driving defensively instead of offensively on the parts of most of the field will make this race a dud. You watch. It will happen.