On Talladega

ON DRIVING AT TALLADEGA: ?There?s not anything really difficult about driving Talladega.  You have to have a good car and then you can hopefully get out there and get in the right line and get with the right guys and work with the right people to try to make your day go as good as you can.  A lot of times you?re trying to get yourself in a position where you?re trying to let things shuffle out and see what happens.  At Talladega you would like to be able to qualify up front, but you?re really not all that worried about it because you know that in a matter of a couple laps you could be up there leading the thing.?

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron?s Dream Machine Toyota:

on how intense the closing laps at Talladega can be? ?It seems like it only takes one guy to start running up through there and then everybody thinks they have to do it.  The closer it gets to the end of the race, the more you have to get yourself in good position.  It?s not hard to pass early on in the race, but the later in the race it goes, unless you have somebody behind you that will really help you, it?s hard to pass.  You?re trying to get yourself in position to be in the right place at the right time when things cycle out.  Sometimes the outside line with go and sometimes the inside line will go.  You need to be in the right line when it matters.  It?s crazy ? you see everybody behaving so well early in the race and everybody is giving plenty of room and nobody is even close to each other.  Then with 15 or 20 laps to go, it just gets really, really crazy and it gets pretty intense.  The last few laps at Talladega are always crazy and I?ve watched many a replay to figure out why in the world we do what we do sometimes, but in the end you?re out there racing and trying to win.  Sometimes you need to take chances and make crazy moves and that?s what you see at the end of that race."

DODGE DRIVER QUOTES: At Talladega, if you make your move too early or you?re too aggressive, that means there?s that much more time for things to backfire.  Then there are times that if you go too late, you?ll want to kick yourself for not going earlier.  That?s why you have to dig down and forecast what?s going on out there on the track.  You ask yourself if this guy is an experienced racer or is he one of the younger guys?  Has this guy been fast or has he been slow?  You?re out there trying to digest all of that and play all your cards right while you?re just inches from the other guys and doing 200 miles per hour.?
Kurt Busch, No. 2 Operation Home Front/ Miller Lite Dodge Charger

?Talladega has always been a wildcard race and it always will be.  I really like restrictor-plate races and we've typically run pretty well at places like Talladega and Daytona. Superspeedways remind me of IndyCar Series racing because the outcome depends mostly on aerodynamics.  It's like a chess game where you are trying to figure out what to do as the race progresses to position yourself correctly.?
Sam Hornish Jr. No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger

?You really have to pay attention to how the race unfolds at Talladega.  There are times when you need to be patient. There are times when you need to keep your head about you and race smart.  But you are going to have to be aggressive at the end.  Those are three elements of restrictor-plate racing that I work on throughout the race.  I learned that from Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. He gets a lot of the credit for the kind of racer that I am on the plate tracks.?
Brad Keselowski, No 12 Penske Dodge Charger

Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota

Martin Truex Jr. is happy behind the wheel of his No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota and fishing on his bass boat. Truex pursued both passions last week at a Toyota Motorsports media event when he and pro bass angler Mike Iaconelli enjoyed some driving and fishing. The day started with Truex giving a driving lesson to the 2003 Bassmaster Classic champion at Charlotte Motor Speedway then the New Jersey natives visited Truex?s favorite fishing hole on Lake Norman. Both walked away with a newfound appreciation for what each other does for a living. Truex hopes his fishing luck holds true at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series holds its final restrictor-plate race of the 2010 season.  

 

Truex Jr., on trading places with Iaconelli: ?I really enjoyed the experience because I love to fish and it was awesome to go out on his boat with his fishing gear on Lake Norman. I used the opportunity to learn as much as I could. It gave me some insight as to how he does things when he goes to a new lake and gets ready for a tournament. I definitely saw similarities in our jobs during the swap. There are a lot of ups and downs in our professions. He talked about how sometimes he has a great day and then the next day he can do the exact same thing and have a totally different and devastating result. I see the same thing in NASCAR. We both have to stay focused on what we are trying to do and do the best job we can.?

Mike Iaconelli, on his experience with Truex: ?The neat thing about it coming in, a lot of bass pros are hardcore NASCAR fans and I was kind of on that outer fringe and didn?t know really a lot at all. If you want to talk about being immersed into a sport, I was. I was put on the track with one of the best drivers in the world and really got a lot of information firsthand. That was awesome and the nice thing about it was that when we got to flip-flop at the lake, a lot of these deals we do, you get put with another athlete that says he can fish and he can?t. It was really nice because I could see just with what happened in a couple hours, he?s a true fisherman. To cast around those docks like we were, you?ve got to know what you?re doing.  I appreciate the fact that he was honestly a true angler.?

Truex, on the final restrictor-plate race of 2010: ?Sunday I expect to see the typical Talladega race with the welcomed addition of my boss Michael Waltrip. We?ll see three-or-four-wide racing sometimes. Some drivers will lay back and wait for the end. There will be a wreck. It?s always an exciting race to run and for the fans, a great race to watch. The finishes over the last few years have been pretty wild and I think we?ll see more of the same. I just hope the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota will be one of the cars that can make it to the end. We had a good car and good speed so I hope we can get the luck we need. It?s one of those races where if you are there at the end, you have a shot to win it.?

Source: http://the-auto-racing-journal.blogspot.com/2010/10/on-talladega.html

JD Motorsports Chevrolet Hermie Sadler III Virginia Commonwealth University Ford Brian Scott