AARON’S 499
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
MAY 6th, 1 PM CHARLOTTE TIME FOX TV
2.66 MILES, 33 Degrees of Banking
This is race #10 and the 2nd restrictor plate race of the year. A restrictor plate regulates how much air gets into an engine and therefore restricts or limits how fast it can go. They are only used at two tracks: here at Talladega and at Daytona. Drivers fear these races as they force them to run very close together because the speeds are limited. This is the biggest oval track on the circuit and that often times leads to the biggest wrecks at any track. Drivers (and fans) are all waiting for “the big one” – a wreck that can sometimes take anywhere from one car to half of the field out. When the cars get bunched up like they do here it only takes one car getting loose to start a huge chain reaction pile up. We are only 9 races into the season and no one wants to get caught up in someone else’s mistake or misfortune. Many times drivers who know each other will move thru traffic on the track together nose to tail – “drafting” – and with the season just beginning, it will be interesting to see if old alliances stay intact or if new ones are formed due to team loyalties or drivers wanting to hook up with others they think can take them farther. Chevrolet has won 16 of the last 20 races here. Hendrick Motorsports has seven of those wins and Richard Childress Racing has three of them, and those three came in the last four races. Who will win this year? We’ll know on Sunday.
Tuesday look for our Top 10 Owner/Teams in advance of the Aaron’s 499 from Talladega.
The Race Dr. 