The Big Question

NASCAR.com - Unpredictable Talladega will shake up Chase

credit NASCAR.com

NASCAR quailifying for the EA Sports 500 is today. The big question on everyone's mind isn't who will get the pole. The big question is the "big one." Who will escape the multi-car pileup that often comes - and less often sometimes doesn't?

Qualifying up front isn't a given way to escape the madness. As Marty Smith writes: "Jeff Gordon said the way to avoid the 'Big One' is to be up front. But that's a dubious prospect at Talladega. One lap you're leading, the next you're 12th. There's a constant yo-yo effect, making it highly unlikely someone will dominate in the fashion Johnson did at Charlotte."

If I were one of the top ten drivers, I would try to get all the other Chase contenders to line up nose to tail and draft away from the rest of the field. They can all duke it out in the final five laps.

Right. Only in your dreams!