In the past to win at Talladega you needed the draft and you needed multiple cars to go with you to push you to the win.
Now when we come to Talladega we are seeing the two car freight train. Two cars hook up and can pull away from the pack.
Because of the draft the rest of the pack usually pulls them back in but we have seen races won with this two car pull away.
In the 2009 spring race of Talladega it was Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards who hooked up and pulled away. Not to be outdone Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Ryan Newman run them down.
We know how it ends, Keselowski gets the win and Edwards ends up nearly going into the stands.
With the two car break away it is all about timing and getting with the right person who can push you to the win.
If you go too early with you risk not only loosing the two car draft but you risk losing more positions then gaining.
Jimmie Johnson said on Friday, “It's tough to do it and every driver through the field is trying to make it happen with two or three to go. It is just tough to create the circumstances because once you get hooked up, if the road is full of cars in front of you, you have nowhere to take that speed and momentum. Circumstances really have to be correct to make it happen.”
Another key to the success of the two man push is who is pushing you. Most drivers spend the race working with different drivers. Pushing and being pushed from the back to the front.
Dale Earnhardt was the master at this. He would go from the lead to the mid twenties and then work his way to front. He was practicing his move for the final laps of the race when it really counted.
Finally, having a teammate to help push is double edge sword. They might push you to the front but they want to win just as bad as you do.
Jeff Burton, like Johnson said it’s all about timing. “It is hard to fabricate that. Some of it is timing. Some of it is you catch a guy at the right time. If you are third in line and your teammate is behind you, he can push you all you want. You aren’t going any faster than the guy that is in front of you. You so have to be in a position where you can have a breakaway and that is very difficult to fabricate. That is something that kind of happens on its own.”
If you want to win the race you need to put yourself position in the final laps and survive the wrecks that Talladega can bring.
Whether it is two cars or pack; it’s all about putting yourself in position in the final laps.
Written by:
