I have three words for you: Talladega, Earnhardt and Chevrolet.
As in, Talladega Superspeedway hosts this week’s NASCAR races. The 2.66-mile tri-oval is the fastest track on the circuit with a qualifying record of 212.809 mph. Bill Elliot set that record in 1987. Mark Martin set the race record 10 years later with an average speed of 188.354 mph. The cars have changed a lot since then and have been running at Talladega with a restrictor plate for years to keep speeds down.
Two years ago, Rusty Wallace did an unrestricted test session and topped out at 228 mph. How fast is 228? Wallace did the 2.66 miles in about 30 seconds.

Too bad he could never put up that kind of speed when he was a full-time driver. Wallace never won at Talladega. The biggest winners are my second word.

Combined, Dale Earnhardt and Dale, Jr., have won 15 races at Talladega, including Earnhardt’s final win of his career. Junior last won in Alabama in fall 2004. He finished seventh in last spring’s race and 40th in the fall due to an engine failure.
He shouldn’t have that problem this year. Hendrick cars have won six of the last eight Sprint Cup races at Talladega. Jeff Gordon won both of 2007’s events.

Which brings me to today’s third word — Chevrolet.
A Chevy has won 17 of the last 18 Talladega races. Dale Jarrett won the fall 2005 race in a Ford. Since 1969 when NASCAR first ran at Talladega, Chevy has gone to victory lane 33 times. Ford has 15 track wins. Since 1989, only one other manufacturer has won at Talladega — a Pontiac driven by Bobby Labonte.

If you are setting odds — or betting money on this race — bet Chevy, bet Hendrick and bet Earnhardt.
These three factors will finally put an end to Junior’s almost two-year winless streak. I don’t say that just because I’m a fan. I’m saying it because it’s the perfect trifecta for a win. Looking at the numbers makes it improbable that he won’t win.

After leading a third of the race, Junior finished seventh at Phoenix and is third in points, only 86 points behind leader Jeff Burton. Burton and Earnhardt are tied with six top 10s.

I’m also not saying the No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet Impala SS will win Sunday just because I saw a National Guard promotions truck with Earnhardt’s face and car painted on it parked at the University Inn last week.

I’m saying it because I need this win. The not winning thing needs to end and there is no better time than now.
Unless you count last year. Last year would have been a good time to win, too. Then all the Carl Edwards fans would stop making fun of me.
A win by Earnhardt would definitely help out my fantasy team, too. I did jump from 20th to 12th after the Phoenix race.
Damn you, Brian Vickers and your 25th-place finish. I could have made the top 10 for the first time this year.

Look for all four Hendrick cars to run strong on Sunday as well as the three Richard Childress Chevys. Vickers, who won at Talladega in a Hendrick car during the 2006 season, should have a good finish in his Red Bull Toyota.

Speaking of Toyotas, the Joe Gibbs threesome should fair well, too. Kyle Busch is on a roll, having won three straight Nationwide Series races and Denny Hamlin keeps getting better on the big tracks.

Their leader, Tony Stewart, hasn’t had the best of luck at Talladega, though. He’s run well but always seems to find the Big One, the wreck that will inevitably take out 10-12 cars.

Back when Bobby Labonte still drove for Gibbs, he flipped over and landed on Stewart’s roof at Talladega. It’s probably on YouTube.
Stewart has never won there, and it would make him a happy camper if he did. It would make my little sister Stacie happy, too. Her and orange No. 20 gear go together like Stewart and a bowl of chili. It’s dangerous to separate them.
On another note, but still including one of today’s three words, Tuesday is Dale Earnhardt Day. Wear your black No. 3 hats and shirts with pride as the NASCAR community remembers its greatest fallen hero.
R.I.P. Intimidator.

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