Talladega presents daunting challenge

Some NASCAR drivers laughed, others cringed, but they all had something to say about Talladega.

Sunday’s Alabama 500 is at the famous (or infamous, depending on whom you ask) track, and even at Charlotte it dominated conversation among drivers.

Kyle Larson said he hates Talladega. Martin Truex Jr., who ended up winning Sunday’s Bank of America 500, said he doesn’t know why he struggles so much at Talladega.

In fact, just about every driver who mentioned Talladega also mentioned disliking Talladega.

But not Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who is 12th in the standings and desperately in need of a solid result to propel him into the third round of the playoffs. He’s figured out how to race at Talladega, perhaps better than anyone else left in the playoffs.

The track is one of two restrictor-plate tracks on which the Cup Series races (Daytona is the other), and Stenhouse has seemingly solved them both.

His only two Cup wins this year came at those two tracks, and if not for those victories, he almost certainly wouldn’t be competing in the playoffs.

So Stenhouse probably isn’t too afraid of Talladega, but everyone else is. That means this weekend is going to be crazy. Likely the only thing you can say for sure is that something unpredictable is bound to happen.

What makes Talladega so daunting, so mysterious for drivers? One, the speed. It’s one of the fastest tracks in NASCAR, with drivers routinely topping 200 miles per hour.