NASCAR At Talladega Superspeedway 2012: Brad Keselowski Surges For Win

Though he’s always a good quote, Brad Keselowski was particularly eloquent after his victory in Sunday’s NASCAR race at Talladega Superspeedway (you can see the race results here).

In honor of his second win of the year – and in homage to his sponsor – here is a six-pack of his best quotes and observations in the post-race winner’s press conference.

Is it possible to get too good of a restart?

At Talladega, the answer is yes. Just ask Matt Kenseth, who was leading on the green-white-checkered restart but pulled out too far in front of the field. When he did so, it opened the door for the third- and fourth-place cars of Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch to steamroll by the Roush duo of Kenseth and Greg Biffle on the high side and go on to settle the race amongst themselves.

For more than four minutes, Stewart put on an acting performance that would make Tom Hanks jealous. With a completely straight face, Stewart offered comment after comment about how great the racing was – even though he really didn’t think so.

“The racing was awesome,” Stewart said. “It’s fun to be able to race and have to watch the (overheating) gauges at the same time. It just adds that much more. Being able to make yourself run on the apron and everything to try to get clean air, it makes it fun.”

Brad Keselowski got a push to the lead from Kyle Busch and proceeded to run away from his dancing partner in winning Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at at Talladega Superspeedway.

The victory was Keselowski’s second of the season, second at the 2.66-mile track, the sixth of his Sprint Cup career and the first for Dodge at Talladega since Dave Marcis took the checkered flag 36 years ago.

Here are some storylines to watch for in today’s NASCAR race at Talladega Superspeedway:

The Pack is Back

The start time for today’s NASCAR race at Talladega Superspeedway will be about 45 minutes later than originally scheduled due to a wet racetrack from some morning storms that rolled through the area.

Thunder and lightning were in the area as heavy rain poured on the Alabama track up until 10 a.m. local time. Since it takes a little more than two hours to dry the track, NASCAR pushed back the driver introductions to 12:15 local time (1:15 Eastern).

A weak disturbance moved into northern and eastern Alabama this morning, spreading showers and thunderstorms around Talladega Superspeedway. There was even a severe thunderstorm warning earlier this morning for the track.

The good news is the rain has been diminishing and looks like it will come to an end by midday.

It seemed like all the stars were aligning for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Talladega.

Everything was perfect: Earnhardt Jr. had led seven different times in the Aaron’s 312 and was about to restart on the front row with the laps winding down.

NASCAR driver Eric McClure was transported to a local hospital for evaluation on Saturday after a vicious crash in the Nationwide Series race at Talladega.

With five laps to go, Michael Annett (in the car that says Pilot on the hood in the video below) tried to make a daring move up the middle and squeeze into a small bit of daylight.

Danica Patrick appeared to intentionally wreck Sam Hornish Jr. at high speed just after Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Talladega concluded, an attempt to retaliate against Hornish for what she apparently felt was rough driving.

Hornish squeezed Patrick into the wall as the two drivers crossed the finish line of the race, which may have been the result of a flat tire he sustained from earlier race damage.

Jeff Gordon tried a different line in qualifying around Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday. As it turns out, the veteran NASCAR driver still can learn a few new tricks.

Gordon picked up his first pole of the season and the 71st of his career, which puts him No. 3 on the all-time list. It was Gordon’s first pole in one year; he also started in the top spot at the Talladega spring race last season.

It will feel more like July or August this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Besides the action on the track being hot for the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup series so will the temperatures. Each afternoon the temperatures will climb to near 90 and feel even hotter with the humidity.

With all the moisture around each afternoon there’s the risk for a few isolated or scattered thunderstorms. The likelihood of any activity hitting the track is low but if one were to form and move over Talladega Superspeedway it probably wouldn’t last more than 30 to 45 minutes. The biggest concern this weekend for fans will be the heat and summer-like steam.

Choosing his words ever so carefully – perhaps in an attempt not to offend NASCAR and not say anything that would reignite a controversial situation – Carl Edwards expertly skirted questions about last week’s race at Richmond International Raceway on Friday.

Instead of discussing the events of last Saturday night – when Edwards jumped the restart and was black-flagged with 81 laps to go – the driver preferred to solely focus on Sunday’s running of the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Mike Ford finally returned to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage on Friday at Talladega Superspeedway, his first time back in a crew chief role since losing his job at Joe Gibbs Racing last December.

After JGR decided to fire Ford – Denny Hamlin’s former crew chief – the veteran sat on the sidelines until Richard Petty Motorsports hired him this week to crew chief for Aric Almirola.

The main challenge this NASCAR weekend at Talladega Superspeedway will be the development and placement of isolated storms across Alabama.

It will look and feel more like summer, with humid conditions and highs in the upper 80s to near 90. Weak disturbances will move across the state this weekend, and with plenty of heat and moisture in the atmosphere, they could spark some isolated-to-scattered storms in the afternoon. Although the severe weather threat is low, isolated storms that do form could be strong.

Plenty of intangibles tilt in Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s favor this weekend -- his history of success at Talladega Superspeedway and his father’s legacy of dominating there among them.

One X-factor Earnhardt doesn’t buy into -- momentum.

Whether you’re a fan of NASCAR’s much-maligned Kurt Busch or not, you have to admit his paint scheme at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend is pure genius.

Remember when Ricky Bobby was forced to drive for himself in Talladega Nights? Well Busch, in a similar me-against-the-world situation, has brought the Talladega Nights ’Me’ car to life for the Aaron’s 499 this weekend.