Chase for the Sprint Cup Round 2 preview: Drivers leery of Kansas, Talladega

Back in January when NASCAR divided the Chase for the Sprint Cup into four three-race segments, one round stood out more than any other: The Contender Round.

Comprised of races at Kansas Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, what makes the Contender Round foreboding are the events that bookend the second bracket of NASCAR’s playoffs, with Kansas and Talladega considered two of the more treacherous tracks on the schedule. Both are places where crashes and mayhem can be expected.

“The Contender bracket, that one scares the (expletive) out of me,” Brad Keselowski said prior to the Chase. “Kansas and Talladega are just two tracks where they have been wreck-fests.”

Keselowski, who scored the most points in Round 1, refers to Kansas as a “mini-Talladega.” And the statistics back his assertion. Since undergoing a repave in 2012, races at Kansas have averaged 11.25 cautions. The propensity of yellow flags is mostly attributed to a hard tire compound and a surface lacking grip, where outside of restarts running side-by-side for any period of time is difficult.

But as intricate as Kansas may be it is still far easier to navigate than Talladega, which is looked at ominously by the 12 remaining drivers in the Chase. NASCAR’s largest track owns a deserved reputation for being chaotic where multi-car crashes known as the “Big One” are regular occurrences.

Adding to what is always an intense race with far-reaching ramifications on the championship, Talladega is an elimination event this year. Four Chase participants will be cut following the Oct. 19 race. And with the high probability that wrecks will decimate the field it stands to reason a playoff driver will miss advancing to Round 3 directly because of something that happens during the Geico 500.

The May Talladega race saw various accidents entangle eight of the 12 drivers still in the championship picture, with eight Chasers finishing 23rd or worse. If something similar transpires in three weeks some very big names will likely be eliminated from the playoffs.

“Surviving Talladega is its own horror film title, but it’s also a reality,” Keselowski told reporters Wednesday. “That place is going to be a crazy place to finish that bracket out. Certainly there’s going to be a lot of guys on the bubble and it’s probably all going to change on the last lap in the last corner.”

Said Jeff Gordon: “To me the chances of wrecking at Talladega these days are about 80 percent ... Even if you survive the wrecks all the way to the end, there’s still probably going to be a wreck at the end. You don’t want to go in there worried about, ‘Oh, we’ve got to finish ninth or got to finish fifth.’ That would just add a lot of stress.”

To counter the potential land mines that are Kansas and Talladega, teams have focused extensively on Charlotte, the middle race of Round 2. A victory there would assure advancement to the Eliminator Round, essentially giving a free pass the following week at Talladega.

“If I’m one of the guys that wins at Charlotte or Kansas it’s sure going to make the race at Talladega fun,” Jimmie Johnson said. “Otherwise you’re just going to be on pins and needles and stressing like crazy. That’s the strategy; really try to win one of those first two so you can go to Talladega, pull them tight and let it rip.”

Team Penske (Keselowski, Joey Logano), Stewart-Haas Racing (Kevin Harvick) and Joe Gibbs Racing (Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin) were among the organizations with Chase eligible drivers that recently tested at Charlotte.

“I think the Charlotte race is potentially the most important race of this bracket and maybe the entire Chase outside of (the season finale at) Homestead,” Keselowski said. “If you go out and win Charlotte and control your own destiny, that’s going to be huge.”