NASCAR Talladega preview: Skill behind the wheel important to restrictor-plate success

It was like witnessing a maestro conducting an orchestra who knows the precise time to increase tempo or gradually ease back with the finished product, an idyllic sound that produces wonderful harmony.

But in this instance the maestro was Dale Earnhardt Jr., his ability to manipulate the draft -- darting from the high groove to the bottom then back to the top to stall the momentum of those behind him attempting to mount a run -- equates to the melding of the brass and woodwinds sections, which in this instance culminates in the sound of a legion of fans screaming wildly as their favorite driver won last year at Talladega Superspeedway.

That prowess is something gleaned from his father, Dale Earnhardt, an 11-time winner on restrictor-plate tracks, who would have celebrated his 65th birthday Friday, and it’s why whenever the circuit heads to Daytona International Speedway or Talladega, the site of Sunday’s Geico 500, Earnhardt Jr. transforms into Leonard Bernstein.

“We’ve seen Dale Jr. over the years just really show everybody how it’s done, and that’s because he has a really good understanding of the air, the way it works and knowing how to use that to his advantage,” Martin Truex Jr. said.

That Earnhardt consistently showcases his restrictor-plate expertise underscores how races at Daytona and Talladega are no longer as unpredictable as they were once perceived to be when drivers routinely used words like “arbitrary,” “lottery” and other verbiage to describe fortuitous occurrences.

As it always has, winning a restrictor-plate event still requires all the usual elements -- powerful engine, good handling car, an avoidance of mistakes and of course luck in escaping the inevitable multi-car crashes that occur-- but more so lately it requires a driver who can play a game of chess at 200 mph.

It’s why Daytona and Talladega -- once synonymous with surprise and often unlikely winners -- have seen the same faces rotating in Victory Lane recently. Earnhardt, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson have collectively won nine of the past 13 restrictor-plate races.

“I don’t know what it is about myself, but I’ve had some really fast cars,” Earnhardt said. “If I looked back at all the races that I’ve run here, there are some where the car just didn’t have what I needed ... the races that we won, we certainly did.”

Excuse Earnhardt’s modesty. Because while a strong car/engine combination certainly helps considerably, a driver’s talent related to pack racing and aptitude of knowing when to make a move and how to prevent others from completing their move is a difference maker.

“The guys that are really good at both Daytona and Talladega, they know how to work the draft,” Tony Stewart said. “... Guys have figured out how to pass and how to get that momentum and how to get enough momentum to get by without the car stalling out.”

Although Earnhardt may believe the key to restrictor-plate success is largely machine, those who are seeking to replicate that prosperity understand the person behind the wheel plays a prominent factor as well.

“The thing that separates the guys that win from my perspective and what I’ve seen, is those guys are really aggressive and they stay out (front), they block and they work the traffic,” said Carl Edwards, winless in 46 plate starts.

Edwards, who comes into Talladega on the strength of consecutive victories at Bristol and Richmond, remembers being involved in an accident and telling then-car owner Jack Roush he was merely a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, a typical refrain from a driver who gets caught in the “Big One.”

Roush informed Edwards that he needed to view the replay, as his lack of awareness -- he actually passed several drivers that slowed and avoided the mayhem -- was the culprit for crashing, not the peculiarities of restrictor-plate racing. Call it an “aha moment,” with Edwards realizing there was more to Daytona and Talladega than originally thought.

“I went back and watched and I learned from that,” Edwards said. “You really have to be watching ahead and you have to pay attention.

“You can’t make stupid mistakes.”