Talladega or Allmendinger: What's the bigger NASCAR story?

What’s the bigger story this weekend: How Talladega will affect the Chase or A.J. Allmendinger’s arrest and charge for drunk driving?
Let’s start with Talladega. In the six-year history of the Chase, the Talladega race has cost the top driver his lead three times. The other three times, the leader in the Chase heading into Talladega went on to win the championship.
In that regard, the Talledega race is a wash.
Jimmie Johnson has a comfortable 118-point lead in the Chase standings heading into Talladega. It’s more than likely, barring any sort of disaster, that Johnson will maintain his lead in the Chase standings.
However, Talladega is designed for disaster. Johnson’s record at Talladega isn’t all that great either. His chances of winning the race are not the best. But Johnson doesn’t have to win. He just has to finish ahead of the other Chase drivers, in particular Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya.
At this point in the season, the winners of races are pretty inconsequential compared to how the Chase leaders finish in races. Johnson can finish fifth and have a great day if the other Chase drivers finish behind him.
In all likelihood, the winner of the Talladega race will probably be someone who has little to do with the Chase.
There have been two Talladega winners who were not in the Chase field. This could be the year a third is added.
Matt Kenseth and David Ragan will have new engines for the Talladega race. Both have found success at Talladega and both should be considered favorites to win the race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is another driver who knows how to race at Talladega and should be considered a threat to win.
As for Chase drivers who should have good races, Gordon has been able to tame Talladega in the past, much to the chagrin of the Talladega faithful who have lobbed beer cans and bottles at him and his car after his winning runs.
Brian Vickers is one of those non-Chase drivers who has won at Talladega in the past. He is part of the Chase this year. Perhaps a win at Talladega could make up for what has turned into a lousy Chase debut.
Allmendinger’s situation has overshadowed the race at Talladega in some ways. He was put on probation by NASCAR for the incident. Some are saying probation is too light of a punishment. Some want to see him suspended for a race. That seems a little drastic for a sport rooted in bootlegging and moonshining.
Besides, Richard Petty, the namesake on Allmendinger’s Richard Petty Motorsports team, will most likely hand down a harsher punishment on Allmendinger than NASCAR ever could.
Remember, Petty would not enter a car or team in NASCAR’s second-tier series when it was sponsored by Busch beer. His feelings on mixing alcohol and driving cars are pretty clear.
It’s a shame Allmendinger is getting so much attention. Blame Johnson again for this. His lead in the Chase standings is so strong, he has made Talladega almost an afterthought to police reports, arrests and drinking and driving.

A.J. Allmendinger update

A.J. Allmendinger isn't quite sure if he has a contract with Richard Petty Motorsports. He has an understanding, that he will race in the first eight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races of the year and the July race at Daytona International Speedway in the No. 44 Dodge for RPM.
His first action in his new car will be in the Budweiser Shootout on Saturday night at Daytona. As for a contract, details are a little fuzzy.

"I think that’s actually been signed in between all the stuff, so I actually do have a contract for the first eight races, through Phoenix and there’s an option for 2010," said Allmendinger, who calls Los Gatos his hometown. "Ultimately, the objective is to run up front and stay up front all eight races. Hopefully, we can find more backing and run the whole season. The goal is to run up front and find a sponsorship for the rest of the season.”

Allmendinger is entering his third season in the Sprint Cup Series and has 44 career Cup starts, but this will be his first Shootout.
“Obviously, as a racer, you want to win. That’s important," Allmendinger said. "Ultimately, I need practice on superspeedway racing. I haven’t done a lot of it. That’s the way I’m taking the Shootout. If I have a chance to win, we’ll try to win the thing. If not, I want to run all the laps and get as much practice as I can in the Valvoline Dodge.”
Allmendinger started the 2008 season driving for Red Bull Racing, but was let go after the Kansas Speedway race. He finished the Cup season with Gillett Evernham Motorsports and had three top-15 finishes in the last five races. He was named driver of the No. 44 Dodge for RPM after Richard Petty Enterprises merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports to create Richard Petty Motorsports in January. It ended a tumultous offseason for Allmendinger.
“You can sit there and feel bad for yourself about how bad things are happening to you, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that bad," Allmendinger said. "There are a lot of people right now in this world that are a lot worse than myself worrying about running only eight races in Cup. I’m still at Daytona. We’re still talking about racing cars. I’m still getting in the racecar. There are two options. You keep fighting and find a ride or sponsorship or you quit. I’m not going to quit. So, you have to keep digging.”

A.J. Allmendinger joins Richard Petty Motorsports

A.J. Allmendinger will drive the No. 44 Dodge for Richard Petty Motorsports for the first eight races of 2009 and the Budweiser Shootout.
That means the 27-year-old driver from Los Gatos will be in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana on Feb. 22, the second race of the Cup season.
“This is pretty awesome news for me,” said Allmendinger who posted two top-10 finishes in 2008 and a victory in the Sprint Showdown. “I just want to get behind the wheel of a race car and race. We have a lot of work to do on the track and need to sell some sponsorship, but this team has great equipment and I think there is a lot of chemistry here based on how we did at the end of last season.”
Allmendinger joins Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson in the newly formed Richard Petty Motorsports or RPM, created when the old Gillett Evernham Motorsports team merged with Petty Enterprises.
Allmendinger will be starting his third year in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing. He won five races in the old Champ Car World Series before making the transition to stock cars when he joined Red Bull Racing.