Adapting to this track

• For the second race at Talladega in 2003, NASCAR opened up the space in the restrictor plate by 1/32 of an inch. You wouldn't think that small of a change would make a difference, but it is worth about 25 horsepower. To keep the speeds from going up too much with the larger holes, an adjustment was made to the rear spoiler, which increased the drag. The plan was to give the cars more power, to help the drivers get more acceleration and to fix their biggest complaint: that they couldn't pull out and pass. The bigger plate picked up the speeds, but I didn't see a big difference in the race. Some drivers complained they couldn't keep from running over each other, so I don't think a lot was accomplished.
• NASCAR regulates the rear springs at Talladega and hands the teams two rear shocks, so that limits adjustments that normally are made at other tracks. The front area is adjustable with springs, shocks and sway bars, and that's important because in Turn 4, there are some really bad humps.
• One thing I have always said about Talladega is that if you are fast when you unload off the truck, you probably will stay fast. If you are slow on Friday, you probably won't improve much over the weekend.

Plotting strategy

• Tires are not all that important. Because the cars have smaller fuel cells (13 gallons instead of 22), a lot of guys will get two tires on pit stops. When you pit, you want to do so with a drafting partner. You don't want to go in alone. If you get back on the track and have to run by yourself, you may be running one or two seconds slower than the biggest pack of cars. Then again, you don't want to be on pit road with 25 cars because you could get into some scrapes and end up damaging your car. If you bend a nose or bend a fender, your day could be done because aerodynamics are so important.
• Avoid the "Big One." It's always an underlying question throughout the day -- will it happen or not? When Bobby Hamilton won here in the spring of 2001, the race was caution-free, so it's possible not to have the Big One. But it seems that most of the time we have it. That kind of wreck has a life of its own. If you are anywhere near the eye of the storm, you'll get caught up in it.
• Running at Talladega is all about low drag and how slippery the car is through the air. It's not about downforce. You want to do all you can to get the car's front valence down on the track to reduce the drag.

Where the action is

• You'll see a lot of action on the back stretch, where sometimes cars will go four- and five-wide. Coming off the very sharp Turn 2, there is great potential for catastrophe. If cars clip each other off, you'll generally see a big mess.
• Passing happens all around the racetrack, sometimes four or five times per lap for the lead. The preferred line is where the line of cars is moving. In Saturday's practice you need to move your car all over the track because during Sunday's race, there's no telling what line you'll have to take to stay in the pack.
• Unlike most tracks, where the start-finish line is in the middle of the front stretch, you take the checkered flag farther down the front stretch, coming out of the trioval, at Talladega. You can get kicked out of line near the end of the race if you don't have a partner, and you'll get hung out to dry.