Dale Earnhardt Jr

Jimmie Johnson: One week after winning the All-Star Race, Johnson saw a top-5 finish in the Coca Cola 600 slip away after he drug his gas man down pit road. The subsequent stop-and-go penalty left him with an 11th-place finish.

Rick Hendrick was at the end of pit road and told Johnson to come pick him up. Once Hendrick put his leg inside the car, he was in for a ride.

The stars have come home to Charlotte for this weekend's NASCAR Sprint All Star Race, and this year brings new drivers, a new format, but the same old distinction. A million dollars rides on the driver able to cross the finish line first following 90 or so laps at The Beast of the Southeast.

Kenseth finished sixth at Darlington, posting his seventh top 10 of the year. He is second in the Sprint Cup point standings, and now trails leader Greg Biffle by two points.

Kenseth led with one lap to go at Talladega, but was passed by Brad Keselowski, benefitting from a huge push from Kyle Busch. Kenseth settled for third, and advanced one place in the point standings to second, seven behind Greg Biffle.

When NASCAR comes to Talladega it’s almost like playing the lottery; you never know who is going to win, but it’s still fun to gamble. Jeff Gordon started on the pole with last year’s champion Tony Stewart on the outside pole.

From a rain-delayed beginning to the green, white, checkered finish, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 43rd annual Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

For a long time I have said of Talladega and Daytona that they are multi-million dollar junk yards. This year was no different but this time it could all be laid at NASCAR’s feet.

499 or so miles will make up the Aaron's 499 tomorrow afternoon, and all 499 miles will surely be filled with chaos throughout the 43-car field. A slue of rule changes has been passed down by NASCAR officials to break up the two car tango, which we saw last season.

While every track is unique, there are certain tracks on the NASCAR circuit that can just get into a driver’s head. This weekend’s track, Talladega Superspeedway, seems to be one of those, especially given its speed, intensity and the infamous ‘big one’ that so often occurs.