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Martin Truex Jr. was the last NASCAR Nationwide Series regular to win at the Talladega Superspeedway. That was back in 2005. Since then, it’s been the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veterans that have pulled into victory lane at Talladega each and every race at NASCAR’s longest facility.
The Talladega Superspeedway is a track known for giving drivers that usually don’t have a chance to win, at least a shot at contending for one. For some reason, the veterans in NASCAR’s top series have been able to pull out the win each time since 2006. The track has seen Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, David Ragan, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and most recently, Joey Logano, pull into victory lane in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Their dominance in the Aaron’s 312 has single handily crushed the dreams of several young drivers. However, it hasn’t been all young drivers, it’s been plenty of drivers trying to prove they have what it takes to race in NASCAR at a competitive level. Joe Nemechek almost won the race a few years ago. That win could’ve boosted his NEMCO Motorsports team in ways that can’t even be explained. Well, they can. Let’s just save that for another time.
This year has been much of the same. There’s been just one NASCAR Nationwide Series regular to win this season through seven races. Through seven races in 2012, NASCAR Nationwide Series regulars won four times (not including James Buescher’s win at Daytona). Experience is proving to have the upper hand in 2013. Even with veteran drivers such as Elliott Sadler, Regan Smith, Sam Hornish Jr. and more, NASCAR’s second tier series is being dominated this year by guys like Kyle Busch.
It’ll be interesting to see how the race turns out at Talladega this weekend. The Nationwide regulars are closing in on wins slowly, but surely. Some of them are attempting to gain momentum as the championship battle continues to get tighter as the season ages. Expect to see a possible upset this weekend from one of the NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers. With the tandem racing, anyone can win and it would be no surprise if a Sprint Cup regular doesn’t win.
Joseph Wolkin can be followed on Twitter at @JosephNASCAR.
