Story lines: Talladega

There will be plenty of eyes focused on Dale Earnhardt Jr. this weekend, wondering if he can find the groove at Talladega Superspeedway, widely regarded as his best track. But if Talladega is his best track, then what does it say about Earnhardt when you consider that he hasn’t won there since 2004?

If you remember, following that win Earnhardt used a four-letter word in his postrace interview. He’d taken over the points, but NASCAR docked him 25 points for swearing, and he hasn’t challenged for a championship since.

Go figure.

Junior will clearly be a focus Sunday. Here are five other story lines to watch for in the Aaron’s 499:

1. Can Hendrick Motorsports set a new record?

In NASCAR’s 60-plus-year history, no team has ever won four races in a row with four different drivers. If Earnhardt Jr. wins Sunday, Hendrick Motorsports will be the first.

Jimmie Johnson (Martinsville), Jeff Gordon (Texas) and Mark Martin (Phoenix) have won each of the last three races driving for Hendrick. All that remains is a Junior win.

What are the odds?

Earnhardt has won at Talladega five times, but in his last eight races there he has four DNFs and only two top-10 finishes.

2. Will Tony Stewart get to victory lane?

In just eight races, Tony Stewart has changed the wording of the question from “if” to “when,” as in when will he get his first victory as an owner/driver?

There are plenty of signs pointing to this weekend. To begin with, Stewart was solid at Daytona, the other restrictor plate race this season; he’s finished third, fourth and second, respectively, in the last three Cup races; and last fall he finally broke through to win at Talladega.

The last owner/driver to win was Ricky Rudd way back in 1998.

3. When will “The Big One” happen?

First off, this question needs to be answered: How many cars have to be involved in order for an accident to be classified as a Big One?

In five of the last six races at Talladega, there has been at least one crash that involved more than 10 cars. In the last nine Talladega races, there have been 13 crashes of at least five cars.

But is five big enough to be called a Big One?

As for when the Big One will happen, around Lap 175 (of 188) is a good guess considering there have been three multicar crashes on that exact lap in the last four races at Talladega and another race it came on Lap 174.

4. How will RCR fare in their last race before the crew swap?

Earlier this week, Richard Childress decided that he needed to shake things up in order for Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears to get going. Next weekend, crew chief Gil Martin and his entire crew will move to Harvick’s No. 29 car, while Todd Berrier and his crew move over to Mears and the 07.

The swap had to receive Harvick’s blessing, because really he’s the one Childress has to be most worried about. Mears missing the Chase is expected; Harvick missing it is not.

The move will come before next week’s race at Richmond. It’s worth watching to see how well Harvick and Mears do in their final race with their old teams.

5. Lordy, lordy, Talladega’s 40:

Dating back to 1969, when Richard Brickhouse took the first checkered flag in the Talladega 500, NASCAR’s Cup Series has been stopping by the Alabama tri-oval.

The following year a second date was added and the series has been going there twice a year ever since.

Here are some interesting facts about the 2.66-mile track:

• Dale Earnhardt holds the record for most wins with 10.

• The 75 lead changes in the 1984 Talladega 500 is a NASCAR record.

• The largest margin of victory (since electronic scoring was introduced in 1993) is .388 seconds.

• Bill Elliott’s qualifying speed of 212.809 mph in 1987 is the track and NASCAR record.