Be it as a crew chief, broadcaster or writer, Larry McReynolds has long been known as one of the most intelligent individuals in NASCAR. But ask the veteran who has the best chance of winning Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway and McReynolds will likely look at you and simply shrug his shoulders.
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He has no idea who is going to win Sunday’s race, not because he is torn between several choices, but more so because virtually every race since Talladega opened in 1969 has been unpredictable.
That’s the nature of racing at NASCAR’s largest oval, a 2.66-mile buzzsaw that invariably results in one — and sometimes several — ‘Big One’ multi-car crash during the course of a race there.
“Daytona, Talladega, it just seems like it’s unpredictable,” McReynolds told Alabama’s Crimson Tide Sports Network in a preview of Sunday’s race. “People ask me all the time who do I like this week?
“Throw the numbers in a hat, draw a number out, and you’ll probably do a better job than I can of anticipating who’s going to win this thing.
“You can have a fast race car, a great-handling race car, your pit stops can be flawless, your strategy can be absolutely spot-on. But it’s maybe going to come down to the last corner of the last lap that’s going to determine if your day is good or bad.”
That scenario has happened so many times over the last 56 years at ‘Dega, most recently in this race a year ago. “We have had nine different winners in the last nine races there, that is a record for Talladega,” McReynolds said.
“A year ago, Tyler Reddick was running fifth when the checkered flag was waving. Michael McDowell was leading, he threw a block that went bad on Brad Keselowski, and Tyler Reddick went from fifth to first between Turn 4 and the start-finish line.
“It’s an absolute chess match, a crap shoot. So, a long-winded answer to the question (on who he thinks will win Sunday), I have no idea,” Larry McReynolds went on to add. Maybe it’s actually a good thing for neutral fans that the race is so unpredictable.
