Why the Geico 500 Has the Potential to Be the Best Race Ever at Talladega

You always want to be careful when advertising anything as potentially "the best ever," especially when it's an event that has been running for decades under one sponsored name or another.

But this year's spring race at Talladega Superspeedway, named the Geico 500 this time, truly does carry with it such enormous, intriguing and fascinating possibilities.

The danger in saying so is that after making such a pronouncement, the race will fall flat. For the latest NASCAR example of this, see all the buildup to the surprisingly uneventful and even somewhat boring race at Richmond International Raceway about six weeks ago.

But this should be different. This Sunday's race at Talladega should deliver the goods, as three of the biggest names in NASCAR—six-time and defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski—all go in appearing to need nothing less than a victory to stay alive in the new Chase for the Sprint Cup format.

No one ever knows what's going to happen at Talladega whenever the Sprint Cup Series races there. It's the most unpredictable, chaotic, keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat track in NASCAR.

Recounting only a few incidents from recent years, this is where Carl Edwards' car nearly flipped into the stands when he became tangled with a young Brad Keselowski, then on his way to his first Sprint Cup victory, as they raced for the win in 2009. This is where a more seasoned Keselowski triggered a controversial 15-car wreck just last fall.

This is where Ryan Newman has been flipped upside down so many times we've almost lost count—and another time had the flying car of Kurt Busch land on the hood of his machine.

It was after Busch's car landed on top of his in 2013 that Newman made his infamous comment about NASCAR's governing body, per ESPN.com: "They can build safer cars, they can build safer walls. But they can't get their heads out of their a---- far enough to keep (the cars) on the race track, and that's pretty disappointing."

You just never know what is going to happen at this 2.66-mile superspeedway, where the cars often run at more than 200 mph in tight packs, especially late in races when the drivers are all jockeying for a win or at least the best finish they can muster.

This time around, a new element will be introduced into the potential chaos when the green flag drops Sunday.

It's called the Chase Contender Round. Under the new Chase elimination format, it's no coincidence that the final event in the three-race Contender Round is being held at Talladega.

The fact that four of the remaining 12 Chase drivers will be eliminated from championship contention at the conclusion of this race adds to the pre-race drama in a big way, and it should carry over to the race itself—especially under the circumstances that now have presented themselves.

Johnson, Earnhardt Jr. and Keselowski must win this race or almost certainly face elimination.

The three have combined to win 11 of the 31 races run thus far. That's 35 percent, folks. And now they must win one more time to keep their 2014 title hopes alive, as a victory in any round of the Chase guarantees advancement to the next round.

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Some believe Earnhardt Jr. is destined to win and Keselowski to lose, as Fox broadcaster John Roberts wrote on FoxSports.com: "Brad has made a lot of enemies this season. And he's going to have to look hard to have somebody help him at a place where you need friends. But look, it's this simple: This is one of Junior's best tracks. He clearly will win."

Hmmm. Maybe. And maybe, just maybe, he won't have to.

There is an outside shot any of the aforementioned three could finish in the top five and, if other Chasers crap out early for some reason, one or more of them could finish just shy of a win and still advance. But it's not likely. 

Keselowski enters the race 19 points behind Kasey Kahne, who currently holds the eighth and final Chase transfer spot. Keselowski, currently in 10th, also would have to leapfrog Matt Kenseth, currently in ninth and only one point behind Kahne.

Throw in the fact that following last Saturday night's race at Charlotte, Kenseth literally ran down Keselowski in the Sprint Cup garage—on foot, that is—and tackled him in anger, and that's a subplot to watch all day long at 'Dega.

Keselowski angered not only Kenseth but also Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart with his post-race antics in Charlotte, not to mention the fact that other drivers might recall that he triggered that 15-car wreck at Talladega back in the spring (when he was six laps down, no less).

So Keselowski will be desperate to win Sunday to save a season in which he already has won five times, tying his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano for the series lead. But he'll be trying to do so at a track where you need multiple partners to draft with, and Logano likely will be his only willing one.

Then you add in Johnson's quest to keep his title hopes alive in a season when he is attempting to make history by tying Hall of Famers Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt for most all-time championships with seven, and you've got another very desperate driver. Johnson is 26 points behind Kahne and the coveted eighth spot, so you know he'll be going not only all-out for the win, but probably willing to take a number of chances he'd normally never even consider.

On top of that, you have Earnhardt Jr. With three wins, including the season-opening Daytona 500, he's having his best season in a decade. He's never won a championship and this, in his final season with crew chief Steve Letarte, might end up being his best shot at one. As he showed in the season opener at Daytona, Junior is a threat in any restrictor-plate race—even though the last of his five previous career wins at Talladega came way back in 2004.

Whew. That's a whole lot of potential drama to be played out—and we haven't even mentioned how there will be races within the race for the lead as Kahne, Kenseth and others fight to finish in the top eight in points for the Contender Round. Then again, if one of the others wins, only the top seven in points might advance.

There arguably has never been a Talladega race run before with so much at stake, and with so many subplots to be played out, it should be a blast to watch unfold.

Unless otherwise noted, all information was obtained firsthand.

Joe Menzer has written six books, including two about NASCAR, and now writes about it and other sports for Bleacher Report as well as covering NASCAR as a writer and editor for FOXSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @OneMenz.