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Here is how they’ll start as they head into what is expected to be the biggest, wildest wild-card race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup:
Aric Almirola, Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford. No longer has Todd Parrott as crew chief as Parrott has been suspended for violating NASCAR’s substance-abuse policy. But this race is more about the spotter-driver relationship than the crew chief-driver relationship; the crew chief makes few adjustments and difficult calls during the race.
Jeff Burton, Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet. Disappointed he hasn’t had better results in what is now his final year at RCR. Says 2014 plans are set but still can’t talk about them.
Marcos Ambrose, Richard Petty Motorsports No. 9 Ford. Needs a good final month to give the organization hope that 2014 will be better for the 9 car.
Martin Truex Jr., Michael Waltrip Racing No. 56 Toyota. Appears headed to the No. 78 car as Kurt Busch’s replacement. For some reason, we don’t see him channeling an inner Ricky Bobby anytime soon.
Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing No. 99 Ford. Had the classy move of the week — he gave his Richmond trophy, as well as a Sam Bass painting, to Fox Sports’ Steve Byrnes, a veteran NASCAR broadcaster battling health issues.
MORE: Most beloved drivers | Junior at Talladega | Earnhardt Sr.’s 1993 win
Greg Biffle, Roush Fenway Racing No. 16 Ford. Sponsor 3M does plenty of activation around this race. Well, it is the maker of Bondo.
David Ragan, Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford. Won here in May in the first win ever for Front Row. If he makes it a sweep of Talladega races, that would be even more incredible.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet. Has won five times at Talladega. Too bad the last time was in 2004. If he doesn’t win Sunday, that’s a full season (36 races) of consecutive restrictor-plate events that he hasn’t won.
Jamie McMurray, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet. Has won restrictor-plate races. Don’t count him out. But don’t necessarily count on him.
Casey Mears, Germain Racing No. 13 Ford. He could be this Talladega’s David Ragan.
Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet. Actually went out in final practice instead of playing it conservative. That’s why this team is so good — they know what they need to do depending on the weekend.
Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Chevrolet. Bet if you guaranteed him a 10th-place finish he’d take that and go home Sunday night.
Brad Keselowski, Penske Racing No. 2 Ford. Finally got a win in 2013. But he’ll forget about that when it goes green Sunday and he’s 0-for-the-day.
Josh Wise. Front Row Motorsports No. 35 Ford. Was fast enough in practice to know if he’s in position at the end, there’s no telling how high he could finish.
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota. Ran more than 20 laps in the first practice session Friday. That was more than most. It was like he was in a test car. What’s up with that? Uh, never mind.
Austin Dillon, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet. Thankful to get one more race in a substitute role for Tony Stewart. Regular sub Mark Martin is thankful, too, that Dillon is in the car for Talladega.
Ryan Newman, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 39 Chevrolet. Not going to enjoy this marketing exercise where people come to watch him wreck.
Joey Logano, Penske Racing No. 22 Ford. Engine let go in May at Talladega, so he’ll try again this time around to make it to the finish.
Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet. Made $16 million by selling his Central Park condo. Man, if this racing stuff doesn’t work out, he and his wife could go into the real estate business.
Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip Racing No. 15 Toyota. Keeps calling people dips (or something like that) on Twitter. Hopes he’s not the dip that causes the big wreck Sunday.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford. Glad Charlotte is over so he doesn’t have to hear all those lame “are you going to run the better-half dash charity race” jokes.
Michael Waltrip, Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55 Toyota. Say what you want about Waltrip, at least he’s smart enough to just do this race and find someone else to replace Vickers for the final four races.
Danica Patrick, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Chevrolet. All smiles thanks to a two-race deal with Aspen Dental for 2014. Hey, when you’ve had this bad of a season, any reason to smile is a good one.
David Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford. If there’s any justice, he wins this time at Talladega after helping Ragan to the win in May.
David Reutimann, BK Racing No. 83 Toyota. His 26th last week was among four 26th-place finishes (his best) in his last 19 races.
Trevor Bayne, Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford. It’s been nine races since Bayne last attempted to qualify. Welcome back. Now all you have to do is repeat the 2011 Daytona 500.
Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Chevrolet. This could be the day he gets back into the Chase. Or it could be the day he sees another chance at a title vanish.
Kasey Kahne, Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet. Repeat after me: Stay away from Kyle Busch, stay away from Kyle Busch, stay away …
Bobby Labonte, JTG Daugherty Racing No. 47 Toyota. Have to wonder if this is the last time there will be two Labontes in a Cup race at Talladega.
Kurt Busch, Dennit Racing No. 78 Chevrolet. Oops, make that Furniture Row Racing. But hey, just trying to get another Talladega Nights reference in here to go along with the Wonder bread paint scheme for Busch.
MORE: Could Kurt Busch drive with a cougar in his car?
Cole Whitt, Swan Racing No. 30 Toyota. Strong run at Talladega would boost the argument for him to run the car in the 2014 Daytona 500.
Juan Pablo Montoya, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet. Reportedly was wanted by MWR as a substitute for Vickers for the rest of the year. But why do that and help the team that’s firing you? Exactly why he’s in the No. 42 for rest of year. We think.
Kevin Harvick, Richard Childress Racing No. 29 Chevrolet. Still more pretender than contender unless he can make significant gains the next two weeks.
Paul Menard, Richard Childress Racing No. 27 Chevrolet. Has been 16th or 17th in the standings the last 10 weeks. That’s about the story of his career.
Justin Allgaier, Phoenix Racing No. 51 Chevrolet. Maybe the only person in the Talladega infield this weekend who might just spend his time inside his motorhome drawing, working on his artwork.
Michael McDowell, Phil Parsons Racing No. 98 Ford. Ford engine is the one to have for him to be wanted for help at the end.
JJ Yeley, Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 36 Chevrolet. Just like Danica Patrick, best race of the season and only top-10 finish came on a restrictor-plate track at the season-opening Daytona 500.
Travis Kvapil, BK Racing No. 93 Toyota. After a week where he was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons, probably enjoying a more low-key weekend.
Dave Blaney, Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 7 Chevrolet. Remember the Daytona 500 when if they couldn’t get the fire out or the track repaired, he would have won? He would need a similar event like that to happen Sunday.
Terry Labonte, FAS Lane Racing No. 32 Ford. Completing his 2013 season of restrictor-plate races. Could there be another one? The allure of racing has its way of drawing people back in again and again.
Tony Raines, Mike Hillman Racing No. 40 Chevrolet. He’s in the race. But for how long?
Joe Nemechek, Nemco-JRR No. 87 Toyota. Could be a valuable drafting partner.
Landon Cassill, Circle Sport Racing No. 33 Chevrolet. Best driver at tweeting “big fan, pleeze respond” tweets to people in jest.
