Some Junior achievement

Chase or no Chase, Dale Earnhardt Jr. still might be the guy to watch at Talladega Superspeedway.

To the regret of his millions of fans, Junior failed to make it into the 10-man, 10-race NASCAR playoff, but that won't slow him down in today's UAW-Ford 500 at the big Alabama track that he virtually has owned since the spring of 2001.

The late Dale Earnhardt was the all-time master of the 2.66-mile, high-banked Talladega oval, winning 10 times. His son has carried on the family tradition, winning five times -- all since his father's death in the 2001 Daytona 500.

Since finishing eighth at Talladega later that spring, Junior has finished first or second in seven of eight races here.

Trading places

When Bobby Hamilton Jr. failed to qualify for today's race, it set in motion a series of deals. Cal Wells III, who owns Hamilton's No. 32 Chevrolet, made a deal to move the driver, the sponsor, and the car number to the No. 00 Chevy, owned by Michael Waltrip and qualified by Mike Skinner. Skinner will move to Hermie Sadler's No. 34 for the race and Sadler, with some extra cash in his pocket, will sit out the race . . . Nine of the last 13 Talladega races have been won by drivers starting 11th or lower.