More than any other event in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, Talladega Superspeedway’s AMP Energy 500 is the wild card race.

Why else would former point leader Carl Edwards say he’d pay a million bucks for a guaranteed 10th place, if he didn’t have to go to that spooky ol’ place this weekend and race?

Now, racing for fun is one thing; and Edwards would be first in line. But racing with the Sprint Cup championship on the line? That’s another thing altogether.

No one is consistently better-equipped to contend for championships these days than Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team. What does he think about Talladega in the Chase?

“I keep trying to forget about it,” Johnson said. “In the fall, it’s a miserable three days just worrying about when that wreck is going to take place and where you are on the track when it does.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself. And Johnson knows. Even when it’s not the proverbial “big one,” no one is safe at ‘dega virtually until it’s on the transporter and you’re outta there.

In 2006 Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson approached Turn 3 racing for first and second, and ended up 23rd and 24th when Brian Vickers’ race-winning move collected them.

Front of the field or back, if someone twitches, sneezes or miscalculates, it can gather you up and tear the best-laid plans asunder.

At Talladega, there are no guarantees. That’s why it’s the ultimate wild card.

• Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

For the rest of this week, we’re going to hear a lot about things like bump-drafting and fancy explanations about restrictor plates. We’re going to talk about how anything can happen Sunday at the largest oval on the Sprint Cup schedule. And of course, we’re going to dust off that old favorite, “the big one.”

Ho hum. It’s plate racing, it’s Talladega, we know what we’re getting, let’s just watch the racing.

Is it dangerous? Yes, but isn’t every race?

Is it entertaining? Yes, perhaps the most entertaining of the season.

Is it the Chase’s wild card race because anything can happen? No.

The likelihood of a lead-pack car being taken out Sunday by a driver not even guaranteed to be racing next week is legit. The drafting packs are tight — sometimes tighter than a corner at Martinsville. But it doesn’t change the possibility of the same thing happening at any one of the other nine tracks inside the Chase.

Only once in four tries has a driver entered Talladega with the points lead and left with it, too (Jeff Burton, 2006). Two races later — at Martinsville — he blew up and lost the lead for good.

Conversely, Jimmie Johnson lost the points lead last year despite finishing second at Talladega. Johnson, of course, won the title. And in his title run of 2006, Johnson crashed in the closing laps and finished 24th.

So to say that the outcome of the Chase hinges on Talladega survival minimizes the fact that the same issues can happen at any other track. Ask Kyle Busch.

• Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.