Race No. 4 of the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup heads to Talladega this weekend here are some things to watch for:

Who’s hot: Points leader Jeff Burton extended his lead last week by running well and ending at the top of the deck during the late race shuffle for gas. Burton finished fourth in the spring race at Talladega.

Who’s not: All three Hendrick Motorsports drivers. Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch got caught speeding on pit road, while Jeff Gordon’s fuel pump gave out. The cars ran well but lately the only luck running through the Hendrick garage has been all bad.

Trends: Look out for speedtraps. A healthy number of Chase contenders have been caught speeding either entering or exiting pit road during the past two races. Don’t be surprised if more guys get nailed this weekend because it’s hard to go from 155 to 55 mph during green flag stops.

Keep an eye on: New pavement. Talladega’s racing surface has been repaved for the first time in three decades. The track had become very bumpy which threw the cars around quite a bit. It’ll be interesting how the drivers adapt to the smoother surface.

Chasers with wins at this track: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5), Jeff Gordon (4), Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin.

A look ahead: Next week the Nextel Cup Series goes under the lights next Saturday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte.

Quotable:

“It should make more wrecks, I would think. We’ll run into each other more – cut each other off. You can’t see five-wide. A guy three-wide can mess up a guy fifth-wide and not even know it. It is what it is. It’s Talladega, man. Grab onto your seats. Here we go.” — Mark Martin when asked if the new pavement at Talladega would prevent wrecks