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TALLADEGA — Time and time again, Talladega Superspeedway has been called a wild card in the Chase for the Sprint Cup 10-race playoff.

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Slideshow: Saturday at Talladega View photos from Saturday's action at Talladega Superspeedway.

But in many drivers opinion, it's not the only one.

"They're all wild card races," Jeff Gordon said. "Anything can happen to anybody at any time. … A lot of people focus on Talladega and Martinsville, but to me, it can happen anywhere."

Talladega is the obvious choice for many when it comes to Wild Card status. The horsepower robbing restrictor plates that are used at Talladega gives drivers less throttle response, therefore limiting the drivers' ability to pull away from other drivers.

That creates a situation where given the width of the track, cars run three wide — and sometimes four— as much as 10 rows deep. Running in packs that large at the 200-mph speeds they run at Talladega creates the perfect storm for the dreaded big one, or multi-car wrecks that can send teams tumbling in the point standings.

"Yeah, it's like practice today," said Kevin Harvick, referring to the wreck in practice when Dale Earnhardt Jr. cut a tire. "We have one piece that we want to try, and that's all we have to try."

Many Sprint Cup drivers take the approach of running in the back of the pack, until the end of the race, then using the draft to move up in the field.While that approach has been proven successful at Talladega, it's not a good strategy at the other wild card, Martinsville.

"You can — but not for long," said Greg Biffle, who is in third place and 30 points off the Chase lead.

Jeff Burton, fourth in the Chase standings, echoed Biffle's sentiments.

"Martinsville is one of those places if you get in the back a little bit, it's hard to pass," he said. "If you are in a car that is not handling very well, it's hard to cover it up.

"Some of the bigger race tracks, it is a little easier to find a place and not hide, but kind of find a way to race by yourself and not worry about the competition. You can't do that at Martinsville."

While the wild card status could very well be even between Talladega and Martinsville, it might not be that way for long.

Just like timing is everything out on the track, the change that NASCAR has made to its 2009 schedule could make Talladega a wreck and then dead situation.

Now, Talladega is the fourth race in the 10-race Chase playoff. In theory, a driver could wreck out of the 2.66-mile trioval and still have time on the schedule to make up the lost points.

Next year, Talladega moves into Atlanta Motor Speedway's weekend, leaving the playoff with only three races after the trip to Alabama.