Talladega preview: Will the Pied Piper win it again?

And following Jeff Gordon’s retirement, Earnhardt is also the king at Talladega. He’s the only active Sprint Cup driver with six victories on the 2.66-mile track. In fact, he's the only driver with more than three.

Despite the potential of calamity at every corner, Earnhardt has posted top-10 finishes in half his 32 starts at 'Dega, and he has finished on the lead lap 25 times.

Earnhardt’s most recent restrictor-plate success has come behind the wheel of Amelia — the chassis he piloted to three wins in 2015 (the Daytona Duel, July Daytona and Talladega in May). Although Earnhardt won with Amelia in this year’s Duel during Speedweeks, the car was damaged in the Daytona 500. But, according to crew chief Greg Ives, Amelia is as good as new and ready to race for a seventh Earnhardt victory at 'Dega on Sunday.

“We’re going to have ‘Amelia,’ Earnhardt said in a release. “She is fixed and Greg says she is going to be the primary. He’s fired up his Twitter account recently … and he let all the fans know on Monday that Amelia is coming back.

“I’m excited about that – we know how she ran last year. We just have to run Talladega like we have to win it, just like we did the last time we were there. We did a good job. If we run it like that, we’ll be up front at the end.”

Still, Talladega has produced its share of unique winners. Although Earnhardt enjoys the top driver rating (93.8), has led the most laps (twice as many as the next competitor) and has scored the most points over the last two races (92) — not to mention the the previous six (195) and eight (256), some stats from his peers are surprising.

Brad Keselowski

Keselowski earned his first career win at Talladega, driving for the now defunct Phoenix Racing. But his winning percentage is higher than Earnhardt’s. The Team Penske driver has three victories in just 14 starts. Although Earnhardt’s average finish of 14.7 is slightly better than his former protege’s 14.8, Keselowski has been running at the finish in all but one race and finished on the lead lap in 10 of 14 races.

Martin Truex Jr.

After an uneven start to the season — compared with last year — Truex is due. Truex matched his career-best finish of fifth in this race last year and backed that up with a seventh-place run in the fall. While his fellow Toyota teammates have soaked up all the limelight this season, the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing car has earned the most points (226) at Talladega in the last seven races. His second-place finish at Daytona in February was also a career-high and should up Truex's confidence this weekend.

Clint Bowyer

Bowyer is just one of five current drivers with multiple wins (two) at Talladega. In the last 10 races at the 2.66-mile track, he has earned more points (345) than any other competitor. In 20 starts, Bowyer has six top fives, 11 top 10s, has led 100 laps and has an average finish of 14.9. The driver of the No. 15 car has 15 lead-lap finishes and has been running at the finish in 17 Talladega races.

Ryan Newman

Remember when Richard Childress Racing used to rule restrictor plate tracks? Yes, it’s been five years since Clint Bowyer finished ahead of then-teammate Jeff Burton at 'Dega — and three years since RCR has won a Cup race anywhere. But Newman has earned the most points (110) in his last three starts at NASCAR’s longest track, has been running on the lead lap in the last five races and scored three top 10s in those five.

Jamie McMurray

McMurray has Hendrick horsepower under his hood — unfortunately, his engine blew up six laps before the advertised finish of last fall’s race at Talladega. Still, he should be able to hold his own against Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson — since McMurray has as many wins (two) at the track as the six-time champion and won more recently (2013). McMurray has led the fifth-most laps (242) among active drivers at the track and has finished on the lead lap in 14 of 27 starts. He's been running at the finish in 22 of those races.