Check out a short list of favorites for Sunday's EA Sports 500 at Talladega International Speedway:

Kurt Busch: An engine failure at Dover led to his worst finish (38th) in the last 10 races; dropped to eighth place in points; managed just one top-10 finish in last six starts, a win at Bristol, and will look to turn things around at Talladega; finished fourth or better in three of five career starts at Talladega; personal best was third in April 2001, a result matched in the same race a year later.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Holds longest active winning streak in Winston Cup with four consecutive victories at a single track (Talladega); won April race here after 15 extra pit stops to repair damage to the nose of his Chevrolet following a multi-car crash on lap four; in seven Winston Cup starts at Talladega, Dale Jr. has led six races for 432 laps; the only Talladega race he did not lead was his first start in April 2000; qualified 13th for last two victories here, although he started at the back of the field in April when the team was forced to change engines on race day; also won the Busch Series race at Talladega in April 2003 for five victories in the last five races entered at the 2.66-mile superspeedway; suffered a concussion and sprained foot in crash last weekend in Dover; was examined by doctors on Monday and NASCAR must approve his return to competition.

Jeff Gordon: The fifth-place finish at Dover showed he may be breaking out of a slump; had some struggles in previous six races, with four finishes of 28th or lower; has led in four of last five races; maintained sixth position in the standings and is 36 points behind Ryan Newman; was eighth at Talladega in April for his fifth top-10 finish in last seven starts at the track; in 21 career starts, has notched 11 top-10 finishes, including wins in April 2000 and July 1996; qualified in the top 10 in last three visits, including fourth place in the spring.

Kevin Harvick: Unseated Dale Earnhardt Jr. for second place in the standings thanks to his fourth-place result at Dover; spent the past four races at No. 3; second place is the highest position of his three-year career; fourth-place finish was sixth top-five finish in the last eight races and 10th of season; gained 27 points on Matt Kenseth but still a distant 436 behind; was second to Earnhardt at Talladega in the spring race for his first top-10 finish in five career starts at the superspeedway; ended a three-race streak at Talladega of finishing 27th or worse.

Jimmie Johnson: An eighth-place performance at Dover improved his position one spot in the standings to third; was fifth top-10 finish in last seven races; with Michael Waltrip falling out this week, Johnson is the only remaining driver that has been ranked all season long among the top 10; overall, he has been ranked in the top 10 for 61 consecutive weeks, dating to the March race at Atlanta last season; led a race-high 65 laps before finishing 15th at Talladega in the spring; in 2002 rookie season, he captured the pole here to finish seventh.

Matt Kenseth: Ninth-place finish at Sunday's MBNA America 400 at Dover was his series-leading 22nd top-10 effort in 28 starts this season; remained first in standings for 25th consecutive race week, dating to Atlanta in March, and controls own destiny in the standings with a 436-point lead over Kevin Harvick; was ninth at Talladega in the spring race for his third top 10 in seven career starts, including a best of fourth in the 2001 EA Sports 500; led at Talladega in each of his seven career starts.

Bobby Labonte: Despite a 31st-place finish at Dover, he moved one spot ahead of Kurt Busch for seventh in the points; they were tied in points going to Dover; finished 32nd at Talladega in the spring race for fourth consecutive result there outside the top 20; in 21 career starts, has nine top-10 finishes, including six among the first five; won the April 1999 race from the pole.

Terry Labonte: A bit of a setback with the 20th-place finish at Dover, the worst in last nine starts; kept the ninth position in the standings and is 78 points behind Kurt Busch; will make 50th career starts at Talladega and also ran solid in April with a fifth-place finish for his 14th career top-five at the track; took victories in July 1989 and October 1997; leads all active drivers in top-five (14) and top-10 finishes (23) here.

Ryan Newman: Continued tremendous second-half run at Dover with seventh victory of year and eighth career; swept both stops at Dover this year; recorded 13 top-10 finishes, six of them victories, in the last 17 races; improved from 27th in the points to fifth; limited success at Talladega, with a pair of DNFs in three starts; completed just three laps in the spring race when an accident was the cause of a 39th finish; was seventh in last year's EA Sports 500.

Tony Stewart: Defending Winston Cup champion finished a solid third at Dover and returned to the top 10 standings after a two-week absence; trails ninth-place Terry Labonte by just three points; posted five top-10 finishes in nine career starts at Talladega, including three runner-up finishes in his last five visits; was 25th in April.