Pay very close attention, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Sterling Marlin and Rusty Wallace. Your task in Sunday's EA Sports 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway just got a whole lot tougher.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. not only is going for his third consecutive win at the fabled 2.66-mile superspeedway (and fourth overall win in his last six restrictor-plate races), he's coming there with an attitude that the top six points leaders don't dare to have this late in the season.

	The action is always fast and furious -- not to mention tightly packed -- at Talladega Superspeedway.

In short, Earnhardt intends to run flat out, no holds barred, with no worries about points or patience in NASCAR's twice-annual crashfest.

"I'm not in the points race, I'm not quite as nervous about it, so I can go out there and take more chances," Earnhardt said. "I won't be as patient about it, I'll just go right to the front if my car will go there.

"I just like running races like that, and even if you do get crashed out or any other big mess, that's just what happens. You can't do much about them big wrecks, you just can't avoid them. If I was in the points race, got up in there and got crashed out and got a 35th-place finish out of the deal, I'd be pretty upset about it, but I would still look forward to the next plate race. As competitive as our cars are, who wouldn't. When you have cars as good as that, and that can do the kinds of things our cars can do, you love to go to those racetracks."

Earnhardt will have a bit more incentive that only adds to the problems for his fellow competitors, particularly Todd Bodine, Ryan Newman, Jeff Green and Matt Kenseth. Together, Earnhardt and the other four drivers are in the running for the Winston No Bull 5 bonus. If any of that quintet emerges victorious Sunday, not only do they take home a cool million, one lucky fan will get the matching amount.

"It's a lot of fun to get a chance to win $1 million, especially for the fan," Earnhardt said. "It puts a little more pressure on the driver, I guess. Going into Talladega, one of the tracks we do pretty well at, we've got a pretty good shot at it. We're really going to try and have everything prepared the best we can."

Earnhardt won at Talladega last fall, and gave one fan a very expensive early Christmas gift. Likewise, his late father's last win was also a No Bull 5 triumph at Talladega in October 2000.

But million-dollar bonuses aside, the real lure for Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Inc., teammates Michael Waltrip and Steve Park is how well the three-man outfit usually does on the superspeedways at Daytona and Talladega.

"I like (restrictor-plate races) because it gives everybody an opportunity to be competitive," Earnhardt said. "Even if your car is just a little bit down on horsepower or if your car doesn't quite draft as well as others, you can still be in the middle of the race and have some fun, no matter if you're racing for first or 25th. You can still race to pass people and feel like you're doing something.

"At a lot of racetracks, it can make for a real long day and you feel like you're not accomplishing anything. So I enjoy it, have had a lot of success at it and look forward to those races. It's intriguing to wonder how (races) would be without (plates) and how that would work out, but the only way I'd like to do that is to if they just completely unrestricted the cars, motors and aero packages. That'd be fun to race and have to lift and get your cars to handle to go around the corner and stuff like that."

Sunday's 500-mile event will cover 188 laps around Talladega's high-banked surface, and Earnhardt could be one of the biggest spoilers for those drivers still with a chance at the championship.

Likewise, last fall's pole sitter at Talladega, Kenseth, can also serve as a spoiler, even though he's not quite as far down in the standings (eigth) as Earnhardt (13th). While Kenseth still has a mathematical chance at the title, being 193 points behind leader Johnson, he'd have to win Sunday and at least two of the other six remaining races to even come close. Winning one race is formidable enough, let alone trying to win three of the final seven.

"Anything can happen at Talladega," Kenseth said. "Historically we haven't done too well there, but the draft is the great equalizer.

"Usually, Talladega is all about the body you have on your car and engine you've got under your hood, a little bit of luck and a little bit of making the right decisions and being in the right draft and being around the right people to get in the lead. Handling doesn't come into play much at Talladega. As slow as they have us running for how big the track is with the restrictor plates we have on and the way the rules are, the cars are pretty stable. Handling is not a big deal, it's basically having a slick body and good engine and being in the right place at the right time."

At the same time, Kenseth knows just how hard it is to be in the right place at the right time, particularly when you're racing on a superspeedway.

"There's really no safe place at Talladega or Daytona," Kenseth said. "You can try and be smart and ride around all day, but there's really nothing you can do. You can be riding in the middle of the pack and get wrecked, or you can be the leader and get wrecked, or you can be running last and get wrecked. It's one of those tracks that you're never sure what's going to happen until you take the checkered flag.

"Anything can happen, it can be a great points day for somebody or a terrible points day for somebody, and a lot of times there's absolutely nothing you can do it. It's kind of nerve-wracking all day, you just have to run the best you can, try and be as smart as you can, give and take as much as you can and hopefully you'll stay out of trouble."

One major difference in Sunday's race from previous races is NASCAR's newly-mandated smaller fuel cell that will be installed on all cars competing in the race. Instead of 22-gallon limits, the new fuel cells will be able to hold only 12.5 gallons. NASCAR's thinking is that with smaller fuel cells, cars will be forced to pit more often, thus breaking up the field somewhat and hopefully reducing chances of "the big one," a high-speed multi-car demolition derby that usually breaks out every time the circuit visits Talladega.

"It makes some sense," said Gordon, fresh off his 61st career win Sunday in Kansas. "The lighter fuel load will force us into more green flag pit stops which should break us up from one big pack of 43 cars to a number of smaller packs.

"I just hope that if it comes down to a fuel mileage race that we've got decent fuel mileage. If we all use our heads and play it smart and do what we're capable of doing, we can put on one heck of a race -- one that the fans will enjoy and that we'll enjoy -- and come out with an exciting finish."

Like Earnhardt, Gordon knows what he's talking about. He's a two-time winner at Talladega, along with eight other top-five showings, including fourth in this spring's Aaron's 499 at Talladega.

But unlike Earnhardt, Gordon does have to worry about points at Talladega.

"This race has the most potential for a big shakeup in the point standings," Gordon said. "I imagine everyone's goal is to come out of it without taking a significant hit. These last seven races are going to be very interesting."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.