Only once in the past four years has the points leader entering the Talladega fall race left the track in the same spot.

So how will Jimmie Johnson, who leads Carl Edwards by 10 points entering Sunday's race, avoid repeating history?

"I don't know," Johnson said.

"I really don't know what to do. The last couple of Talladegas have been pretty calm, everybody has been relatively respectful to what is going on. It's one of those things that you kind of judge the situation at the time and take it from there."

Edwards, though, has an idea of how he might handle Sunday's Amp Energy 500.

"I'll probably be glued to Jimmie, no matter where he's at," Edwards said.

"If him and Greg [Biffle] and I can just stay together, and make sure we either all avoid or either all get in the same wrecks, then we'll probably be all right. If I'm running fifth and Jimmie falls back to 40th to ride around and watch some action, I will probably be following him back there, and vice-versa, I assume.

"If somebody said, 'Hey, will you take 10th at Talladega, right now? You don't have to run the race.' I'd take in it a heartbeat. I'd pay a million dollars for it, because you just don't know what's going to happen there."

In 2004, Jeff Gordon entered the Talladega Chase race as the points leader.

He finished 19th that day, lost the top spot and went on to finish third that year.

Johnson had a seven-point lead entering Talladega in 2005, finished 31st and lost his position.

He went on to place fifth in the standings.

Jeff Burton entered and exited Talladega with the points lead in 2006 but his advantage went from 61 points to six after the race, starting his slide.

He finished the Chase seventh that season.

Last year, Johnson entered Talladega first but was passed by Gordon. Johnson rallied to win the title.

Drivers move

A pair of driver changes were announced Tuesday that include Dale Earnhardt Inc., losing a driver for next season.

Paul Menard announced that he'll leave DEI after this season to join Yates Racing. Menard with take his sponsor -- his family's company -- with him to Yates.

Red Bull Racing announced that Mike Skinner and Scott Speed will replace AJ Allmendinger the rest of the season. The team had previously announced that Allmendinger would not return after this season.

Michael Waltrip Racing also announced Tuesday night that Kenny Wallace will replace rookie Michael McDowell for the Talladega race. The team said it had not determined who would be in the car in the remaining races this season.

Skinner is scheduled to drive the car this weekend at Talladega and at Charlotte. Speed, expected to move into the car full time next year, is set to make his Cup debut at Charlotte in a third Red Bull car.

He'll then run Allmendinger's car the final five events of the season, including Martinsville.

Speed, a California native, competed in Formula One for two seasons with a best finish of ninth. He's since competed in truck events, winning once, and leads the ARCA points standings with two races left, including this weekend at Talladega.

He leads Ricky Stenhouse Jr., a development driver for Roush Fenway Racing, by 65 points in the season standings.

Allmendinger, who is 36th in the driver standings, had been with the team since its inception last year and scored a career-best ninth-place finish Sunday at Kansas Speedway.

Menard, who is 28th in the standings, has been with DEI since 2005.

He moved from DEI's Nationwide team to Cup last year. He is the third driver to leave DEI since last year.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. left after last season to Hendrick Motorsports. Mark Martin will leave after this season to Hendrick.

Aric Almirola will replace Martin. Martin Truex Jr. signed a contract extension that keeps him with the team through next year, and Regan Smith also drives for the team. Questions persist about sponsorship for Almirola and Smith for next season.

Pit stops

The highest a rookie has finished in a Cup race this year is 13th by Sam Hornish Jr., at the Coca-Cola 600. Rookies have won at least one race a year every season since 1999 except one. ... Drivers contending for the Chase have won the last 10 races. The last non-Chase driver to win a Chase race was Greg Biffle at Kansas last year. ... Tony Stewart is winless in 19 Cup starts at Talladega but has six second-place finishes there.