The 12 Contenders at Talladega Superspeedway
Driver
|
Races
|
Poles
|
Wins
|
Top Fives
|
Top 10s
|
DNFs
|
Average Finish
|
Driver Rating
| ||
1
|
Joey Logano
|
11
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
4
|
4
|
20.7
|
81.7
| |
2
|
Kyle Busch
|
19
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
5
|
5
|
21.4
|
81.1
| |
3
|
Kevin Harvick
|
27
|
1
|
1
|
6
|
11
|
2
|
15.9
|
78.0
| |
4
|
Ryan Newman
|
25
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
9
|
8
|
21.5
|
69.1
| |
5
|
Carl Edwards
|
20
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
5
|
6
|
21.1
|
67.3
| |
6
|
Jeff Gordon
|
43
|
3
|
6
|
15
|
19
|
9
|
16.7
|
80.6
| |
7
|
Denny Hamlin
|
17
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
6
|
3
|
19.1
|
83.1
| |
8
|
Kasey Kahne
|
21
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
5
|
3
|
21.5
|
70.0
| |
9
|
Matt Kenseth
|
29
|
0
|
1
|
5
|
9
|
4
|
18.3
|
90.9
| |
10
|
Brad Keselowski
|
11
|
0
|
2
|
3
|
6
|
1
|
16.4
|
79.7
| |
11
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
25
|
1
|
2
|
6
|
10
|
8
|
17.2
|
85.9
| |
12
|
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
|
29
|
0
|
5
|
10
|
14
|
5
|
15.0
|
90.3
|
* – Based on last 19 races at Talladega Superspeedway (2005 – 2014).
Talladega Superspeedway:
History
· Construction began on what was then known as the Alabama International Motor Speedway on May 23, 1968.
· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on Sept. 14, 1969 – won by Richard Brickhouse.
· The name changed to Talladega Superspeedway in 1989.
· Fourth repaving completed on Sept. 19, 2006.
Notebook
· There have been 90 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Talladega Superspeedway, one NSCS event in 1969 and two races per year since 1970.
· Talladega Superspeedway is tied with Michigan International Speedway for holding the ninth most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points paying races (90).
· 438 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega; 299 in more than one.
· Dave Marcis leads the series in starts at Talladega with 61. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 43 starts; followed by Joe Nemechek with 38.
· Bobby Isaac won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Talladega in 1969 with a speed of 199.466 mph. Isaac won the first three poles at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.
· 37 drivers have Coors Light poles at Talladega, led by Bill Elliott with eight. Joe Nemechek leads all active drivers with four; followed by Jeff Gordon with three.
· 10 drivers have won consecutive Coors Light poles at Talladega. Bill Elliott holds the record for most consecutive poles at Talladega with six (1985 - 1987).
· Youngest Talladega pole winner: Brian Scott (05/04/2014 – 26 years, 3 months, 22 days).
· Oldest Talladega pole winner: Mark Martin (10/23/2011 – 52 years, 9 months, 14 days).
· 44 different drivers have won at Talladega Superspeedway, led by Dale Earnhardt with 10. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with six.
· Richard Childress Racing has the most wins at Talladega in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with 12; followed by Hendrick Motorsports with 11.
· Nine different manufacturers have won in the NSCS at Talladega; led by Chevrolet with 39 victories; followed byFord with 20 and Toyota with three.
· 13 of the 90 (14.4%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Talladega have been won from the Coors Light pole.Jeff Gordon (2007) is the only active driver to be able to accomplish the feat.
· The outside front row (second-place) starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (20) than any other starting position at Talladega.
· 33 of the 90 (36.6%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Talladega have been won from the front row: 13 from the pole and 20 from second-place.
· 62 of the 90 (68.8%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Talladega have been won from a top-10 starting position.
· 8 of the 90 (8.8%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Talladega have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.
· The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Talladega was 36th, by Jeff Gordon in the spring of 2000.
· Youngest Talladega winner: Bobby Hillin Jr. (07/27/1986 – 22 years, 1 month, 22 days).
· Oldest Talladega winner: Harry Gant (05/06/1991 – 51 years, 3 months, 26 days).
· Buddy Baker and Tony Stewart are tied for the series’ most runner-up finishes at Talladega with six each.
· NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt leads the series in top-five finishes at Talladega with 23. Jeff Gordonleads all active drivers with 15.
· Dale Earnhardt leads the series in top-10 finishes at Talladega with 27. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 19.
· Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Talladega with a 10.520.
· Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Talladega with a 15.000.
· There have been seven NSCS races resulting with a green-white-checkered finish at Talladega Superspeedway: spring of 2005 (188/194), fall of 2005 (188/190), spring of 2007 (188/192), fall of 2008 (188/190) spring of 2010 (188/200), fall of 2012 (188/189) and spring of 2013 (188/192).
· Only two of the 90 races at Talladega Superspeedway have been shortened due to weather conditions: spring of 1987 and fall of 1996.
· Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway five times; most recently fall of 2013.
· Jamie McMurray (10/06/2002) made his series debut at Talladega Superspeedway.
· Brian Scott (05/04/2014), David Gilliland (10/08/2006) and Travis Kvapil (10/05/2008) posted their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light poles at Talladega.
· 2012 series champion Brad Keselowski (04/26/2009) and Brian Vickers (10/08/2006) posted their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Talladega.
· Nine drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series have posted consecutive wins at Talladega; Dale Earnhardt Jr.leads the series in consecutive wins at Talladega after posting four straight from the fall of 2001 – 2003.
· Brad Keselowski is the only active series driver to win at Talladega in his first appearance.
· Matt Kenseth competed at Talladega Superspeedway 25 times before winning the fall of 2012; the longest span of any the 12 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners.
· Matt Kenseth (25), Tony Stewart (19), Kevin Harvick (18), and David Ragan (12) all made 10 or more attempts before their first win at Talladega.
· Joe Nemechek leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Talladega without visiting Victory Lane at 38; followed by Kurt Busch with 27.
· Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway was the (04/17/2011) race won by Jimmie Johnson with a MOV of 0.002 second – the MOV is tied with the 2003 Darlington race as the closest finishes in the NSCS using electronic scoring.
· Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Talladega with 844 laps led in 43 starts.
· Three female drivers have competed at Talladega in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Janet Guthrie, Patty Moise and Danica Patrick.
Driver
|
Starting Position
|
Finishing Position
|
Date
|
Danica Patrick
|
7
|
22
|
5/4/2014
|
Danica Patrick
|
23
|
33
|
10/20/2013
|
Danica Patrick
|
23
|
33
|
5/5/2013
|
Patty Moise
|
36
|
33
|
7/30/1989
|
Janet Guthrie
|
12
|
29
|
8/6/1978
|
Janet Guthrie
|
9
|
34
|
8/7/1977
|
Janet Guthrie
|
13
|
32
|
5/1/1977
|
NASCAR in Alabama
· There have been 109 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races among seven different tracks in Alabama.
Track Name
|
City
|
NSCS
|
Talladega Superspeedway
|
Talladega
|
90
|
Birmingham International Raceway
|
Birmingham
|
8
|
Montgomery Motor Speedway
|
Montgomery
|
6
|
Lakeview Speedway
|
Mobile
|
2
|
Chisholm Speedway
|
Montgomery
|
1
|
Dixie Speedway
|
Birmingham
|
1
|
Huntsville Speedway
|
Huntsville
|
1
|
· 70 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as Alabama.
· Nine drivers from Alabama have won at least one race in NASCAR’s three national series; five have won in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Driver
|
NSCS
|
NNS
|
NCWTS
|
Bobby Allison
|
84
|
2
|
0
|
Davey Allison
|
19
|
0
|
0
|
Neil Bonnett
|
18
|
1
|
0
|
Donnie Allison
|
10
|
0
|
0
|
Red Byron
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
Steve Grissom
|
0
|
11
|
0
|
Rick Crawford
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
Darrell Wallace Jr
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
Cale Gale
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
No comments:
Post a Comment