Monday, April 27, 2015

Talladega SuperSpeedway Track Facts: 2015 Geico 500

Talladega means you can't count any driver out; everyone has a chance to win with cars that are pretty equal
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2015 Top 16 at Talladega Superspeedway
Rank
Driver
Races
Poles
Wins
Top Fives
Top 10s
DNFs
Average Finish
Driver Rating
 
 
1
Kevin Harvick
28
1
1
6
12
2
15.6
78.8
 
2
Joey Logano
12
0
0
2
4
4
19.9
82.2
 
3
Martin Truex Jr.
20
0
0
1
6
9
21.3
78.6
 
4
Jimmie Johnson
26
1
2
6
10
8
17.5
87.5
 
5
Brad Keselowski
12
0
3
4
7
1
15.1
82.9
 
6
Kasey Kahne
22
1
0
3
5
3
21.1
71.7
 
7
Matt Kenseth
30
0
1
6
10
4
17.8
89.9
 
8
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
30
0
5
10
14
5
15.5
90.7
 
9
Jamie McMurray
25
0
2
6
7
4
20.4
79.8
 
10
Jeff Gordon
44
3
6
15
19
9
17.0
79.1
 
11
Aric Almirola
10
0
0
0
1
1
21.1
79.2
 
12
Denny Hamlin
18
0
1
4
6
3
19.0
82.0
 
13
Paul Menard
17
0
0
2
3
6
21.5
74.4
 
14
Clint Bowyer
18
0
2
6
10
3
14.4
78.5
 
15
Ryan Newman
26
0
0
5
10
8
20.9
68.6
 
16
Danica Patrick
4
0
0
0
0
1
26.8
71.7
 
* – Based on last 20 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 91 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).  
·         439 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega; 302 in more than one.
·         Dave Marcis and Terry Labonte lead the series in starts at Talladega with 61 each. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 44 starts; followed by Tony Stewart with 31.
·         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.
·         38 drivers have Coors Light poles at Talladega, led by Bill Elliott with eight. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers 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 21 and Toyota with three.
·         13 of the 91 (14.2%) 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 91 (36.2%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Talladega have been won from the front row: 13 from the pole and 20 from second-place.
·         63 of the 91 (69.2%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Talladega have been won from a top-10 starting position.
·         8 of the 91 (8.7%) 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 10.192.
·         Clint Bowyer leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Talladega with a 14.444.
·         There have been eight 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), spring of 2013 (188/192) and fall of 2014 (188/194).
·         Only two of the 91 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.
·         Kurt Busch leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Talladega without visiting Victory Lane at 28; followed by Ryan Newman with 26.
·         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 847 laps led in 44 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
27
19
10/19/2014
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 110 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races among seven different tracks in Alabama.
Track Name
City
NSCS
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega
91
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
NXS
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
5
Cale Gale
0
0
1


 
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES MILESTONES – TALLADEGA

DRIVER
HAS
NEEDS
MILESTONE
David Ragan
299
1
300th NSCS Start - Ragan is 88th on the all-time NSCS starts list, one start behind Paul Menard in 87th (300).
Carl Edwards
374
1
375th Consecutive NSCS Start - Edwards is tied with Bobby Allison (374) for 25th on the all-time NSCS consecutive starts list, one start away from being the sole driver in the 25th position (375).
Matt Kenseth
32
1
33rd NSCS Win - Kenseth is tied with Dale Jarrett for 22nd on the all-time NSCS wins list, one win behind Fireball Roberts in 21st (33 wins).
Jimmie Johnson
198
2
200th NSCS Top-Five Finish - Johnson is 14th on the all-time NSCS top fives list. With two more top fives, he’ll be one of 12 drivers with 200 top fives (NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Benny Parsons is 13th, with 199).
Jeff Gordon
24,778
222
25,000 NSCS Laps Led - Gordon can become the sixth driver in NSCS history to lead 25,000 laps.
Kevin Harvick
952
48
1,000 Laps Led In First 10 Races - Harvick can become the ninth driver in series history to lead 1,000 laps or more in the first 10 races of a season.
#43 car
199
1
200 NSCS Wins - The No. 43 car is second on the all-time NSCS wins list, five wins behind the No. 11 car in first (204).

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