Talladega Superspeedway:

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.

·         The name changed to Talladega Superspeedway in 1989.

·         Fourth repaving completed on Sept. 19, 2006.

 

Notebook

·         There have been 84 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Talladega Superspeedway since the track opened in 1969; two a year every year except the inaugural season, which had just one.

·         Richard Brickhouse won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

·         Bobby Isaac won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole in September 1969. Isaac won the first three poles there.

·         35 different drivers have won poles. Bill Elliott leads all drivers with eight poles.

·         41 different drivers have posted victories, led by Dale Earnhardt Sr. (10). Eighteen drivers have won more than once.

·         Jeff Gordon leads all other active drivers in victories, with six. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is second among active drivers in victories with five.

·         Richard Childress Racing and Hendrick Motorsports have won more than any other organization at Talladega with 11 wins each.

·         33 of 84 races have been won from the top-two starting positions, including 13 from the pole; 23 have been won from a starting position outside the top 10. The most recent driver to win from the pole was Jeff Gordon in 2007 (spring).

·         The furthest back in the field a race winner started was 36th, by Jeff Gordon in 2000.

·         Mark Martin’s pace in the 1997 spring race set an all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup record for the fastest race ever. He won the caution-free race with an average speed of 188.354 mph and covered the 500-mile distance in two hours, 39 minutes and 18 seconds.

·         The 2010 spring race set the all-time and track records for lead changes (88) and lap leaders (29). The lead change record was matched last April. The previous highs were 75 lead changes (set on May 6, 1984) and 28 lap leaders (set on Oct. 5, 2008). Both previous records also were set at Talladega.

·         Dale Earnhardt Jr. had four consecutive victories (October 2001 through April 2003), the most ever by a driver there. Buddy Baker (three – May 1975 through May 1976) is the only other driver to win more than two consecutive races there.

·         Since the inception of electronic scoring in 1993, every race that has ended under green has had a margin of victory under half a second.

·         The season’s spring race tied the March 16, 2003 Darlington race won by Ricky Craven for the all-time record of the closest series finish (0.002 seconds) since the inception of electronic scoring.

 

Talladega Superspeedway Data

Race #: 32 of 36 (10-23-11)

Track Size: 2.66 miles

·     Banking/Corners: 33 degrees

·     Banking/Frontstretch: 16.5 degrees

·     Banking/Backstretch: 2 degrees

·     Frontstretch: 4,300 feet

·     Backstretch: 4,000 feet

 

Driver Rating at Talladega 

Dale Earnhardt Jr.         92.7

 

Denny Hamlin                90.9

Joey Logano                 90.2

Jeff Burton                   88.9

David Ragan                 87.1

Kurt Busch                    86.9

Brian Vickers                 85.4

Jeff Gordon                  84.4

Jimmie Johnson                        83.8

Tony Stewart                 82.5

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2011 races (13 total) at Talladega.

 

Qualifying/Race Data

2010 pole winner: Juan Pablo Montoya (184.640 mph, 51.863 seconds)

2010 race winner: Clint Bowyer (163.618 mph, 10-31-10)

Track qualifying record: Bill Elliott (212.809 mph, 44.998 seconds, 04-30-87)

Track race record: Mark Martin (188.354 mph, 05-10-97)