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 – won by Richard Brickhouse.

·         The name changed to Talladega Superspeedway in 1989.

·         Fourth repaving completed on Sept. 19, 2006.

Notebook

·         There have been 87 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 (87).  

·         429 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega; 294 in more than one.

·         Dave Marcis leads the series in starts at Talladega with 61. Terry Labonte leads all active drivers with 57 starts; followed by Michael Waltrip with 53.

·         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.

·         36 drivers have Coors Light poles at Talladega, led by Bill Elliott with eight. Joe Nemechek leads all active drivers with four.

·         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: Jimmie Johnson (4/21/2002 – 26 years, 7 months, 4 days).

·         Oldest Talladega pole winner: Mark Martin (10/23/2012 – 52 years, 9 months, 14 days).

·         47 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 38 victories; followed by Ford with 19.

·         13 of the 87 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Talladega have been won from the Coors Light pole. Only two active drivers have been able to accomplish the feat: Bobby Labonte (1998) and Jeff Gordon (2007).  

·         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. (7/27/1986 – 22 years, 1 month, 22 days).

·         Oldest Talladega winner: Harry Gant (5/6/1991 – 51 years, 3 months, 26 days).

·         Buddy Baker and Tony Stewart are tied for theseries 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 Gordon leads all active drivers with 15.

·         Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Talladega with a 10.182.

·         Brad Keselowski leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Talladega with a 12.250.

·         There have been six 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) and fall of 2012 (188/189).

·         Only two of the 87 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 at Talladega Superspeedway three times; most recently spring of 2010.

·         Jamie McMurray (10/6/2002) made his series debut at Talladega Superspeedway.

·         Juan Pablo Montoya (4/26/2009), David Gilliland (10/8/2006) and Travis Kvapil (10/5/2008) posted their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Coors Light poles at Talladega.

·         2012 series champion Brad Keselowski (4/26/2009), Brian Vickers (10/8/2006) and Ken Schrader (7/31/1988) posted their first NASCAR Sprint Cup 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 consecutive wins from the fall of 2001 – 2003.

·         15 of the 16 active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners at Talladega Superspeedway participated in at least one or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Brad Keselowski is the only active series driver to winat Talladega in his first appearance.

·         Matt Kenseth competed at Talladega Superspeedway 25 times before winning last fall; the longest span of any the 16 active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners.

·         Matt Kenseth (25), Terry Labonte (21), Tony Stewart (19), Kevin Harvick (18) and Mark Martin (18) all made 10 or more attempts before their first win at Talladega.

·         Jeff Burton leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup starts at Talladega without visiting Victory Lane at 38.

·         Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway was the race on April 17, 2011 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.

·         Two female drivers have competed at Talladega in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series–

o    Janet Guthrie made three Talladega starts:

§ (5/1/1977) - starting 13th and finishing 32nd

§ (8/7/1977) - starting ninth and finishing 34th

§ (8/6/1978) – starting 12th and finishing 29th

 

o    Patty Moise made one Talladega start:

§ (7/30/1989) - starting 13th and finishing 32nd

·         Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Talladega with 839 laps led in 40 starts.