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 88 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 (88).

·        431 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 58 starts; followed by Michael Waltrip with 54.

·        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).

·        43 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 20.

·        13 of the 88 (14.7%) 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 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 88 (37.5%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Talladega have been won from the front row: 13 from the pole and 20 from second-place.

·        62 of the 88 (70.4%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Talladega have been won from a top-10 starting position.

·        7 of the 88 (7.9%) NASCAR Sprint Cup 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. (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.

·        Dale Earnhardt leads the series in top-10 finishes at Talladega with 27. Mark Martin leads all active drivers with 24.

·        Trevor Bayne leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Talladega with a 9.800.

·        Brad Keselowski leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Talladega with a 12.556.

·        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 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 Series at Talladega Superspeedway four times; most recently spring of 2013.

·        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 Series 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 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 consecutive wins from the fall of 2001-2003.

·        16 of the 17 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 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 17 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners.

·        Matt Kenseth (25), Terry Labonte (21), Tony Stewart (19), Kevin Harvick (18), Mark Martin (18) and David Ragan (12) 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 39.

·        Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway was the (4/17/2011) 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 839 laps led in 40 starts.

·        Three female drivers have competed at Talladega in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Janet Guthrie, Patty Moise and Danica Patrick.