Category: NASCAR Cup PR

Toyota Racing – Matt DiBenedetto
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Talladega Superspeedway – April 26, 2019

Leavine Family Racing driver Matt DiBenedetto was made available to the media in Talladega:

Matt DiBenedetto, No. 95 Procore Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing

How did practice go for you?

“We didn’t get to draft yet so I actually had to watch pretty closely to see what to expect. We were working on single car stuff and getting some of our little quirks and little issues right. There was different single car stuff that we had to work on and get right. I don’t know, it’s weird and it’s different. I think the runs are really big and I hope I’m wrong, but I think there’s going to be the potential for more crashes because the runs are so big. When we led at Daytona, we were able to kind of manage both lanes and lead for a long time. I think it’s going to be harder to do that now.”

What is your plan for final practice?

“I think we’re going to try to get out there in a little group now and see how our car is when we get up to speed. We haven’t been up to group speed yet. Get out there and make sure the car drives okay and basically for us to learn and figure out what its going to drive like, how it will suck up and how are we going to be able to race and make moves.”

Do you come here with more confidence after the run at Daytona?

“I think one because it was encouraging how we worked with our Toyota teammates and how fast our cars were, how good of a job the team did, but two it was nice that we gained a lot of respect from others so that helps you when you are racing at a plate track and gives you more confidence. You gain the respect of some others and little trust in you and then you can work together better.”

Could there be a possibility to work with the Chevrolet teams like you did in Daytona?

“I don’t know and I don’t have a good answer. I think as far as working with other people, you’ll still want your dancing partners and we’ll be looking for our Toyota teammates. We’ve got a good little group of us out there this weekend. We showed at Daytona that we worked together really well. I don’t know what the strategy will be because we still have a lot to learn here in second practice. We haven’t been in a draft yet so we have a lot to learn in another practice. Racing will be different, runs will be bigger so it’s going to be a lot of learning as you go.”

Toyota Racing – Erik Jones
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Talladega Superspeedway – April 26, 2019

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones was made available to the media in Talladega:

ERIK JONES, No. 20 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Can you talk about the sensation you felt during the first practice session?

“It feels really fast, but you look at the speeds and look at the times and actually the fastest car wasn’t even as fast as we were here last year. I think it’s a matter of just working on the stuff and getting it driving better. I think we missed it a little bit this morning on our heights and some of the handling stuff. I feel like we learned a lot for the next practice to get out Stanley Camry where it needs to be. It’s just different, a lot different from what we had.”

Is it different from what you expected?

“So far, yes. Our cars – I think we’re just missing a little bit handling-wise right now. I watched some of the other guys and they looked pretty stable. I think the cars are going to drive fairly easy compared to last year. We just need to get the balance there. The only thing, I thought we would have seen some tandem drafting pretty quickly. We haven’t seen that. It doesn’t look like guys can get that to work. I don’t know if that’s going to come in or not, but looks like a challenge right now.”

Would it be politically correct to go with another car that isn’t a Toyota teammate?

“At the end of the race I think we kind of go all for one at that point. You’re trying to win the race and we want one of our cars to win the race. Obviously, we would like to stay together – that’s our plan and that’s what we want to do and that’s what has worked at least since I’ve been around. There’s been times too where you have to work with other people. If there’s guys – you can’t always get lined up with your counterparts there with Toyota. We only have seven cars this weekend and that’s not a huge amount. It’s tough at times to keep it all together.”

Did the practice give you an idea of how the racing might look on Sunday?

“It’s just going to be crazy. It’s just going to be wild and it was already wild last year, but with as easy as these cars are going to be to drive in a pack and as fast as it’s going to be once everybody gets their stuff driving right and we get in a big pack, it’s going to be pretty wild. You can get really big runs. When I fell back and joined the pack, I was able to fall way back and get a big run to the pack so it’s going to make it pretty interesting.”

Where is your team compared to your other three teammates who have won races?

“I think speed-wise, we’re there. Bristol and Texas I felt like we had cars that could have won. Bristol we had a loose when that put us out of it, a couple loose wheels. Then Texas, strategy just didn’t work out at the end for us. I feel like we’re there, we just need to execute and work out some other issues that we have. Speed-wise and handling-wise, I feel like our cars are plenty capable. Going to Dover, I think we’ll be fast again and even this weekend we should have a good shot. We’re there, we just have some other issues to iron out.”

Does knowing you have the speed and just need to work on execution to get the win keep you from getting too worked up over not having a win yet this season?

“It does a little bit. It’s easy to get frustrated when you feel like you have cars that are capable of winning and you’re not doing it. For me, it is nice. When you have fast cars, it’s going to go your way eventually. If you have the speed and you have the car to do it, everything else will go along with that. With a good team like JGR, everybody is able to work together and put the pieces in that we need to have.”

Are things still in place to possibly work with the Chevrolet teams like Toyota did in Daytona?

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t heard anything this weekend as far as that goes. For right now, I think it’s just us Toyotas working together. I thought we had a good situation there in Daytona where we all helped each other and got a good finish out of it. I haven’t heard anything yet. I think it’s too early with this package yet. We need another practice here where everybody gets their stuff driving the way it needs to and we can go out and really learn about it. I don’t feel like we got a fair swing at learning what this package does yet, with our car at least so we need one more session.”

How did working together help at Daytona?

“For me, it didn’t matter at the end because we had so much other stuff happen. I think in the mid-part of the race, it was a big help. We were up front – when we had our first issue, we lost fuel pressure, but we were running third when that happened. I think that was due to just having more cars. Having more cars to help, the easier it makes your day. With six Toyotas, it can be challenging at times to battle the whole pack no matter how fast we are and we’re usually pretty fast in our group, but just sometimes not enough to combat the others.”

Why do you think we’ve seen fewer cautions this season?

“I don’t know, it’s tough to say. The cars right now definitely drive easier on the mile-and-a-halves than they have the last few years. Especially compared to the low downforce package. You can still get in some bad spots, it’s just easier to guard against them now than with what we had in the low downforce stuff. Guys just know, everybody’s gotten so good and so smart at this level that a lot of times guys aren’t going to put the competitors in a spot to know they’re going to wreck because it’s a potential for them to wreck too. Then guys are not going to put themselves in a situation where they can potentially cause a wreck. I think everybody has just learned what the limits are and they’re not going past them. The cars right now are not on edge by any stretch on mile-and-a-halves in a lot of situations. It doesn’t produce any kind of crashing in that sense.”

What does it mean when you say, ‘not on edge?’

“It’s not a Sunday drive by any means, but compared to, if you think back to the low downforce package, a lot of times you had to run the car either on the edge of the frontend of the edge of the rear-end and at times being free was good and it was fast. A lot of guys that were quick were very free. With the new package, you’re just so locked in. At Texas, when we took the lead, I was wide open and felt like I was running around here by myself. There wasn’t any sense – there was no off-throttle time. The off-throttle time, the braking, the steering input creates that on-edge feeling and when you don’t have that, it’s hard to get yourself in trouble. If you’re never coming all the way out of the gas, you’re usually pretty locked in.”

Is superspeedway a mental game as much as anything else?

“It is, I think superspeedway racing is. You look at it, if we’re running by ourselves, there’s no way around it and it’s pretty easy. Most of any of us that have driven a car before can run around here by ourselves, but when you get in the pack it’s really a different skill set. It’s unique to here and Daytona. You really have to go about the race a lot differently. It’s a very mental game and you’re not really fighting the car necessarily as much, but you’re fighting your competitors. As close as the racing is, you’re running 500 miles around here so close to each other at such a high rate of speed, you don’t want to be that guy that triggers a big wreck and you don’t want to be the guy that’s getting caught up in a big wreck. There’s a lot of things going through your mind just trying to keep yourself in the right position to have a shot to win. That’s where the real game comes in. It’s a mental game here at these tracks.”

How difficult is it to get to pit road at Talladega?

“It’s pretty tough actually. Getting on pit road under green flag conditions is an art in its own. I got caught up in a wreck here a couple years ago getting onto pit road. We weren’t pitting, but there were a lot of other guys that were pitting, and we were involved in it. It’s just tough. Everybody has to be on the same page. If there’s one or two guys that aren’t on the same page as everybody else and they’re staying out and everybody else is pitting, it’s probably going to cause a pretty big wreck. You get two lanes and if everybody can’t get to the bottom, those guys trying to pit from the middle and the outside lanes are when you get those problems. It’s tough, just getting slowed down by yourself and getting to pit road is hard here because you’re going so fast. You get small brakes here, we don’t run our normal intermediate brake package – they’re really small, specialized brakes and it just makes it tough to get slowed down.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, April 26, 2019
EVENT: GEICO 500 Media Rotations

DAVID RAGAN, No. 38 Shriners Hospitals for Children Ford Mustang – WHAT DID YOU PICK UP ON IN PRACTICE? “I think we have learned that it isn’t fun to wreck in practice so we try to be a little conservative. Right off the bat I felt my car accelerate right off the bat from pit road, a lot faster than normal at a speedway. I felt the runs were incredible. I have never been able to get such a quick run catching a car in front of me. There is a point when you stall out a little bit when you get really close because you are taking drag off the car in front of you before you actually get to the bumper. They will start to accelerate some then. I felt like I could push pretty good. I don’t think that the tandem deal that we have all thought about it going to be a reality but I do think that the cars are still pretty fast and handling will still come into play but I felt like the runs you get, 15 car lengths back to 10 to 5 are as dramatic as I have ever felt.”

THE TANDEM DOESN’T WORK BECAUSE THE CARS DON’T MATCH UP? “There are three or four factors. The cars don’t line up as well. With the rear spring rules we have the cars travel a lot more and aren’t as compliant in the rear so they bounce around more. And you have more horsepower and are able to catch up at a faster rate. The advantage of what you had in tandem doesn’t really surface because you can catch up on your own, if that makes sense. I think you will be able to hook up at times but the bumpers don’t line up good enough to push too hard.”

WHAT WILL SUNDAY LOOK LIKE VISUALLY? “Over 500 miles I think you will see a lot of everything. All the fans want us to run three-wide for 500 miles but that isn’t practical because the money and points isn’t paid until the checkered flag drops. I know that at the end of stages, business picks up a little bit because there are points on the line. There are going to be points where we will be single-file and guys will just kind of be cruising a little bit. 500 miles is a long race here. Nobody wants to wreck on lap 50 or 75. I think that it will be intense at periods of time because you can get really good runs. I think the leader is at a disadvantage, more so than years past, and I think that whoever leads the field will not have that advantage of back and forth like we have seen at plate races before. I think we will see passing going on, but I don’t think it is going to be crazy for 500 miles because we can’t sustain that. Guys will be wrecking.”

WILL WE SEE ANOTHER FORD FREIGHT TRAIN LIKE LAST YEAR? “No. I think the other manufacturers have gotten smarter and there is only one so many ways to skin a cat. I think that with strategy and our team efforts they were a year or two in front of everybody else and we were able to capitalize on that. Anything that is really good is only short lived because everybody else picks up on the same strategy. We saw that at the Daytona 500. The Fords have dominated the plate races the last three years because of our engine program and we all worked together but the other manufacturers got tired of getting beat up and they started working together. I don’t think you will see that domination. I hope so, but I don’t think you will see it again. We will have to figure out something else.”

CAN THE TANDEM WORK IN A SHORT BURST IF YOU NEEDED IT TO, OR CAN THE CARS JUST NOT MATCH UP ANYMORE? “I think in a perfect world you could do it for one corner and a straightaway but I don’t know that you would be able to do it for an entire lap and certainly maneuver around traffic. I think that is what made the tandem work so well years ago, you could maneuver in and around traffic. The rear springs today make the cars harsher and travel lower and it is harder to drive. That guy in the front is going to get wrecked. There aren’t too many people that want to volunteer to be that front guy. The Chevrolet nose is way too pointed too. I wouldn’t want a Chevrolet pushing me like that. There are some factors that will eliminate certain guys from doing it but I think maybe at the end of a stage or race it will be all hands on deck, but there will be a lot of risk involved.”

WHAT IS THE EXPECTATION FOR SUNDAY THEN AFTER PRACTICE? “It still isn’t clear but the expectation for me is to limit my mistakes, not have mistakes on pit road or make bonehead moves in the race and lose all my track position. If I am up front I want to race hard and hold onto my track position. If I get in the middle, three-wide, and get uncomfortable I am gonna lift a little bit and ride to the next pit stop. You have to be there at the end and there is no clear algorithm that we have seem that tells you when and where the wrecks happen. They are all over the place. You have to race by your gut and see what your gut tells you.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, April 26, 2019
EVENT: GEICO 500 Media Availability

CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Toco Warranty Ford Mustang — DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE BETTER TO BE OUT FRONT IN THE FINAL LAP OR BE SECOND OR THIRD OR WHAT? “It is always better to be out front whether you are at Talladega or Texas or anywhere in between. Out front is where everyone wants to be. It is the hardest place to get to and the hardest place to stay. So many things can happen on the last lap at one of these plate tracks like this. You have to be the first guy. We have seen the videos – myself even – where I passed Jeff Burton coming to the line. My teammate Kevin Harvick made a pass coming to the line. Those scenarios can happen and as long as the caution doesn’t come out before then, it can happen. There are so many different scenarios that can take that win from you. If you are in second place thinking you are in the catbird seat to slingshot by ‘em coming off of four on the front straightaway and then because of a cation you don’t get that opportunity. Out front is the place to be. It doesn’t matter where you are at. If you woke up every day of your life and knew what the future would hold, that would be a pretty boring life. That is what is cool about Talladega. I don’t know. A lot of people wake up in the morning wishing the night before didn’t happen at Talladega. Nonetheless, I hope my hangover is Monday morning from celebrating a Sunday victory.”

DO YOU ENJOY THIS STYLE OR RACING THOUGH? “I think you have to. Every track, every scenario and place we go, they all have their own challenges in their own way. The team aspect here, I think has played out more than any on these plate tracks. You are working so hard with your spotter and trying to visualize the scenario that you need to be in with the right cars in the right place for that magical push. Then all of a sudden you don’t know if the push will be there or if he is going to go around you or side-draft. That is where the strategy comes down to it, making sure you do enough of a good job to put yourself in a scenario where the car behind you has no choice but to benefit from pushing you. That is the key to having success here. Good old fashioned luck goes a long way here sometimes. The big one happens. Something chaotic happens. These stages have really compiled racing within the race. It isn’t just all about the end. As the stages come to an end, the first and second stages you really see the intensity pick up and it kind of gives you a glimpse of what you will see at the end and some carnage can happen at those. You have to be careful and cautious and lucky enough to get through there to get your points. But the place to be Talladega is no different than anywhere, it is out front. If you are ahead of all of that it doesn’t matter what happens in the mirror.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE SHR IS GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION NOW AFTER THE WEST COAST SWING TO BE ABLE TO START COMPETING WITH PENSKE AND GIBBS? “Well, I think that the start of our season is just one or the other. Everybody works hard in the off-season and puts in the due diligence and works hard to make sure that we hit the ground running and sometimes that doesn’t work. Last year with the Stewart-Haas cars we rolled through the west coast swing and came out with confidence and didn’t really need to work on much. We had a lot of strengths and a few weaknesses we needed to polish up but we really were strong early and got that points base established early and we rode that wave on through the summer months. This year we missed. We weren’t exactly where we wanted to be or where we thought we would be or where the plan was through the west coast swing. Once you get back with a group like we have, a group of racers in the trenches at Stewart-Haas Racing you knew it wouldn’t take long to get to the punch and get our cars right. Meeting after meeting and talk after talk, the people, it all comes back to the people working tirelessly to get our cars turned around and I think the results the last month really proved it. We knocked on the door pretty hard and Kevin has been running well and Aric has been running well. Our cars are good. It is exciting times right now. That first group of tracks is behind us and we have learned what we need to learn and put it to good use.”

AT THE 550 HP RACES THERE WAS SPECULATION AT THE START OF THE YEAR THAT THERE WOULD BE MORE WRECKS. WHY HASN’T THERE BEEN? “What do you want me to do Bob, you want me to wreck them all? I am sorry, I can’t help but be a smart ass. It is what I am good at and I have to stick with it. The answer is this, I don’t think you can plan or ever – yes, I thought that the 550 package would create exactly what it did on the restart and things like that. I thought the intensity would be very strong on restarts on the 1.5 mile tracks in particular. We thought we would be bunched up and anytime you bunch cars up, nine times out of 10 that leads to some sort of carnage on the race track. I think the downforce aspect of the package that we are running with our cars this year is a big part of that. I think the tires is probably a bigger part of that. the cars drive really well and I think the point is proven when you put them four and five wide on restarts wide open and still don’t crash that they are pretty stable underneath. Yes, I am a little bit surprised at how well some of these restarts and some of the crazy chaotic scenarios that we have seen, because they have been there, hasn’t resulted in some wrecks. I guarantee you I have looked at a few of them out ahead of me on the west coast when I wasn’t running well and saw some things in front of me and thought, ‘Well, this is gonna hurt.’ But it never did. I think a big part of that is how stable the cars are, and the tires are very predictable. They are just more stable and they drive good.”

WHAT INFLUENCE HAS YOUR MOM HAD ON YOUR CAREER? “When I think of my mom, I think of Oklahoma. The dirt is red and all three of us brothers were racing motorcycles and racing two or three classes and we would be down there for a week. Now that I am older and have kids, it is hell for a parent. I couldn’t imagine having three kids racing all these different classes and have to keep track of that and when to be up there. It would rain and it was muddy and I remember my mom, she was like the coolest girl in the pits because my dad found her like this miniature washing machine and she was washing all the red dirt out of those clothes and trying to keep everything clean. I had white boots and she was trying to keep those clean. I remember how hard they worked to get us to the races and once you are there, oh my gosh, it is a lot of work. That wasn’t Kansas. We grew up in Kansas but we raced in Oklahoma and Texas and all over the place. My parents owned a business together and ran that together and raised three boys. We always raced. We always traveled up and down the road in a motorhome. Everyone always asks how you get used to living in a motorhome, but hell, it is the only thing I have ever lived in. A nice house is something but nothing sleeps better than a 40-foot Winnebago. It might not be a Winnebago anymore but you get the gist.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, April 26, 2019
EVENT: GEICO 500 Media Availability

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang — WHAT WILL WE SEE THIS WEEKEND? TANDEMS? WEIRD COMBINATION OF TANDEMS? NO TANDEMS AT ALL? “I will get back to you. I honestly don’t know. I think there is a lot of speculation about what we will see. I know that they did somewhat of a test at Daytona after the 500 but it was only like three cars. It is hard to tell off of that. I know they have even changed the rules since then with some of the side skirts and the stop in the rear travel an inch shorter and adding an inch of rear spoiler to the car. It will even be different from that. I don’t know really. We had an hour long conversation about that this morning in the hauler about what to expect and what we will see. I think some of the 550 tracks we have been to, California and Vegas, when you lock bumpers it hasn’t been as beneficial as what we have seen in the past. You are only talking about doing that for a straightaway, not for an entire lap. I think that is the unknown, whether or not with those drag ducts in the bottom of the nose, if that is going to allow tandems. What we saw in the past, years and years ago, tandem was pretty easy or relatively easy. The cars were all pretty common, we had common templates and the front bumpers all had a big flat surface area and the rear bumpers had a big flat surface area. There was a lot of area to lock bumpers and push. Now there is so much character in the bumpers that I think it will be pretty treacherous. If it is faster we will find a way to do it but I think it will be a lot more risky than it used to be.”

LAST FALL THE WAY STEWART-HAAS EXECUTED IN THIS RACE. HAVE YOU EVER HAD A RACE THAT WENT ACCORDING TO PLAN THAT WELL? IS THERE A CHANCE YOU GUYS CAN REPLICATE THAT ON SUNDAY? “Well, the first part to executing that was having four really fast race cars by themselves. We qualified 1-2-3-4, so right from the very get-go we were all together and able to get in line together and that basically started our plan. With us not qualifying 1-2-3-4 I don’t think you ever see that plan come to fruition. If you have one or two cars in the top-5 and the other cars in the teens, it is really hard to get all four cars linked up. You end up with so much traffic around you that it doesn’t work. Because we qualified like we did, we were able to go and execute that plan and it worked flawlessly. We pretty much dominated the race. Like I said, the key component to that was having really fast cars compared to the competition and qualifying all four cars in the top-four. We will have to wait and see where we end up in qualifying. I am sure that if we qualifying 1-2-3-4 again that we would certainly look into doing that.”

WHAT DO YOU TALK ABOUT FOR AN HOUR IF YOU DON’T REALLY KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN? “You hypothesize. You just sit there and we talked about what we were going to do for single car runs, what we are going to do for drafting and talked to some of our other Ford teammates. We talked to the crew chiefs amongst Stewart-Haas Racing and just really try to gather as much input and information going into the practice sessions as we can to be prepared. That is the biggest thing. You have conversations to be prepared so that you don’t get caught by surprise. If it looks like tandem is going to work, what do we need to do to be prepared to go and of the four cars, who is going to get together. What two cars are going to tandem together? If we are going to draft in a pack, what is that going to look like? What time do we want to do that? How many single car runs do we want to run before we do that? There is quite a bit to talk about actually. Even setup stuff and how you want your car to be set up and how you want it to drive if you plan on having somebody pushing you on your bumper versus being in a pack and drafting like we have traditionally see will be very different.”

WHAT DIFFERENTIATES THIS PLACE FROM OTHERS? “I think the one thing that differentiates Talladega from every other race track is just the wildness. All the way from the infield to the actual race on Sunday. It is an exciting place and it produces a lot of exciting and dramatic races. It puts on one hell of a show for the fans and the fans typically put on one heck of a show themselves. It is just a very unique place. It is a really cool place. It is out here in the middle of nowhere in Alabama and yet we pack this place time and time again so there is obviously something very special about it.”

HAVE YOU GUYS WORKED AT ALL WITH THE AIR AS FAR AS WIND TUNNEL GOES SO THAT YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF HOW THE FORDS WILL MATCH UP TOGETHER ONCE YOU GET ON THE RACE TRACK? “There hasn’t been a whole lot of wind tunnel testing as far as predicting the draft and tandem and all that. Most of that stuff is done on the CFD study through really smart people and computers. We have exhausted all of our resources on that to prepare and get ready. We have had these cars in the wind tunnel and trying to be prepared and ready but I think a lot of it is just predicting, just like our simulation tools, they are all just tools to predict. Then you get in the real world experience when first practice starts and you find out if your tool you were using to predict is accurate or not. If it is not, you will have some challenges and some changes that you need to make to accommodate and if it was accurate then you go into it with a good plan.”

IF YOU CAN’T FIND A FORD TO DRAFT WITH, WILL YOU JUST FIND WHOEVER IS THE BEST GUY OUT THERE OR DO YOU PUT THE “ONE FORD” FIRST? DO YOU HAVE TO ALIGN YOURSELF WITH THE BEST CAR OR WHO YOU DRAFT BETTER WITH AS OPPOSED TO A TEAMMATE OR A FELLOW BLUE OVAL? “I think what you have seen for the past several years, everybody in the Ford camp has done a really good job of working together and we have kind of put the Blue Oval first and made sure that one of our cars was going to win. Like I said earlier about executing plans, in order to execute plans you have to have fast race cars first and foremost. You aren’t going to take cars that are 25th or 30th place cars in single car speed and come up with a plan to go win. You come up with plans with fast race cars and if you execute those plans then you put yourself in position to win the race. If you look at the stats, coming here I saw something that said the last seven races in a row have been won by a Ford. That is a pretty good stat to have in your corner if you are driving a Ford coming here. I think that alone sets us up for being able to plan on having fast race cars and knowing that the other Fords in our Ford camp are going to have fast race cars. We automatically intend on working together because you know when you go start pushing a Ford or are racing around a Ford that they are going to be fast. When you are drafting with a Penske or Roush car you know they will be fast and will be able to go up front and lead laps. Same with our Stewart-Haas Racing cars. I can’t speak for everybody but for me personally, throughout 99% of the race if I have an opportunity to work with a Ford that is the choice that I will make. When it comes to the end you will do what you feel like you need to do to win. If you don’t feel like you have an opportunity to win, then you want a Ford to win. That is pretty plain and simple.”

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT NEXT WEEK AT DOVER WITH THE NEW AERO PACKAGE? “Really fast. Dover is one of the places I think that we will really, really notice the minimum speed being much faster than what we had with last years rule package. The straightaway speed I don’t think will be much different but because of all the downforce on the cars that we have now with this rules package, I think the minimum speed and the mid-corner speed will be so high. It is going to be incredibly fast. I personally think it will be similar to what I used to experience when I would go there and truck race where qualifying is crazy and you are pretty close to wide open and then in the race there is just not a lot of off-throttle time. It makes it exciting to run and make laps around there by yourself but it presents challenges to race.”

WHAT ABOUT THE TIRES? “I don’t know. I can’t speak to that. I think it could be an issue, there is certainly the potential for that. You are going to be going faster across the middle of the corner and will have more load on the tires because of the downforce and the speed being higher. I think there is potential for that but I believe Goodyear has done a tires test there earlier this year and they had wheel force transducer cars on the track there collecting data. That is in their hands. I am not going to speculate on that. I think that there is potential if they are not prepared for it.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, April 26, 2019
EVENT: GEICO 500 Media Availability

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang — WITH THE ARCA SERIES BEING HERE THIS WEEK, YOU GOT YOUR LAUNCH AS A DEVELOPMENT DRIVER AND RAN SOME RACES FOR VENTURINI MOTORSPORTS. WHAT WAS THAT EXPERIENCE LIKE? “At the time I was running a lot of the K&N Pro Series races before that and you only got to run some of the bigger tracks. Big tracks were considered Dover and New Hampshire. It is only a mile long and we consider those short tracks in todays world, in the Cup world at least. ARCA was a great avenue to be able to get experience on mile-and-a-halfs, superspeedways and things like that. Pocono, when you go there the first time to a track that is so difficult and different, to have those laps and that experience was something that helped me as a driver quite a bit. I was able to run a race here in Talladega and one in Daytona in the ARCA cars. It gives you the ability to kind of learn a little bit about the draft. Obviously when it is your first time you don’t really know what you are doing out there and you don’t know what moves to make. You can tell when you watch a race that there is inexperience mixed in with experience. Some drivers know how to make the moves and some don’t. As you move up the ranks, everyone knows what they are doing. The race looks completely different. It is just something that is a good learning tool to get you to the next step to get you a little experience before you get to the next level in the trucks and then Xfinity and Cup.”

YOU AND MARTIN (TRUEX JR.) RACED EACH OTHER CLEAN AT RICHMOND BUT MARTIN SAID HE DOESN’T KNOW IF YOU GUYS ARE GOOD. ARE YOU GUYS GOOD? “I have never had a problem with him so I guess that is his question to answer. We were racing there toward the end of the race and I didn’t feel like I got there in time to be able to make any moves. I needed to get by Clint a few laps earlier and by the time I found some speed in the car I was a little bit too late and just couldn’t get there in time to try to make a pass. The only change I had to make a pass was going into three and that was it. I needed a few laps to kind of set him up and catch some lap cars in the right spot and try to put him in the right spot to try to pass him. I needed about, instead of 400 laps 405 laps might have been the difference. I am sure there are plenty of times we can all say the same thing. Overall, like I said, to be upset with second place is a good spot to be in as far as speed in our race cars and where we are in the season right now. If we execute a little better we are sitting here with four wins right now instead of one. I think we just need to clean up some of our mistakes throughout the whole team, myself included, and when we do that we will have more victories under our belt.”

HOW WOULD YOU SUMMARIZE THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE SEASON? “I think we came out of the gates strong. The car has been fast. If I go through some of the races, Atlanta we were in position to win with a loose wheel and had to come down on the last run. California we finished second and should have finished there. We weren’t fast enough to win there. I look at other races, Bristol we were in position to win and strategy bit us a little bit. Richmond you can argue that when we lost the lead coming down pit road was the difference of losing control of the race which could have been the win. There are a lot of if’s, and’s and buts through the first quarter of the season where I feel like we were in position to win and didn’t capitalize. For me, I guess that only gives you a B. We had the speed and didn’t capitalize on the victories. We have solid finishes because we have speed in our cars and are second in points and not far out of where we need to be. It is tough to give those wins away when they are sitting right in front of you. We have a long way until the playoffs start and I am confident we will clean that stuff up and get to that point. It is all about maintaining the speed that we have right now. The biggest piece is the speed the Penske and Gibbs cars have, it will be harder and harder to maintain that gap that we’ve got. We have to work hard to maintain that as long as possible.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE DEVELOPED YOUR CRAFT OF BUMP-DRAFTING AND HOW MUCH DO YOU EXPECT TO USE IT THIS WEEKEND? “I don’t know how the draft is going to work this weekend. I do feel like as far as the bump-draft, it is something that I have worked on a lot in Xfinity cars or even when we did tandem, I feel like I was able to do a good job at being able to latch on and stay attached for a long time when we were able to do that. I kind of hope it gets to that point because I feel like it falls into a strength of mine. We will have to wait and see. I think this practice will be interesting to see if anyone can lock on to bumpers and go faster. With that big spoiler, there are so many what-if’s that we don’t really know. I think after you get through this practice here we will have a general idea somewhat if how we are going to go fast and how this race is going to play out and what we need in our race cars. We will then at least have something to work on. Todd and I were talking about it before we got here and there were four or five scenarios that can happen on how this race will play out. Until we get on the track we don’t know. We will figure it out here in a few minutes.”

WHAT IMPACT DID YOUR MOM HAVE ON YOUR CAREER? “My mom, and I think most drivers moms and parents have put a lot into their sons or daughters racing careers or their lives in general, even outside of racing. Your mom plays a huge role in what we do and how we get here. I remember growing up racing, my mom is a typical Italian mom that cooks a lot of food and every time we would come to the race track we won when it came to best food at the race track. We had more food than we could handle. I think that made people want to work on our race team, so that was good. Most of them were volunteers, kind of a, “will work for food” situation. It was fun. It was a good thing.”

THE PENSKE FORDS HAVE BEEN LIGHTS OUT HERE IN THE PAST BUT DO YOU KIND OF WISH IT WASN’T SO POLITICAL WHEN IT CAME TO RACING AT THIS TRACK AND AT DAYTONA SO THAT YOU COULD FIND THE BEST CAR TO GO WITH IF NECESSARY AND NOT ALWAYS HAVE TO RELY ON YOUR TEAMMATES OR ANOTHER FORD? “Not really because I kind of think the political game – if you want to call it that – is part of the competition. It is part of the fun of it. You are going to need help to be able to overcome other cars. To be able to beat other cars and other teams you have to work together now. The draft has changed so much over the last few years. Because of Toyota, they started it when we went to Daytona in the 500 and they kicked everyone’s butt because they were selfless and stayed together. We have taken that model and tried to make it better with working together and we have found success because of that. It is part of the game now. The cars are not what made it like that. Everyone used to help their teammate here and there but manufacturers didn’t really work together or were committed to each other. Once we saw how those four cars were able to stay committed to each other and beat everyone that day in Daytona, that forever changed the draft. That moment was a key moment in superspeedway history, in my opinion. When we all saw that we had to make a change or we were going to get beat. We were forced into the next move. Teamwork has become the play in these races. The stages have probably added to that once again. When you come here with the stages and pitting in between and trying to keep everyone together and all those things when everyone pits, that is a big part of the game at this point.”

HOW DO YOU BALANCE NOT WANTING TO SHOW TOO MUCH IN PRACTICE BUT NEEDING TO GO OUT AND FIND OUT WHAT THESE CARS CAN DO? “I don’t know if there is any more pressure. We are trying to figure it out every weekend if we can. That is the fun part about this sport. You have a good mix of engineering that can kind of predict a lot of things that are coming our way, yet there is still the old school feel of what a driver wants and what we need to be able to make it happen. We all need to communicate to move forward together. That is a fun challenge of our sport. When you come to a race track with a new rules package, it is something that neither one of us are confident in. We go to Richmond and I call tell them the things we are going to probably fight and they will tell me with the new rules what we will fight and we can collaborate and make changes and be prepared when we come to the track. Here, I have never raced anything with a spoiler this big. Neither have they. How is this draft going to work? None of us really know. We can do as many studies and talk about it but until you get on the race track and really see it and take it off the paper and put it into reality, that is sometimes where you see a little bit of a change. There will be plenty of wheels spinning after practice to think about what we are going to do. These are the moments you go out there with five or six questions and you come back with 10 questions. You answer maybe three of them and get 10 new ones.”

WILL YOU HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL SUNDAY TO REALLY KNOW OR FIND OUT IN PRACTICES? “I think we will get a general idea in practice. Who knows how many cars are going to want to go out there and draft and what they are going to need. Whether teams go out or OEMs go out together or everyone goes, sometimes you just don’t know until practice starts how it will play out. I would assume there will be a decent size group of cars learning what they need.”

HOW DOES SOMEBODY PREPARE OF THE UNKNOWN? “It is just trying to expect the unexpected. You try to prepare yourself and look back at notes and look at stuff from recent events and honestly, I think a lot of the prep work that you typically do maybe just gets shifted to Friday night and Saturday night. You don’t know. You don’t want to overload yourself with races and not know what is going on. For me at least, it is probably better for me to figure out what we have here first and then kind of study and add to the strategy of what we need from there.”

SO THIS WEEK LEADING IN IS EASIER FOR YOU? “I don’t know if I would call it easier. You are still thinking about what can happen, a lot. I don’t think it makes it any easier from that case at all.”

TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY (2.66-MILE OVAL)
LOCATION: TALLADEGA, ALABAMA
EVENT: NASCAR CUP SERIES (RACE 10 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 2 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, APRIL 28 (FOX/MRN/SIRIUSXM)

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Chase Elliott
No. 9 Mountain Dew/Little Caesars Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Driver Chase Elliott Hometown Dawsonville, Georgia
Age 23 Resides Dawsonville, Georgia

2019 Season
10th in standings
9 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
1 top-five finish
2 top-10 finishes
122 laps led

Career
122 starts
3 wins
5 pole positions
34 top-five finishes
61 top-10 finishes
1,365 laps led

Track Career
6 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
2 top-five finishes
2 top-10 finishes
62 laps led

PIZZA! PIZZA!: The No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will get a fresh orange, white and black look for this weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway. Chase Elliott’s Talladega ride was revealed via Little Caesars’ social media last week. Hendrick Motorsports later showcased Elliott’s Mountain Dew/Little Caesars uniform on Instagram.

TALLADEGA STATS: This weekend, Elliott is set to make his seventh start at Talladega Superspeedway. In his previous six starts, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native has never started outside the top 10, including earning the pole award in his first start at the track in May 2016. He currently holds the second-best all-time average start at Talladega (4.17) with a minimum of two starts. Elliott has garnered two top-five finishes and led 53 laps in his Cup Series starts at the Alabama track. Elliott also has three starts at Talladega in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, collecting one top-10 finish.

GUSTAFSON AT TALLADEGA: No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson will call his 29th Talladega Cup Series race from atop the pit box this weekend. In his previous 28 races calling the shots for five different drivers (Elliott, Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon) at the superspeedway, he collected six top-five finishes – one of which was a runner-up result – seven top-10s, 165 laps led and five pole awards.

LOOKING AHEAD: Elliott looks to repeat the success and career-best finishes that he has at the four upcoming tracks on the schedule – Talladega, Dover, Kansas and Charlotte. In April 2018, Elliott collected a third-place finish at Talladega – currently a career best at the 2.66-mile oval . During the most recent visits to Dover and Kansas, the driver of the No. 9 captured wins that secured his spot in the Round of 8 for the 2018 playoffs. Elliott has also garnered a runner-up finish (career best at track) at Charlotte back in October 2017 after leading 12 laps.

THIS ONE’S ON CHASE: Elliott and Mountain Dew have partnered with Little Caesars for a delicious deal. For a limited time only, order any pizza on the Little Caesars app and receive a FREE 2-liter Pepsi-Cola product. Offer is only available while supplies last. For more information, head over to LittleCaesars.com.

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William Byron
No. 24 Hertz Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Driver William Byron Hometown Charlotte, North Carolina
Age 21 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina

2019 Season
20th in standings
9 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
0 top-five finishes
1 top-10 finish
83 laps led

Career
45 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
0 top-five finishes
5 top-10 finishes
144 laps led

Track Career
2 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
0 top-10 finishes
19 laps led

TAMING TALLADEGA: Returning to Talladega Superspeedway for the third time in a NASCAR Cup Series car – but for the first time without yellow rookie stripes – William Byron is optimistic about a strong run this weekend in the No. 24 Hertz Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. In both Cup races last year Byron had solid runs, including leading 19 total laps – 14 laps in the spring and five laps in the fall. Byron also has one NASCAR Xfinity Series start as well as one NASCAR Truck Series start at Talladega, collecting a track-best finish of 10th in his debut at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Byron has one superspeedway race already under his belt in 2019, the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, where he sat on the pole, led 44 laps and was in contention for the win before a late-race incident with two laps to go ended his night early.

HERTZ IS HERE AGAIN: After its 2019 debut on the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, the Hertz Corporation – one of the world’s largest vehicle rental companies – will be on board Byron’s ride for the second time this year at Talladega. The can’t-miss, Hertz-yellow Chevy will hit the track this weekend and will be back again later in the season at Sonoma Raceway and at ISM Raceway in the fall.

KNAUS’ KNACK: With a skill for superspeedway racing, crew chief Chad Knaus is set to call his 37th NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega when the No. 24 Hertz Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 hits the track this weekend. Racking up six pole awards at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, including a streak of four in a row in his first four races at the track as a Cup crew chief, Knaus also has two wins at Talladega.

CLOSE TO HOME: Hailing from Pensacola, Florida, No. 24 team spotter Tab Boyd claims Talladega Superspeedway as his home track. Growing up a few hours away from the 2.66-mile superspeedway, Boyd has more than 20 years of experience in NASCAR, serving as an Xfinity Series tire changer and holding mechanical and fabrication positions before ultimately ending up in the spotter’s stand. When Boyd has time outside of the NASCAR schedule, he is usually still at the racetrack, but behind the steering wheel of his Street Stock in the Street Stock Mid-Atlantic Series.

RICHMOND RECAP: After starting 13th two weeks ago at Richmond Raceway, Byron had a solid run throughout the 400-lap event, running within the top 15 for most of the night before coming home with a 13th-place finish heading into a rare off-weekend. With his 13th-place finish, Byron has an average finish of 11.67 in the last three races, marking his second-best three-race run in his Cup Series career.

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Jimmie Johnson
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 43 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina

2019 Season
13th in standings
9 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
1 top-five finish
4 top-10 finishes
64 laps led

Career
624 starts
83 wins
36 pole positions
225 top-five finishes
356 top-10 finishes
18,767 laps led

Track Career
34 starts
2 wins
1 pole position
7 top-five finishes
13 top-10 finishes
470 laps led

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to the media on Friday, April 26, at 2 p.m. local time in the drivers meeting room at Talladega Superspeedway.

BOSTON IN THE REAR VIEW: The highly anticipated Boston Marathon is finally behind Jimmie Johnson and his performance was impressive. The driver crossed the finish line just nine minutes short of his personal goal of three hours. The 43-year old, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion completed the storied 26.2 mile course in 3:09:07, which now qualifies him for the 2020 Boston Marathon.

COMPARATIVELY SPEAKING: Johnson’s average pace for the Boston Marathon was a 7:13 minute per mile, or 8.57 mph. His average time per lap at Richmond was 36.1 seconds per mile, or 99.852 mph. His estimated caloric burn during the Boston Marathon was 2,990 calories and during the Richmond race was 1,431. Johnson’s average heart rate during the marathon was 154 beats per minute and 114 for Richmond’s 300-mile race. The Richmond event took 3:00:16 to complete and the marathon was 3:09:07. Once Johnson crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon, he had officially logged 819 miles on foot in 2019 in addition to his 3,461 miles raced in a car this season.

FINAL EPISODE: Johnson had a team documenting his journey to Boston along with partner Gatorade Endurance. The final episode of “Jimmie Johnson: Formulated for Boston” was released on April 16 – click here to watch it.

FRESH OFF A BYE WEEK: Johnson has 12 wins in his career after an off week, most among active drivers. Six of those have come in the last 10 years, which is tied for the most in that span. He has two career wins at Talladega Superspeedway, the last of which came on April 17, 2011.

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER: April 28 marks the 17-year anniversary of Johnson’s first Cup Series win. The win came in his 13th career start on April 28, 2002, at Auto Club Speedway in California. Johnson was a mere 26 years old at the time, the fifth-youngest driver in the field. Speaking of age, Johnson is expected to be the oldest driver competing at Talladega this weekend at age 43.

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Alex Bowman
No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Driver Alex Bowman Hometown Tucson, Arizona
Age 25 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina

2019 Season
21st in standings
9 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
0 top-10 finishes
0 laps led

Career
126 starts
0 wins
2 pole positions
3 top-five finishes
14 top-10 finishes
274 laps led

Track Career
7 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finish
0 top-10 finishes
26 laps led

BOWMAN AT ‘DEGA: Alex Bowman will make his eighth start in the NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway weekend. Last spring, the No. 88 Nationwide team finished eighth at the track after starting just outside the top 10 in 11th. The 25-year-old driver led 26 laps in the spring event last year at the 2.66-mile facility. The Tucson, Arizona, native has one start at the track in the NASCAR Xfinity Series back in 2013, when he qualified 14th and finished 13th. Bowman also ran an ARCA Series race at the Alabama-based track in 2012.

TESTING, TESTING: Following the Daytona 500 earlier this season, the No. 88 Nationwide team took part in a two-day Goodyear tire test at Daytona International Speedway, testing the new superspeedway aero package. Bowman was one of three drivers to participate in the test with the package that will be on the track this weekend at Talladega. The 25-year-old driver commented that it was a smooth test in his February diary piece on Motorsport.com that can be viewed here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: The driver of the No. 88 Chevy celebrates a birthday on April 25. Bowman turns 26 on Friday at Talladega. He could be one of three drivers to win at Talladega after having a birthday just days before the 500-mile event. Bowman would join Neil Bonnett and Dale Earnhardt in the feat if he were to visit Victory Lane on Sunday.

FIRST-TIME WINNER: Bowman is aging into the first-time winner sweet spot after turning 26 on Friday. All-time, 81 percent of drivers scored their first career win after turning 26 years old. There have been nine drivers to score their first career Cup Series win while driving for Hendrick Motorsports, two of which came at Talladega. The average age for the two drivers to win at the superspeedway was 27.

IVES IN ALABAMA: Crew chief Greg Ives will call the shots for the ninth time for the No. 88 team at Talladega this weekend. The Michigan native has one win with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2015, two top-five finishes and four top-10 results at the track. Ives’ drivers have an average start of 6.5 at the track. The crew chief’s resume includes one win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the superspeedway with Regan Smith in 2013. Ives was a race engineer for the No. 48 team at Hendrick Motorsports from 2006 until 2012. During that time, he was a part of two wins, two pole awards and seven top-10 finishes at Talladega.

NATIONWIDE ON BOARD: The primary blue-and-white colors of Nationwide will be featured on the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in 20 NASCAR Cup Series events in 2019. Nationwide will adorn the hood of Bowman’s Chevrolet for this weekend’s event at Talladega Superspeedway and again at Dover International Speedway next month. Last August, Hendrick Motorsports and Nationwide extended their primary partnership with Bowman and the No. 88 team for an additional two years beginning in 2019.

IN-CAR CAMERA: During Sunday’s race in Alabama, Bowman will have the Nationwide in-car camera on board. The driver will also wear the visor cam inside his Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

HOME-TRACK FEELS: No. 88 team tire carrier Rowdy Harrell returns to his home state of Alabama this weekend when the Cup Series visits Talladega Superspeedway. Harrell grew up in the small town of Moundville, Alabama, which is near Tuscaloosa. The Alabama native was a middle linebacker for the University of Alabama under coach Nick Saban and was part of three NCAA national championship wins with the team in 2009, 2011 and 2012.

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Hendrick Motorsports

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS GC: Last month, Hendrick Motorsports drafted two players who will compete in the first eNASCAR Heat Pro League season. This week, the 12-time NASCAR Cup Series champions have launched the team’s official gaming club that will chase the inaugural NHPL title. In 2019, Hendrick Motorsports GC will field the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driven by Sam Morris on the Xbox One platform and the No. 25 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driven by Nick Jobes on PlayStation 4. The two-car team will compete in the 16-race Heat Pro League schedule that will kick off in May. Fans can follow along via HendrickMotorsports.com, @HendrickGC on Twitter and @hendrickmotorsportsgc on Instagram.

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT TALLADEGA: At Talladega Superspeedway, Hendrick Motorsports holds multiple all-time records, including 12 poles, 13 runner-up results, 56 top-five finishes, 85 top-10s and 2,757 laps led. The organization’s 12 wins at the track are tied for the most all-time. Hendrick Motorsports has the most different drivers to win at Talladega with six, with the organization’s most recent win at the venue coming in 2015 thanks to Dale Earnhardt Jr.

TALLADEGA MILESTONE: This Sunday will mark the 100th race at Talladega Superspeedway. Hendrick Motorsports has won two previous 100th races at a track – Jeff Gordon at Daytona in 1997 and Jimmie Johnson at Darlington in 2004.

SUPERSPEEDWAY SUCCESS: Hendrick Motorsports holds the record for the most superspeedway wins all-time with 26, six ahead of Wood Brothers Racing in second place. Hendrick Motorsports also holds the record for the most pole positions at a superspeedway with 32. The next-closest team is Ranier Racing with 18.

BYE WEEK BLISS: Hendrick Motorsports holds the all-time record for the most wins following a bye week. The organization has 35 wins after an off weekend, with Richard Childress Racing coming in second with 27 and Joe Gibbs Racing and Roush Fenway Racing tied for third with 17. Hendrick Motorsports drivers have won four of the last 10 races the week after Easter, most recently courtesy of Johnson at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2017.

FIRST-TIME WINNERS: Hendrick Motorsports holds the record for the most first-time Cup Series winners with nine. If William Byron or Alex Bowman win at Talladega, it would extend the record to the 10th time a driver has recorded his first career Cup Series win while driving for Hendrick Motorsports.

ALL-STAR FAN VOTING: Fan voting for the NASCAR All-Star Race is now open with two teammates from Hendrick Motorsports on the ballot. Chase Elliott and Johnson are locked into the race, and Byron and Bowman are in the fan voting pool, providing one route to join their teammates in the All-Star Race field on May 18. Fans can cast their vote here, and votes shared on Twitter and Facebook count double.

ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 12 championships, 252 race victories, 218 pole positions, 1,047 top-five finishes and 1,794 top-10 finishes in points-paying NASCAR Cup Series competition. Its teams have led more than 68,000 laps since 1984.

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QUOTABLE /
Chase Elliott on racing at Talladega:
“Talladega is Talladega. Obviously, the package is going to be different for there, too. Daytona was what we have had in the past. I don’t know what we are going to see. I’m sure we will still see a bunch of wrecks and whatnot. Hopefully, we are not involved.”

Elliott on how the Talladega race weekend will unfold:
“I’m sure you’ll see what we’ve seen the past handful of times, guys going out with their manufacturers and running with them. So, we’ll definitely do that, I’m sure. And we’ll get as big a group as we can to go practice with. We’ve always been wanting to go run when there is a group. There’s just never a big enough group to really learn what you see in the race.”

William Byron on racing at Talladega:
“Talladega is a wild card for sure, just like Daytona is. Last year we ran well there, leading laps in both races, but the finishes don’t tell the whole story. I think the rookie stripes made people hesitant to work with me, so hopefully that’s not the case this time. I think our strong run in Daytona in February will help as well. We were up front basically all race and I could really put my car wherever I needed to on track to get back to the front. (No. 24 team crew chief) Chad (Knaus) and the No. 24 team worked hard to build that car and get us that speed, so I’m excited to see what our Hertz Chevy will have this weekend at a similar track.”

Jimmie Johnson on racing at Talladega:
“Lots of unknowns as far as the package goes this weekend at Talladega. It should make for some interesting racing for sure. Personally, I’ve enjoyed a great vacation with my family after competing in the Boston Marathon and I’m looking forward to this weekend.”

Alex Bowman on comparing Talladega to Daytona:
“Daytona and Talladega are a little different, but not terribly different. I feel like if you have an ill-handling race car but it’s fast at Daytona, you can get away with it at Talladega. We had a pretty good car in Daytona in February, we just got caught up in an incident on track late in the race. (No. 88 team crew chief) Greg (Ives) and the guys have been working throughout the off week to get this Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 dialed in and I know when we get on track on Friday, we will have some fun.”

Bowman on what it takes to get a win this weekend:
“I think superspeedway racing is just something where you have to stay out of trouble. Things can change on track quickly and you just have to be able to stay out of harms way. We were strong in Daytona and our Nationwide Camaro ZL1 is usually pretty good on superspeedways. The new aero package that we tested in Daytona a few months ago should be interesting to run and I am definitely looking forward to how it does on track. I am ready to see how it does and get to the track.”

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: GEICO 500
The Place: Talladega Superspeedway
The Date: Sunday, April 28
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 500 miles (188 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 55),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 110), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 188)
2018 Winner: Joey Logano

NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: MoneyLion 300
The Place: Talladega Superspeedway
The Date: Saturday, April 27
The Time: 1 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 12:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 300 miles (113 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 25),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 50), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 113)
2018 Winner: Spencer Gallagher

NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series
Next Race: JEGS 200
The Place: Dover International Speedway
The Date: Friday, May 3
The Time: 5 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 4:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 200 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200)
2018 Winner: Johnny Sauter

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Hot Streak: Ford drivers on a roll at Talladega

Talladega Superspeedway’s high banks produce some of the most spine-tingling, unpredictable, high-speed action in all of NASCAR, but for all the genuine suspense generated, Ford drivers seem to have cornered the market on victory recently.

The make has won the last seven consecutive Talladega races and eight of the last nine. Reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano is the defending winner of Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and has three victories in a Team Penske Ford Mustang on the 2.66-mile speedway – all within the last seven races there. His teammate Brad Keselowski has three wins in the last nine races and five career victories overall at Talladega – best among active drivers.

So not too surprisingly, oddsmakers have picked Keselowski and Logano as the favorites this weekend followed by fellow Ford drivers Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick. Six of the eight “favorites” drive Ford Mustangs.

While Chevrolet holds a 41-26 victory advantage over Ford all-time at Talladega, certainly Ford drivers have found the winning formula as of late, and it’s not typically been a case of final lap drama. In all but one of the last seven races, Fords have combined to lead at least 40 percent of the race laps. In Logano’s win last April, seven Ford drivers combined to lead 126 of the 188 laps (67 percent). Last October, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola won the Playoff race leading only the checkered flag lap, but six Fords combined on the day to lead 184 of the 193 total laps or a stunning 95.3 percent of the race.

Team Penske, in particular, has discovered the magic to the superspeedway style of competition, winning five of the last seven Talladega races. Roush Fenway Racing Ford driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. earned his first career win (from the Busch Pole position, no less) in the 2017 spring race and Almirola claimed his second career win with his work last fall.

In all, Fords have led 785 of 1,336 laps of competition (58.7 percent) during their seven-race string of superiority.

The hot streak is not completely unfamiliar to the Talladega high banks, where certain drivers have historically proven themselves masters of the superspeedway. Chevrolet, for instance, won 13 consecutive races from 1999 (the late Dale Earnhardt) to the 2005 season (Jeff Gordon) and 17 of 18 through 2007. Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett was the lone interruption in that streak, claiming the 2005 fall race win in a Ford.

Almirola looks to go back-to-back at Talladega

The most recent winner at Talladega Superspeedway is Stewart-Haas Racing driver Aric Almirola, who shows up with every reason to believe his good fortune will continue. The Tampa, Florida, native has top-10 finishes in his last five races at the big track, including three top-five efforts and the Playoff win last October that propelled him into the Round of 8.

The superspeedways of Daytona and Talladega have been highlights on Almirola’s resume. In addition to the Playoff win at Talladega, he won the 2017 Xfinity Series race there. His first career Cup victory was at Daytona International Speedway in July of 2014. Plus, he won an Xfinity race there in 2017 – meaning four of his five wins in the top two series have come at these behemoth tracks.

“I always had to go to these races and be aggressive because, back then, they were our only realistic options to win races,’’ Almirola said. “It was the only way I could make it into the Playoffs, and we were able to do that in 2014. They’ve been good to me. I’ve always gone into those races with that mindset.”

That recent Talladega victory was instrumental in Almirola finishing a career best-fifth in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship in his first season driving Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustangs. And Almirola has responded with another stellar season start. He won the pole position at Atlanta and had a streak of six top-10 finishes between Atlanta and the Bristol races. He’s currently ranked 11th in the points standings and his 72 laps led is already nearly half his career-best season total of 181 laps last year.

Kyle Busch was close in Daytona; will his luck change at ‘Dega?

The current Monster Energy Series points standings leader Kyle Busch shows up at Talladega Superspeedway hoping to re-establish some good vibes with one of the most unpredictable circuits on the schedule. A win for the Toyota driver this weekend would snap a seven-race Talladega victory streak for Ford.

The Joe Gibbs Racing standout’s three wins and six top-fives through the opening nine races of 2019 are tops in the series and have given him a 20-point edge over Team Penske driver Joey Logano in the standings. Busch also has nine top-10 finishes in nine races this season. But the Talladega high banks may prove to be the biggest challenge of the year. He has one win (April, 2008) in 27 races at Talladega.

In the last six races at Talladega he has a pair of top fives, but also three finishes of 26th or worse during that time. He led the most laps (48) of his career at Talladega in the 2017 spring race but finished third.

“You kind of look at what Denny (Hamlin) does and what Brad (Keselowski) does, the guys who are good racers at Daytona and Talladega and the guys who are fast right now,’’ Busch said.

“Denny makes the most out of what he’s got for equipment and I’ve got the same stuff and I’m not quite as forceful in situations as he is, and he makes that work for him. We certainly gained a lot of confidence from Daytona. Our cars were better there and I’m hoping we can carry that momentum at Talladega. I won’t try to put myself in a bad spot to cause something, but it’s always a challenge and it’s always different.”

Kevin ‘The Closer’ Harvick is closing in

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick has the same number of top-10 finishes (seven) through the season’s opening nine races as he did last year, but the difference? Three of those top-10s last year were victories and the 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion is still looking for his first trophy of 2019. Since 2013, he’s only gone winless through the opening 10 races of a season once – 2017, when he scored his first victory at the summertime Sonoma, Calif. road course race (No. 16 on the schedule).

Talladega Superspeedway has been as unpredictable for Harvick as you might expect of a superspeedway. His only win there came in the 2010 spring race. He has seven top-five finishes in 36 starts. And he’s only got a pair of top-10 finishes in the last seven Talladega races. He won the pole position in this spring event in 2018, led 12 laps and finished fourth – his best showing since his win and runner-up in the two 2010 races. Harvick’s three runner-up finishes ties Jimmie Johnson for most all-time among active drivers.

Certainly, driving a Ford Mustang is encouraging for Harvick’s chances this week. The make has won the last seven straight races at Talladega and his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola won the Talladega race during last fall’s Playoff race with another teammate Kurt Busch leading a race best 108 laps.

“It’s tough to know exactly where you need to be at the end of the race but, for me, I’ve only won one of them there,’’ said Harvick, who drives the No. 4 SHR Ford Mustang. “In that particular race, we were tandem racing and I was second coming into the tri-oval and was able to get past Jamie McMurray. But I would still rather be leading and in control. If I’ve made it to the white flag, then I’ve made it a lot farther than I’ve made it lately, so it’s a chess match all day.

“You have to have a little bit of luck on your side, but you can also put yourself in a good position by making the right moves, having a good day on pit road and not making any mistakes.”

Kurt Busch is on the verge to putting Chevrolet back on top

Chip Ganassi Racing driver Kurt Busch shows up at Talladega this week 0-for-36 at the sport’s biggest track – one of eight drivers ranked among the potential championship Top 16 who have not hoisted a trophy there. However, Busch certainly must feel some confidence as he is one of the best – statistically speaking – of all those on this week’s entry list, win or no-win.

Busch boasts the best driver rating at the track (90.5) for competitors with more than six starts and is second only to Chase Elliott (91.3) who has just six starts at Talladega. Busch is ranked first or second in four of the six primary Loop Data Statistical charts that evaluate past performance. His 19 top-10 showings are best in the field, as are his eight previous top-five showings. Only third-year series driver Daniel Suarez (15.0) has a better average finish than Busch (15.4) – and Suarez only has four starts compared to Busch’s 36.

Busch finished 14th in the October Playoff race last year after leading 108 laps – the most laps led by a driver since Matt Kenseth led 142 laps and finished eighth in 2011. Busch has led laps in the last three Talladega races. His 116 laps led in that time is second only to three-time race winner Joey Logano, who led 129 laps and is defending winner of this spring race.

Truex looking to check off another box

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ most recent winner, Martin Truex Jr. earned his first career short track victory two weeks ago at the Richmond Raceway. He’d like to expand his resume again this week with his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at the other extreme – on one of NASCAR’s biggest tracks – Talladega Superspeedway.

Although the 2017 series champion won three consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Talladega from 2004-06, he has only a pair of top-five finishes in 28 Monster Energy Series starts there and has crashed out 13 times, most among the series’ top 16 ranked drivers. Truex’s best work at Talladega is a fifth-place finish – twice – in the fall, 2006, and the spring, 2015. He won the pole position there in October of 2016.

Certainly, the Richmond win – after leading a race best 186 laps – was a huge confidence boost in his first year with Joe Gibbs Racing, a team that’s collected six wins through the season’s opening nine races. And having checked off one major item on his bucket list at Richmond, confidence will not be a problem.

“I don’t think anyone really knows what to expect going into Talladega this week,’’ Truex said. “It’s going to be really fast is all I know.

‘Bama Bound: DiBenedetto is good to go

Leavine Family Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto shows up at Talladega Superspeedway this week feeling perhaps the most optimistic he’s been before a big race. And that’s largely because of his showing in NASCAR’s biggest race – the season-opening Daytona 500.

DiBenedetto led a race-best 49 laps at Daytona and was running up front – fourth – in the waning laps when he was collected in a 21-car pileup with nine laps remaining in the scheduled 200-lap race. He finished 28th, but certainly left the track feeling more accomplished than that score would indicate.

His 49 laps out front in his first race with the No 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota Camry team was more than double his previous career total (23 laps). And the 2.66-mile Talladega high banks has historically been another positive venue for DiBenedetto. He’s led laps in the previous three races there and with the LFR Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing team alliance behind him for Sunday’s race, DiBenedetto may well be set for a career-best showing. His previous best is 18th-place – twice – in the spring of 2015 and 2017. Two of his four career top-10 finishes have come on big tracks. He was ninth in the 2017 Daytona 500 and eighth in last year’s summer race at Daytona.

This season’s best finish for DiBenedetto is 12th at Bristol Motor Speedway three weeks ago.

Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett to MRN Radio Booth

NASCAR Hall of Famer and former Talladega Superspeedway winner Dale Jarrett will serve as lead analyst for the Motor Racing Network’s (MRN) broadcast of Sunday’s GEICO 500 – the 50th consecutive spring race the racing network has broadcast.

The 1999 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jarrett won the October 2005 race at Talladega, leading the final two laps and holding off fellow series champions Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth. It was the 32nd and final win of his celebrated career.

His role as lead radio analyst this weekend is the same position his father, NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett, held for many years at the network.

“I’m very excited MRN has given me the opportunity at Talladega to do something in NASAR I’ve never done,’’ the two-time Talladega winner Jarrett said. “It’s always an exciting race and to work my first radio broadcast at the track I scored my last victory is very special.’’

Parade Laps: Insights ahead of this week’s driver media rotations

Seven drivers from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series – Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones, Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson, Front Row Motorsports’ David Ragan, JTG Daugherty’s Ryan Preece, Leavine Family Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto, Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric and Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski will be participating in this week’s media rotations at Talladega Superspeedway in advance of Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Erik Jones, 22, of Byron, Mich., will be making his fifth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup start on the Talladega high banks. His first three races at the big track resulted in DNFs after he was caught up in incidents, however, he finished eighth last October in the only race he was able to finish. The 2015 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series champion has scored three top-10 finishes in the opening nine races of this year’s Cup season. His best showing was at the series season-opener in Daytona where he finished third. He led his highest lap total (30 laps) at Texas Motor Speedway three weeks ago and his fourth-place finish was his second top-five of the season.

Jimmie Johnson, 43, of El Cajon, Calif., is hoping to earn his first race victory since May of 2017. He won the pole position at Talladega in his first two series races at the track and answered with back-to-back pole wins again in 2009-10. His two victories came in 2006 and 2011 – both in the spring race. Since that 2011 victory, Johnson’s best finish is runner-up (2015, spring). He has two top-10 finishes in the last four races and was seventh last fall. This season Johnson is looking to snap the longest winless streak of his career. He has four top-10 finishes through the opening nine races. He won the pole position at Texas, led a season high 60 laps and scored a season-best fifth-place finish.

David Ragan, 33, of Unadilla, Ga., earned his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory at Talladega in the spring of 2013. He has been particularly good at the big track with 10 top-10 finishes in 24 starts – including top-10 showings in three of the last four Talladega races. A good finish this week would be key for his No. 38 Front Row Racing Ford Mustang team. He has only a single top-20 showing (16th at Atlanta) this season. Although he showed promise at Daytona, before he was caught up in a crash – eliminated from contention in a 20-car pileup with only nine laps remaining.

Ryan Preece, 28, of Berlin, Conn., has reason to look forward to the Talladega high banks. He scored the best finish (eighth) of his young Monster Energy NASCAR Cup career in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway. He’s had two top-20s since – 16th at Martinsville and 20th at Richmond – just before the break. This will be Preece’s series track debut at Talladega. In one previous Xfinity Series start, he finished 15th after starting 26th. He is currently ranked 25th in the series driver points standings – tops among rookies.

Matt DiBenedetto, 27, of Grass Valley, Calif., is probably looking forward to his Talladega time. The young, popular driver has two top-20 finishes, but has led 20 laps in his last three races. He was encouraged after the season-opening Daytona 500 where he led a race-best 49 laps and was contending for the late lead. He was running fourth when his No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota was collected in the 21-car “Big One” with nine laps remaining. He has three top-20 finishes on the 2019 season, including a best of 12th-place at Bristol two races ago.

Daniel Hemric, 28, of Kannapolis, N.C., will be making his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start on the Talladega high banks but has a promising past on the big track. He won the pole for the Xfinity Series race there last year and finished 23rd. His best previous showing at the track is 11th in the 2016 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. This season, Hemric has three top-20 finishes in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, highlighted by a best finish of 18th-place at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

Brad Keselowski, 35, of Rochester Hills, Mich., brings the top resume to Talladega among active drivers. He’s a five-time winner and scored his first career Cup victory there driving for the underdog Phoenix Racing team owned by James Finch back in 2009. The 2012 Monster Energy Series champion then scored four more wins with Team Penske – the last coming in the 2017 Cup Playoffs. He has led laps in seven of the last nine races and his 216 laps out front in that time frame is most in the field.

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Dash 4 Cash raises the stakes at Talladega Superspeedway

For the third straight race weekend, the NASCAR Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash program is raising the stakes with a $100,000 bonus on the line for series championship qualifying contenders. And for this weekend, those four drivers are Cole Custer, Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier and Tyler Reddick.

So far this season, Christopher Bell banked the first $100,000 bonus with his win at Bristol Motor Speedway a few weeks back, and then Cole Custer fattened his checking account with his victory at Richmond Raceway two weeks ago.

Now the series turns to Talladega Superspeedway as the stage for the next showdown in the Dash 4 Cash competition, the MoneyLion 300, this Saturday, April 27 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

The highest finishing driver among the four qualified Dash 4 Cash participants (Custer, Cindric, Allgaier and Reddick) will win this weekend’s $100,000 bonus and automatically qualify for the final Dash 4 Cash race of the season next weekend at Dover International Speedway. The next three highest finishing NASCAR Xfinity Series championship contenders this weekend will also qualify to compete for next week’s Dash 4 Cash at Dover.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer heads to Talladega riding the momentum of his win at Richmond two weeks ago. The California native is currently third in points after accumulating one pole, two wins (Auto Club, Richmond), five top fives and six top 10s this season. Custer has made two series starts at Talladega posting one top-10 finish (ninth, last season).

Team Penske’s Austin Cindric is right behind Custer in the championship standings (fourth) after posting three top fives and six top 10s this season. Cindric is looking to rebound from his series track debut at Talladega last season where he started 11th and finished 30th after being involved in a multicar incident on Lap 62. Cindric has reason to be optimistic though, he finished fifth in the season-opener at Daytona.

JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 team will be driving with heavy hearts this weekend, as team owners Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelly Earnhardt-Miller’s mother, Brenda Jackson, passed earlier this week. Brenda joined Kelly and Dale at JRM in 2004.

Allgaier is currently fifth in the points after grabbing three top fives and four top 10s this season. Allgaier is a force to be reckoned with at Talladega, he is currently riding a six-race top-10 streak; that includes a third-place finish last season. And the Illinois native has the series-best average finish (10.0) at the famed high banks among active drivers with more than one start.

Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick continues to prove why he won the title last season. The Californian is the current standings leader after putting up a series-leading six top fives and seven top 10s in the first eight starts of 2019. His average finish this season also leads the series at 5.4. Reddick has made two Xfinity starts at ‘Dega posting one top-10 finish (eighth, last season) and an average finish of 14.0.

Sunoco Rookie Update: John Hunter Nemechek takes the rookie standings lead

One driver feeling particularly optimistic this weekend has to be GMS Racing’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender John Hunter Nemechek, who not only took the rookie standings lead following Richmond two weeks ago, but now heads to Talladega this weekend with the defending race winning team from this event a year ago.

Last season, GMS Racing’s Spencer Gallagher grabbed his first and only career series win in this event at Talladega, driving the GMS Racing flagship No. 23 Chevrolet Camaro. Fast forward to this season, and now John Hunter Nemechek heads to Talladega to attempt to match his new team’s efforts from a year ago.

Through eight races this season, Nemechek and the No. 23 GMS Racing team have gelled quite well, he is currently sixth in the points standings after posting two top fives and six top 10s.

Nemechek made his series track debut at Talladega last season while driving part-time for Chip Ganassi Racing; he started fourth and finished a respectable seventh.

The Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings following Richmond: John Hunter Nemechek (263 points), Chase Briscoe (-8), Noah Gragson (-17), Justin Haley (-26), and Brandon Brown (-105).

Reddick’s consistency opens up standings lead on Bell

Christopher Bell’s rollercoaster-type season is the exact reason why Tyler Reddick’s unfettered consistency has opened up his standings lead to a season-high 24 points following Richmond.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell might have two wins this season, but he also has three finishes of 13th or worse; including a 30th-place DNF at ISM Raceway.

The persistent ups-and-downs Bell has endured have opened the door for current standings leader Tyler Reddick – who has been the model for consistency this season, leading the series in top fives (six) and top 10s (seven). His only finish outside the top 10 this season was 14th at Las Vegas.

Reddick’s move to Richard Childress Racing in the offseason has already proven to be fruitful as the Californian now has the opportunity to become just the ninth driver all-time and the first since Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2011, 2012) to win multiple series titles; joining Sam Ard (1983, 1984), Jack Ingram (1982, 1985), Larry Pearson (1986, 1987), Randy La Joie (1996, 1997), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1998, 1999), Martin Truex Jr. (2004, 2005), Kevin Harvick (2001, 2006) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2001, 2012).

Reddick has made two Xfinity starts at Talladega, accumulating one top-10 finish (eighth, last season) and an average finish of 14.0.

Reigning Gander Trucks champ Brett Moffit to make Xfinity season debut

JR Motorsports has called up reigning NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series champion Brett Moffitt to pilot the No. 8 JRM Chevrolet Camaro in this weekend’s MoneyLion 300 at Talladega Superspeedway (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Moffitt will be the sixth different driver to jump in the No. 8 this season joining Chase Elliott, Ryan Preece, Ryan Truex, Jeb Burton and Zane Smith. This weekend Moffitt will be paired with crew chief Taylor Moyer.

Though Moffitt only has two series starts to his career, he made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Iowa Speedway in 2011, where he started 10 and finished ninth driving for car owner Robby Benton. His second and most recent Xfinity start came in 2017 driving for GMS Racing – he started 21st and raced his way up to a 11th-place finish.

Moffitt has only made one NASCAR national series start at Talladega, last season in the Gander Trucks he started eighth but finished 17th, two laps down.

Xfinity Stats Snapshot: Talladega Superspeedway

Below are some quick stats to get you up to speed for this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race the MoneyLion 300 at Talladega Superspeedway (April 27 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio):

Races/Starts:

Talladega Superspeedway has hosted 27 NASCAR Xfinity Series races. The first Xfinity Series race held at Talladega was on July 25, 1992 and the event was won by driver/car owner Ernie Irvan in his own Chevrolet. The series has competed at Talladega Superspeedway once a season since 1992. In total, 339 different NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers have made starts at Talladega, and 220 drivers have competed in more than one. Joe Nemechek leads the series in starts at Talladega with 21 starts. Jeff Green leads all active Xfinity drivers in Talladega starts with 16.

Poles:

In total, the NASCAR Xfinity Series has seen 20 different drivers win the pole award at Talladega Superspeedway; led by Joe Nemechek with five poles (1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003). NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt won the series’ first pole (184.733 mph) at Talladega in 1992 and Daniel Hemric won the most recent Xfinity pole (189.402 mph) at ‘Dega last season. The youngest Xfinity pole winner at Talladega Superspeedway is Brad Coleman (April 28, 2007 at 19 years, 2 months and 2 days). Ken Schrader is the oldest series pole winner at Talladega Superspeedway (April 24, 1999 at 43 years, 9 months, 26 days). Joe Nemechek holds the NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying record at Talladega Superspeedway with a speed of 193.517 mph (April 26, 1997).

Wins:

In total the NASCAR Xfinity Series has seen 22 different drivers win the race at Talladega Superspeedway; led by Martin Truex Jr. with three victories (2004, 2005, 2006). Ernie Irvan won the series’ first race at Talladega in 1992 and Spencer Gallagher won the most recent Xfinity race at ‘Dega last season. The youngest Xfinity race winner at Talladega Superspeedway is Joey Logano (May 5, 2012 at 21 years, 11 months, 11 days). The oldest series winner at Talladega is Mike McLaughlin (April 21, 2001 at 44 years, 6 months, 15 days). Mark Martin holds the race record in the series at Talladega Superspeedway with an average speed of 169.937 mph (April 26, 1997).

Loop Data:

Below are the top five NASCAR Xfinity Series championship contenders in key Loop Data categories heading into Talladega Superspeedway.

Driver Rating

Average Running Position

Laps in The Top 15

Drivers

Driver Rating

Drivers

Avg. Running Pos.

Drivers

Laps in Top 15

Justin Allgaier

96.9

John H. Nemechek

11.313

Justin Allgaier

662 (70.4%)

Christopher Bell

96.2

Justin Allgaier

11.481

Michael Annett

413 (57.8%)

Tyler Reddick

91.8

Austin Cindric

11.774

Ryan Sieg

213 (37.1%)

John H. Nemechek

90.8

Christopher Bell

12.600

Brandon Jones

210 (61.0%)

Michael Annett

83.0

Tyler Reddick

13.041

Jeff Green

146 (13.8%)

Laps Led

Quality Passes

Fastest Laps Run

Drivers

Laps Led

Drivers

Quality Passes

Drivers

Fastest Laps

Justin Allgaier

63

Justin Allgaier

1,124

Justin Allgaier

38 (4.0%)

Brandon Jones

36

Michael Annett

634

Michael Annett

20 (2.8%)

Jeff Green

19

Ryan Sieg

323

Stephen Leicht

11 (3.1%)

David Starr

10

Jeremy Clements

261

Ross Chastain

11 (2.4%)

Jeremy Clements

8

Stephen Leicht

259

Ryan Sieg

10 (1.7%)

Parade Laps: Insights ahead of this week’s driver media breakouts

Six drivers from the NASCAR Xfinity Series – Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric, Joe Graf Jr. and Garrett Smithley – will be participating in this week’s media rotations at Talladega Superspeedway leading into this Saturday’s MoneyLion 300 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Cole Custer (No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang)

Birthdate: January 23, 1998

Driver’s Age: 21

Hometown: Ladera Ranch, California

Hobbies: Watching sports

Team: Stewart-Haas Racing

Crew Chief: Mike Shiplett

Xfinity Career Highlights:

In 2018, he made the Playoff’s Championship 4; ultimately finishing runner-up in final driver standings while his No. 00 car won the owner’s title for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Made the Playoffs and finished fifth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship standings in his rookie year (2017).
Has four career NASCAR Xfinity Series wins (Homestead-Miami, Texas, Auto Club Speedway and Richmond); including last season’s Playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway to win his way into the Championship 4.
2019 Season Highlights:

Currently third in the NASCAR Xfinity driver points standings, 29 points back from the series standings leader Tyler Reddick and only five points back from second-place Christopher Bell.
In eight starts this season he has posted one pole (Bristol), two wins (Auto Club Speedway, Richmond), five top fives, six top 10s and an average finish of 8.5.
Custer won the most recent Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus at Richmond and is qualified to contend for the prize again this weekend.
Has led the third-most laps (227 laps; 14.2%) this season behind Kyle Busch (438) and Christopher Bell (345).
Talladega Superspeedway Performance:

Has made two series starts at Talladega Superspeedway, posting one top 10 and an average finish of 17.5.

Justin Allgaier (No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro)

Birthdate: June 6, 1986

Driver’s Age: 32

Hometown: Riverton, Illinois

Hobbies: R/C cars, wakeboarding, graphic design, dirt racing

Team: JR Motorsports

Crew Chief: Jason Burdett

Xfinity Career Highlights:

In 2018, he won the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season championship and made the Playoffs for the third consecutive season after posting a career-high five wins on the season.
In 2016 and 2017, made the Championship 4 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.
In 2011, 2016 and 2017, scored career-best third-place finish in NASCAR Xfinity Series standings.
Won first career NASCAR Xfinity Series race in 2010, at Bristol in March. Currently has 10 career Xfinity wins.
Won 2009 NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.
2019 Season Highlights:

Currently fifth in the NASCAR Xfinity driver points standings, 87 points back from the series standings leader Tyler Reddick and only 24 points back from fourth-place Austin Cindric.
In eight starts this season he has posted three top fives, four top 10s and an average finish of 13.0.
Allgaier is one of four drivers qualified to contend for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus this weekend.
Talladega Superspeedway Performance:

Allgaier is a force to be reckoned with at Talladega, he is currently riding a six-race top-10 streak; that includes a third-place finish last season. He also has the series-best average finish (10.0) at the famed high banks among active drivers with more than one start.

Tyler Reddick (No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro)

Birthdate: January 11, 1996

Driver’s Age: 23

Hometown: Corning, California

Hobbies: Riding ATVs, gaming, working on cars

Team: Richard Childress Racing

Crew Chief: Randall Burnett

Xfinity Career Highlights:

Won the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.
Also won the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors; just third driver in series history to win the title in his rookie season joining Chase Elliott (2014) and William Byron (2017).
In 2017, he captured his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Kentucky, while running a partial schedule. Currently has three series career wins (Kentucky, Daytona and Homestead-Miami).
2019 Season Highlights:

Current NASCAR Xfinity driver championship standings leader, 24 points ahead of second-place Christopher Bell and 29 points ahead of third-place Cole Custer.
In eight starts this season he has posted a series leading six top fives, seven top 10s and an average finish of 5.4 (career-best).
Reddick is one of four drivers qualified to contend for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus this weekend.
Talladega Superspeedway Performance:

In two starts at Talladega he has put up one top-10 finish (eighth last season). His average starting position at Talladega is 12.0 and his average finish is an 14.0. Has completed 99.6% of his laps attempted.

Austin Cindric (No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang)

Birthdate: September 2, 1998

Driver’s Age: 23

Hometown: Columbus, Ohio

Hobbies: Mountain biking, water sports, listening to music

Team: Team Penske

Crew Chief: Brian Wilson

Xfinity Career Highlights:

Ran a full Xfinity season in 2018, splitting time between Roush Fenway Racing and Team Penske, making the Playoffs and ultimately finishing eighth in the championship standings.
In 2017, he made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Road America driving for Team Penske; he started on the pole but finished 16th.
2019 Season Highlights:

Currently fourth in the NASCAR Xfinity driver points standings, 63 points back from the series standings leader Tyler Reddick and only 34 points back from third-place Cole Custer.
In eight starts this season he has posted three top fives, six top 10s and an average finish of 8.4.
Cindric is one of four drivers qualified to contend for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus this weekend.
Talladega Superspeedway Performance:

Cindric made his series track debut at Talladega last season, where he started 11th and finished 30th after being involved in a multicar incident on Lap 62.

Garrett Smithley (No. 0 JD Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro)

Birthdate: April 27, 1992

Driver’s Age: 26

Hometown: Peachtree City, Georgia

Hobbies: Singing and acting/theater

Team: JD Motorsports

Crew Chief: Bryan Berry

Xfinity Career Highlights:

Has competed fulltime in the NASCAR Xfinity Series over the last three seasons (2016-2018) posting a best finish of 18th in the series championship standings in 2016.
Put up a Xfinity Series career-best finish of fifth in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway in 2018.
Made NASCAR Xfinity Series career debut in 2015 at Homestead-Miami Speedway driving for car owner Derrike Cope.
2019 Season Highlights:

Currently 18th in the NASCAR Xfinity driver points standings, 238 points back from the series standings lead.
In eight starts this season, he has posted four top-20 finishes and an average finish of 21.5. Completing 96.2% of his laps attempted.
Talladega Superspeedway Performance:

In three starts at Talladega he has accumulated one top-10 finish (10th, last season). His average starting position at ‘Dega is a 32.7 and his average finish is an impressive 14.3. Has completed 99.7% of his laps attempted.

NASCAR Xfinity Series, Etc.

Only two guarantees this weekend at Talladega – Known as one of the most unpredictable tracks on the schedule, Talladega Superspeedway, rarely has any predictable guarantees, but this weekend will be different as the series will have the guaranteed chance to see a first-time Talladega pole winner and race winner this weekend. None of the current entrants in this weekend’s MoneyLion 300 (Saturday, April 27 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) have sat on the pole or won a Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Justin Haley to make Monster Energy Series debut – Kaulig Racing’s rising star Justin Haley will be making his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway for Spire Motorsports. Haley will jump in the No. 77 Chevrolet with crew chief Pete Sospenzo calling the shots from the pit box. Haley won at Talladega in the ARCA Menard Series in 2017 and finished fourth last season in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at the 2.66-mile track.

Jeffrey Earnhardt to pull double duty at ‘Dega – Joe Gibbs Racing will have Jeffrey Earnhardt back in the No. 18 Toyota Camry this weekend in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race the MoneyLion 300 this Saturday, April 27 (at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), but the grandson of NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt will be going the extra mile this weekend as he is also entered in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race the GEICO 500 on Sunday, April 28 (at 2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Earnhardt has made three previous Xfinity Series starts with JGR this season posting two top 10s.

Ross Chastain back with Kaulig Racing this weekend – For the second time this season, Kaulig Racing has tapped Florida native Ross Chastain to pilot the organization’s second entry the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro with crew chief Alex Yontz. Chastain opened the 2019 season with Kaulig Racing at Daytona International Speedway where the 26-year old started sixth and finished 13th. Chastain will be looking for a solid finish at Talladega this weekend as he is currently 13th in points just outside the Playoff cutoff in the standings. Chastain has made four starts at Talladega, posting a best finish of 16th in 2016.

Tight battle for the Xfinity owner points lead – Following the eighth race of the season at Richmond Raceway, Richard Childress Racing’s No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro team holds a slight lead (five points) in the owners points standings over second place Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota team. Both teams have shown promise this season, the RCR No. 2 team has posted six top fives in the first eight races – the series most – and the JGR No. 18 team has posted three wins – all with Kyle Busch behind the wheel.

Getting the best of out of ‘Dega – Seven of the top-10 finishers in last season’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega posted their best finish at the track – Brandon Jones (runner-up), Noah Gragson (fourth place), Ryan Sieg (sixth), John H. Nemechek (seventh), Tyler Reddick (eighth), Cole Custer (ninth) and Garrett Smithley (10th).

Six-pack of first-timers – This weekend in the NASCAR Xfinity Series six drivers will be making their series track debuts at Talladega Superspeedway – Brandon Brown, Gray Gaulding, Justin Haley, Matt Mills, Brett Moffitt and Max Tullman.

NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series

Getting ready to get back at it
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series returns to action next weekend at Dover International Speedway on Friday, May 3 in the JEGS 200 (5 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) after a four-week break, including the spring off-weekend for all three NASCAR national series.

Only five races have taken place so far this season, most of which were won by Kyle Busch—with the exception of the season opener at Daytona where Austin Hill got his first series win.

Standings leader Stewart Friesen was able to retain the points lead following Texas with a second-place finish. Friesen currently only holds a six-point lead in the Gander Trucks driver championship standings over second place Grant Enfinger, who finished fourth at Texas.

Without Kyle Busch running at Dover next week, we may see a new face in Victory Lane this season. Could it be Johnny Sauter, the defending event winner two years running, or will it be a young gun, looking to get his first series win? The Gander Trucks has seen 15 different winners in 19 series races on the famous northeast concrete oval.

Crew Chief Spotlight: Doug Randolph

Doug Randolph has been a crew chief in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series for nine years now. In 2018 he served as the crew chief of four young drivers including ARCA Menards Series champion, Sheldon Creed. This season the duo of Randolph and Creed are running for championship and have been off to a quick start.

Randolph has 166 races under his belt in the Gander Trucks with seven wins, 53 top fives, 95 top 10s and seven poles.

Additionally, in 2015 and 2016 Randolph served as the crew chief for Tyler Reddick, the reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion. Reddick’s success is a testament to the kind of impact Randolph can make on a rising young driver like Creed.

Looking ahead to Dover, Randolph and Creed will make their first start together at the Monster Mile. Creed is in good hands with Randolph at this track. Randolph has clinched one win, four top fives and five top 10s at Dover during his career.

Creed is currently holding the 10th position in points, 67 points back from the series standings lead. In five starts this season he has secured one top-10 finish and average finish of 14.8.

All Rhodes lead to Dover

ThorSport Racing’s Ben Rhodes is climbing up the series standing ranks after a solid 10th-place finish at Texas, the driver of the No. 99 Ford F-150 jumped up to third, 16 points behind NASCAR Gander Outdoors Trucks Series standings leader Stewart Friesen.

The Louisville, Kentucky native has posted two top fives and three top 10s this season; including a second-place finish at Martinsville and fifth-place finish at Atlanta. This season has been Rhodes’ first with crew chief Matt Noyce and so far, it appears to be a good match.

Heading into Dover next week we could continue to see Rhodes climb the points ladder. Out of four series starts at Dover, Rhodes has an average finish of 15th with a best finish of fourth back in 2017. In total, he has one top five, two top 10s, and has led 71 laps at the Monster Mile.

ThorSport Racing is strong in 2019

The entire ThorSport Racing organization seems to be hitting on all cylinders this season, as all four drivers are currently in the top 10 of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series driver championship standings following Texas.

Currently, Grant Enfinger is second in the series standings, Ben Rhodes is third, Johnny Sauter is fourth, and Matt Crafton is sixth.

Heading to Dover in a few weeks, things look promising for the team as well. Two of ThorSport Racing’s current drivers have won at the high-speed one-mile track (Sauter in 2017, 2018 and Crafton in 2016).

Though all four drivers are still chasing after their first win this season, they’ve still managed some solid finishes. Let’s look at the individual performances of the ThorSport Racing team this season:

Matt Crafton: 2019 is shaping up to be Crafton’s comeback season. With four top-10 finishes under his belt and an average finish of seventh, Crafton has demonstrated a consistently strong performance this year. Heading into Dover we can expect to see more of the same. Crafton was the winner of the event back in 2016 and managed a second-place finish last year.

Johnny Sauter: Sauter is sure to head into Dover with confidence as he is the defending event winner for the past two years. Despite a rough start to the 2019 season in Daytona with a 23rd-place finish for Sauter, he has managed to make a comeback with the past four races. The series veteran has two top fives (second at Atlanta and third at Texas) and four top 10s. His average finish through five races is a 9.0.

Grant Enfinger: Sitting second in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series standings, Grant Enfinger is a mere six points back from the series championship standings lead. Enfinger’s 2019 season has seen three top fives, four top 10s and an average finish of 5.4. Heading to Dover, the Alabama native has had mixed results on the concrete track. In two starts at Dover he has posted a best finish of third in 2017; and finished 14th in last season’s event.

Ben Rhodes: In five starts this season, Rhodes has two top fives, three top 10s and an average finish of 11.0. Looking towards Dover, Rhodes has a shot at getting his first win this season. The young driver has run well at the Monster Mile, in four starts he has posted one top five, two top 10s and an average finish of 15.5.

NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, Etc.

Moffit in action this weekend – The driver of the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado and defending Gander Trucks champion Brett Moffitt will make his Talladega Superspeedway NASCAR Xfinity Series debut this weekend driving for JR Motorsports in the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro.

Looking ahead for former series champ – Greg Biffle, the 2000 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series champion, will be coming out of retirement and making his return to NASCAR for the Rattlesnake 400 on June 7 at Texas Motor Speedway. The 49-year old will run in the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 Toyota.

Toyota Racing
This Week in Motorsports – April 22-28, 2019

Toyota Racing On-Track this Week

MENCS/NXS: Talladega Superspeedway (Lincoln, Alabama) – April 26-28
NHRA: zMax Dragway (Concord, North Carolina) – April 26-28
Formula Drift: Orlando Speed World (Orlando, Florida) – April 26-27
ARCA: Talladega Superspeedway (Lincoln, Alabama) – April 25-26
POWRi: Belle-Clair Speedway (Belleville, Illinois) – April 26
Federated Auto Parts I-55 Raceway (Pevely, Missouri) – April 27

Jacksonville Speedway (Jacksonville, Illinois) – April 28

NASCAR National Series – MENCS | NXS

Starting 2019 Strong… Toyota drivers have earned six victories in the first nine Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) races of the season, including a streak of three straight wins. Martin Truex Jr. is the most recent Camry driver to win, which he did at Richmond Raceway’s Toyota Owners 400. Kyle Busch was victorious at ISM Raceway, Auto Club Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway while Denny Hamlin started the season with a Daytona 500 win and was triumphant again at Texas Motor Speedway in March. Should a Camry driver win at Talladega, he would also tie Toyota’s consecutive wins record (four) in the MENCS, marking the fifth time in Toyota MENCS history that drivers have posted four-consecutive wins in a single season.

Earnhardt on Double-Duty… Jeffrey Earnhardt will compete in both the MENCS and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) events for the first time this season. He starts the weekend aboard the Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). In his first restrictor plate start for the team at Daytona International Speedway in February, Earnhardt led a career-high 29 laps before an on-track incident relegated him to 15th. In the MENCS on Sunday, Earnhardt will compete for XCI Racing as the team makes its premier series debut. Between the two series, Earnhardt has a combined eight career starts at Talladega Superspeedway.

First Toyota Weekend Sweep… Toyota has swept the spring Talladega weekend twice with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), including scoring its first sweep (MENCS/NXS) in 2008. JGR scored the wins with former Toyota driver Tony Stewart in NXS and Kyle Busch in MENCS. JGR also swept the 2014 weekend with former Toyota driver Elliott Sadler (NXS) and Denny Hamlin (MENCS). This season alone, Toyota drivers have swept two weekends already, including wins at ISM Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway.

NHRA – Top Fuel | Funny Car

Kalitta Takes Points Lead to Charlotte… Doug Kalitta will take a 23-point lead into this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway. Kalitta won the season-opening Winternationals and has advanced to the semifinals at both Gainesville Raceway and The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He’s been the Top Fuel points leader after four of the five NHRA events this season.

Todd Looks for Third Four-Wide Win… J.R. Todd will look for his third win in the last four NHRA Four-Wide events this weekend. Todd drove his Toyota Camry to victory lane in the Four-Wide event in Las Vegas earlier this season and also won last year’s Las Vegas event. The reigning Funny Car world champion has won five of the last 12 NHRA events.

Brown Set to Continue Winning Ways at Charlotte… No Top Fuel driver has won more at zMax Dragway than Antron Brown. The three-time world champion looks for his sixth win at the track since 2011 – earning Four-Wide victories in 2014 and 2015 and taking top honors in the Fall event in 2011, 2015 and 2016. Brown is coming off his first final round appearance of the season at Houston Raceway.

Formula Drift

Aasbø Leads Toyota in Season Debut… Fredric Aasbø advanced to the final four in the first Formula Drift event of the season in Long Beach, California, finishing fourth after a spark plug issue ended his day early. Now, Aasbø turns his sights to Orlando Speed World where he earned back-to-back victories in 2016 and 2017 and captured a podium finish last season with a third-place finish at the track.

Regional Stock Car Racing – ARCA

Self Looks for Three-Straight Wins… Michael Self is looking for his third-straight ARCA Menards Series win this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway after claiming victories in Pensacola, Florida and Salem, Indiana. Last season, Self earned his first career pole aboard his Toyota Camry in his Talladega debut before finishing third. He leads Toyota with two wins this season as Camry drivers have won all three ARCA events in 2019.

Toyota Ready to Claim Another Talladega Crown… If a Toyota Camry crosses the finish line first, it would be the third-consecutive Talladega ARCA win for the manufacturer. Former Toyota driver Justin Haley scored the victory in 2017, and last year, Zane Smith earned his second career ARCA win at the Alabama superspeedway. Toyota drivers have five total Talladega ARCA victories.

Midget Racing – POWRi

POWRi Back on Track… The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League heads to the Midwest for a three-night triple-header this weekend. Toyota drivers have won three of the series’ first four races, with 2017 POWRi champion Logan Seavey leading the way with two victories. The series will race at Belle-Clair Speedway on Friday, I-55 Raceway on Saturday and conclude the weekend at Jacksonville Speedway on Sunday.