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  • Martin Truex Jr. Earns Kansas Coors Light Pole Award

    Martin Truex Jr. Earns Kansas Coors Light Pole Award

    By Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. – You can’t blame Martin Truex Jr. for looking ahead.

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leader didn’t need to win the pole position at Kansas Speedway, having already qualified for the NASCAR Playoffs’ Round of 8 with a victory two weeks ago at Charlotte.

    But by posting the fastest lap in Friday’s knockout qualifying session at the 1.5-mile track, Truex got a leg up on a trip to the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, because the time trials at Kansas came with a significant bonus — first choice of pit stalls for the Oct. 29 Round of 8 opener at Martinsville Speedway.

    For the record, Truex ran the fastest lap of the afternoon in the final round of qualifying for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (on NBCSN at 3 p.m. ET), covering the distance in 28.719 seconds (188.029 mph) to beat Kevin Harvick (187.682 mph) for the top starting spot by .053 seconds.

    But Truex had to push his car to the limit in the final round to earn his third Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his second at Kansas and the 15th of his career.

    “I was shaking a little — I’m not going to lie,” Truex said. “My heart was beating. It gets the adrenaline going so high to put down a lap like that, to go the fastest you’ve gone all day in that final round.

    “We put it all together. We got the balance better, and I stepped up and put it on the line out there, and it stuck. The commitment level was high, and the car handled it well. That’s always a good combination.”

    Ryan Blaney had qualified third but his time was disallowed following post-qualifying inspection as it was found that the package tray on the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford did not maintain its original shape. As a result of that, Blaney will start from the 40th position in Sunday’s race.

    Matt Kenseth will start third and Denny Hamlin fourth, as playoff drivers garnered the top four spots on the grid. Daniel Suarez was fifth, followed by Erik Jones and Kyle Busch, as Toyota drivers claimed six of the top seven starting positions, the only exception being the Ford of Harvick.

    Because qualifying at Martinsville is on the same day as the race, pit selection at the .526-mile short track was tied to qualifying at Kansas, where the No. 1 pit stall gives a driver unfettered egress from pit road.

    “It was definitely on our minds,” said Truex, who has won a series-best six races in a dream season for the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team. “We talked about it. It was like ‘It’d be pretty nice to go to Martinsville and have the No. 1 pit stall.’

    “It was definitely on our minds, but I don’t know if it really played into how we got the job done or not. But it was definitely good timing, more than anything, because that’s going to be huge for us going into the Round of 8 next week.”

    Harvick, the 2014 series champion described his qualifying session as “three sketchy laps,” but feels he has a competitive car for the race that will trim the playoff field from 12 drivers to eight.

    “I think we have a car that can be capable of staying up there and hopefully having a chance to win the race at the end,” Harvick said. “It’s a good start to the weekend. That’s half the battle when you’re trying to collect stage points in the first stage and get pit stall selection and try and gain all the advantages that you can on Friday.

    “That’s something that our team did a good job at this year. I feel like our cars are a lot faster from the beginning of the year on the mile-and-a-half race tracks, and we’re on the game. It’s been a fun few weeks.”

    Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who currently leads Kyle Busch by seven points for the final spot in the Round of 8, and will start 12th. Playoff driver Jamie McMurray qualified eight in the fastest Chevrolet.

    Playoff drivers Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will start 13th and 14th, respectively. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the only playoff driver who failed to make the second round, will take the green flag from 24th.

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  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex crashed out at Talladega with 17 laps to go when he made contact with David Ragan, setting a chain reaction crash that victimized Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch.

    “My win at Charlotte already puts me into the next round of the Chase,” Truex said. “There’s no pressure. So, at Kansas, you can expect my car to be all over the track because I’ll be the one running ‘loose.’”

    2. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski passed Ryan Newman on the final lap at Talladega to win the Alabama 500 and secure his spot in the Round Of 8 of the Chase For The Cup.

    “It was a wild day at Talladega,” Keselowski said, “and I’m in a state of shock. Frankly, I’m stunned, that a Ford could win in a race with Toyotas in the field. And that, my friends, is the sound of ‘sandbagging.’”

    3. Kyle Larson: Larson survived a wreck-filled day at Talladega to post a 13th-place finish and solidify his odds of advancing to the next round of the Chase.

    “There were three red flags on Sunday,” Larson said. “It felt an awful lot like my car was being inspected.”

    4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished sixth in the Alabama 500, posting the best finish by a Toyota driver. He is fifth in the Monster Energy Cup points standings.

    “I’m in good position to advance to the next round of the Chase,” Hamlin said. “Barring a disaster, or as we saw at Talladega, disasters, I should move on to the third round. Hopefully, the 40 professional drivers in the field at Kansas will show professionalism.”

    5. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 27th after his No. 18 Toyota was collected in a lap 171 crash triggered by contact between Martin Truex Jr. and David Ragan.

    “If the field of 8 was set now,” Busch said, “I’d be out, and Truex would have eliminated his biggest competitor in the championship. I’m not saying Truex’s wreck was intentional; I’m just saying he was driving ‘with a purpose.’”

    6. Chase Elliott: Elliott started second at Talladega and finished 16th, six laps behind the leaders.

    “Like many drivers,” Elliott said, “I was an innocent victim of someone else’s recklessness. Fortunately, there’s a 20-point cushion between me in sixth and Kyle Busch in ninth. Of course, it’s no fun hitting a wall at such speeds, but I couldn’t ask for a ‘SAFER barrier.’”

    7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick’s No. 4 Ford survived involvement in two big crashes to post a 20th at Talladega.

    “Only 14 cars finished the race,” Harvick said. “It takes NASCAR three races to pare the field down to 12 drivers. Talladega can do it in a single race.”

    8. Ryan Blaney: Blaney won the second stage and finished 18th at Talladega.

    “That stage win is worth a point in the standings,” Blaney said. “And every single point is vitally important in the NASCAR playoffs. And what better place to reiterate the importance of a ‘Big One’ than Talladega?”

    9. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished 24th at Talladega.

    “We were penalized for working on the car during a red flag,” Johnson said. “Usually, when NASCAR tells Chad Knaus to stop altering the car, it’s after the work is already done.”

    10. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished 14th in the Alabama 500, and is 10th in the points standings.

    “I joked that my 2018 driving plans may involve a school bus,” Kenseth said. “The last time I took someone to school, it was Joey Logano in Martinsville.”

  • ‘Big One’ strikes in closing laps at Talladega

    ‘Big One’ strikes in closing laps at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Several Playoff drivers were among more than a dozen collected in the “Big One” in the waning laps of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Entering Turn 3, Martin Truex Jr. — trying to make a pass on the top lane — hit the right-rear corner of David Ragan’s car, triggering the ensuing melee.

    “Well I tried to get into a hole that was closing up at the wrong time and by the time that I got in the brakes trying to get out of there I got in the 38 (Ragan) a little bit on the right rear and he got squirrely out there and all hell broke loose,” Truex said. “Just was trying to get to the end and get some track position and try to get towards the front and have a good day and ended up causing a wreck, so I hate it for everybody. We definitively had nothing to lose today, but at the same time you don’t want to be the person that causes others problems. Even though I feel like I’ve never been that guy here before it looks like today I was, so I hate it for all of those guys and all of their teams. I wish I didn’t make that mistake. Just 18 to go at Talladega, trying to get going and trying to fill a hole. Bad judgement and should have been more patient.”

    Ragan’s car turned down track and hooked Kurt Busch up into the outside wall. He continued on into Jimmie Johnson, hitting him in the right-rear tire area. Johnson’s car did a clockwise spin, the momentum of which carried him up the track and into the path of Kyle Busch. Busch t-boned Johnson, which sent both of them up into the outside wall.

    “We got hooked in the right rear, and I was pretty close to the front of the pack,” Kurt Busch said. “I am just happy everything turned out the way it did to just not get clobbered by all the cars coming by. My guess is the outside lane was all jumbled up getting aggressive and pushing and somebody spun out and clipped us in the right rear. I thought we were looking good with the Monster Ford. We were coming from behind and the inside lane was open and we were making hay, but now here we are coming out of the infield care center. That is just Talladega. That is how it works out. We need to figure out how to make the cars better so everybody can bump draft a little harder.”

    The force of the wall hit ripped Kyle Busch’s left-front wheel out of his wheel assembly.

    “I had no clue what happened. I just saw the 38 (Ragan) get sideways above me and then he came across my back and I missed him and he must have got the 48 (Johnson) and the 48 shot up right across in front of us,” Busch said. “I never seen him. I wish I would’ve saw him a little bit down there. I could’ve shot to the apron and tried to miss him, but unfortunately we just got messed up in that deal. I hate it for our situation and what we’ve got going on, that’s not what we needed today, but that’s what we got so we’ll just move on to next week.”

    A few seconds earlier, when the rest of the field was whoahing down in response to Kurt Busch’s wreck, Landon Cassill came across the nose of Austin Dillon’s car and turned up into Truex. Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth, who were riding in the middle of the field at the time, were caught behind Truex and sustained damage.

    This 16-car wreck brought out the ninth caution of the race, as well as the first of three successive red flags for 12 minutes and 31 seconds.

    While Truex leaves without sustaining a major blow to his points situation heading into the cutoff race for the Round of 12 at Kansas Speedway, it would require an absolute disaster run to undo his 53-point gap to the first drop spot, others aren’t so fortunate. Kyle Busch leaves occupying the ninth-place spot, seven points behind Johnson for the last transfer spot. Kenseth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who was also taken out in the wreck, reside in the 10th and 11th-place position’s in points.

    Harvick, in fourth, sits slightly more comfortable with a 22-point margin over Busch.

    Side note: While his car was the main pinball that triggered the wreck, Ragan’s team fixed it enough, and enough cars were taken out in the two subsequent wrecks, that he drove his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford to a 10th-place finish.

    “I feel like we survived this one,” Ragan said. “We had a little bit of luck on our side. Our team did a nice job repairing some of the damage we got in one of the big wrecks. It had been a quiet, low-key race. And then the last 30 laps, everybody raced really hard. I’m proud of our Juice Battery team for fixing me back up so we could come out of it with a top-10”

  • Keselowski Survives Carnage to Win at Talladega

    Keselowski Survives Carnage to Win at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Brad Keselowski outlasted three straight red flag-inducing wrecks, passed Ryan Newman on the final lap and held off teammate Joey Logano to win the Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Entering Turn 3 on the final lap, Keselowski juked to Newman’s outside to take the lead. He put the block on Logano, before dropping down to the bottom to stop the advance of Newman and took the checkered flag.

    “I survived. What a special day. We haven’t been as good as we want to be on the mile and a half’s. We knew we needed to come to Talladega and get it done, and this is a great track for us and one that we really enjoy coming to. It’s great to get a win here. I never thought I’d win here, but five times!”

    It’s his 24th career victory in his 300th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start.

    Newman finished second and Trevor Bayne rounded out the podium.

    “We held them off longer than I expected,” Newman said of the last few laps. “I couldn’t tell how much nose damage I had and I hadn’t led all day, so I didn’t know what to expect. I saw the No. 2 (Keselowski) car in the mirror backing up and then he lost his draft and then he backed up again and he caught the No. 22 (Logano). That was all it took for him to get a good run. I would have maybe played it differently and backed it up in hindsight, backed up to them in hindsight, but I don’t think it would have made a difference. They were double-teaming me and you know it was still a good race to finish second with the Caterpillar Chevrolet.”

    “Man I am proud of all of my guys on this Liberty National Ford,” said Bayne after the race. “They did a great job fixing our Ford after all of the damage we got throughout the day. These guys just never give up. And in the end on that last corner off of four we got a huge run off the top and got to third, so I was pretty pumped with that. I think we were eighth coming across for the white flag, but I wanted those two more spots and we did.”

    Logano and Aric Almirola rounded out the top-five.

    Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Grey Gaulding and David Ragan rounded out the top-10.

    Retiring with 10 career restrictor-plate victories, Earnhardt said, when asked if it meant anything to him that he’ll go down as one of the best restrictor plate races in the history of NASCAR, “absolutely.”

    “Anytime anybody says you’re the best at anything, it’s an awesome feeling. I can’t deny that it feels awesome to hear that. People consider you good at anything, it’s a great feeling. I knew that I wasn’t going to win 200 races and seven championships and do all those great things. I just wanted to come in here and be considered talented. But to be great at anything was beyond my imagination. I appreciate people’s compliment’s on my plate driving and the success we’ve had at all the plate races.”

    RACE SUMMARY

    Earnhardt led the field to the green flag at 2:16 p.m. Logano powered by on the top side, on the backstretch, to take the lead on the third lap.

    He and the Ford’s pitted on Lap 15, while the Chevrolet’s tried to duck onto pits on Lap 27. But Erik Jones plowed into the back of Jamie McMurray, turning him into the outside wall, causing a multi-car wreck that brought out the first caution of the race.

    After another caution brought out by Paul Menard slamming the wall in Turn 3, Keselowski edged out Logano in a one-lap shootout to win the first stage.

    Kahne led the field back to the green on Lap 61, losing the lead on the restart to Matt Kenseth. Hamlin acquired it from Kenseth two laps later.

    Debris brought out the fourth caution on Lap 80.

    Lap by lap battling between Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney after the Lap 87 restart led to dicey racing all the way to the conclusion of the second stage, won by Blaney.

    He took it back from Brendan Gaughan on the Lap 115 restart, lost it to Hamlin on Lap 117 and muscled his way back to the front on the front stretch on Lap 119. Chase Elliott, on the backstretch, powered by Blaney on the high side to take the lead with 64 laps to go.

    The Ford’s ducked onto pit road for their final stop with 45 to go, followed by the Toyota’s — and Hendrick cars — the next lap. This handed the lead to Kyle Busch.

    Heading down the backstretch, Logano powered by Busch on the topside to retake the lead with 41 to go.

    The caution flew with 37 to go when Bayne hit the wall in Turn 3.

    Back to green with 29 to go, the caution flew again five laps later when DJ Kennington turned Joey Gase into the wall exiting Turn 2.

    Restarting with 18 to go, the next three cautions resulted in red flags. The first was a 16-car wreck in Turn 3: 12 minutes and 31 seconds, the second was a five-car wreck in Turn 3: five minutes and 45 seconds and last was 17 minutes and 14 seconds.

    These three wrecks set up the run to the finish.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted three hours, 47 minutes and 52 seconds, at an average speed of 131.577 mph. There were 30 lead changes among 16 different drivers and 11 cautions for 47 laps.

    Martin Truex Jr. leaves with a 19-point lead over Keselowski.

    Kyle Busch, Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and McMurray leave in the bottom four spots.

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  • Earnhardt Takes Pole Position at Talladega

    Earnhardt Takes Pole Position at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. will lead the field to the green flag tomorrow afternoon after winning the pole for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet posted a final round time of 50.256 and a speed of 190.544 mph. It’s his 15th career pole in 626 career starts.

    Earnhardt spoke about winning the pole in what will likely be his final race at Talladega.

    “We’ve been fighting our teammate, Chase (Elliott) and his group for poles at these tracks for a long time and it’s been a lot of fun to be honest with you, how these two teams have pushed and elevated each other,” he said. “Really, all the credit for getting a pole at a place like this goes to the team and goes to the car and the guys that work on it, the engine, the body men; we’ve got an amazing staff back at Charlotte that builds some awesome stuff.

    “I just hold the wheel straight and try not to bounce into the apron, but get as close to it as you can and make sure you run a clean lap. But there ain’t much to it as a driver. This place has meant a lot to me. It’s awesome to hear those fans happy for us and hopefully, we’re going to give them a lot more to cheer about before this weekend is over.”

    Chase Elliott will start second with a time of 50.291 and a speed of 190.412 mph.

    On whether he could have done anything differently to capture the pole, Elliott said, “I don’t think so, but congrats to Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) and the No. 88 team. They do a good job. Our team does great with this stuff. We definitely have a knack for it. We just hope that we can run good tomorrow and it lasts over the long haul. As hot as it is down here I think it’s going to be pretty important and we’ll try to finish this thing. We’ll see.”

    Joey Logano will start third with a time of 50.301 and a speed of 190.374 mph. Kurt Busch will start fourth with a time of 50.329 and a speed of 190.268 mph while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will round out the top-five with a time of 50.355 and a speed of 190.170 mph.

    Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney and Trevor Bayne round out the top-10. Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson will start 11th and 12th as the remaining drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    No car failed to make the race.

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  • Kahne Fastest in Final Practice at Talladega

    Kahne Fastest in Final Practice at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Kasey Kahne topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Talladega Superspeedway.

    The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 50.078 and a speed of 191.222 mph. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 50.118 and a speed of 191.069 mph. Kurt Busch was third in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a time of 50.332 and a speed of 190.257 mph. Trevor Bayne was fourth in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford with a time of 50.373 and a speed of 190.102 mph. Chase Elliott rounded out the top-five in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 50.472 and a speed of 189.729 mph.

    Paul Menard, Brad Keselowski, Landon Cassill, Kevin Harvick and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-10.

    Jamie McMurray was 12th, Jimmie Johnson was 14th, Matt Kenseth was 15th, Kyle Busch was 21st and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the Playoff drivers in 24th.

    Earnhardt ran the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 182.542 mph.

    First practice results

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  • The White Zone: Stenhouse’s first win from my point of view

    The White Zone: Stenhouse’s first win from my point of view

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — In the 12 years I went to races as just a fan, I can’t say I attended one that resulted in a first-time winner. But in just my second year on the NASCAR beat, that changed.

    As the laps of this past May’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway wound down, I took position near the exit of pit road to shoot some photos of the finish (which I do at every race). I made it out there for the final 10 laps, which ran under caution.

    While under yellow for a three-car incident on the backstretch, I looked down at my FanVision to see the running order. Kyle Busch was the race leader, which wasn’t surprising as he’d been near the front all day. What was surprising, however, was the driver in second.

    That driver was the race’s pole sitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Now when I say I was “surprised,” that doesn’t mean I wasn’t paying attention to his race. He was near the front towards the start, only dropping off the radar in the middle and resurfacing in closing time. That’s not just me, but also from NASCAR’s post-race loop data.

    What I meant by “surprised” was seeing him in second with overtime looming and either saying internally or externally, “Oh my God. Is this the day Stenhouse finally breaks through and wins a Cup race?!”

    The green flag dropped, and the race to the checkered flag was on.

    Coming to the white flag, he was to Busch’s inside.

    I turned back up to the big ISM Vision board to see the subsequent push Stenhouse received from Jimmie Johnson going into Turn 1, which made all the difference.

    Now I’m as objective a beat writer as can be and had no vested interest in seeing the driver of the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford win, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little joy seeing him finally win a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. While I’m a NASCAR writer first, the NASCAR fan that’s still in me was thinking, “By God, he did it! He actually broke through and did it!”

    Even funnier is that Stenhouse will tell you he thought his first win would’ve come anywhere other than Talladega.

    “Throughout my whole XFINITY career I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know about the speedways.’ They weren’t my favorite,” he said. “We ran decent on them. We ran good, but I never really felt like I  knew how to put myself in position for our team to win, so the mile-and-a-half and short tracks I always felt like were our two good tracks in the XFINITY Series and then on the Cup side, especially here at Talladega it’s always been a track where we’ve been pretty consistent and, like I said, missing wrecks and getting good finishes, but I guess I didn’t see my first win coming at a speedway.”

  • Keselowski Fastest in First Talladega Practice

    Keselowski Fastest in First Talladega Practice

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Brad Keselowski topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Talladega Superspeedway.

    The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford was the fastest with a time of 48.398 and a speed of 197.859 mph. Kurt Busch was second in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a time of 48.411 and a speed of 197.806 mph. Ryan Blaney was third in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 48.413 and a speed of 197.798 mph. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fourth in his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford with a time of 48.422 and a speed of 197.761 mph. Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five in his No. 4 SHR Ford with a time of 48.438 and a speed of 197.696 mph.

    Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola, Danica Patrick, Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top-10.

    Denny Hamlin was 12th, Kyle Busch was 15th, Matt Kenseth was 16th, Martin Truex Jr. was 17th, Chase Elliott was 26th, Jamie McMurray was 33rd and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the Playoff drivers in 39th.

    Blaney posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 196.829 mph.

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  • Talladega – Did You Know? Playoff Edition

    Talladega – Did You Know? Playoff Edition

    As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the second race in the Round of 12, only one thing is certain. Anything can, and probably will, happen.

    After his win at Charlotte, Martin Truex Jr. is the only driver who is safe from elimination. For the remaining Playoff contenders, everything is on the line. Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are in the bottom four but no one is safe from the chaos of the unpredictable 2.66-mile track.

    Chase Elliott has the series-best driver rating of 91.4 at Talladega with one pole, one top five and one top 10, but, he only has three starts. He’s no stranger to the wild nature of the track, finishing 30th in May after being involved in a crash.

    Jimmie Johnson is in seventh place in the Playoffs with the fifth-best driver rating of 88.1 at Talladega with two wins, one pole, seven top fives and 12 top 10s. He’s keeping his eye on the prize and says his goal is “to make it through the race and have a good finish. We don’t want to go to Kansas fighting to stay alive in the hunt for an eighth championship.”

    Keselowski, currently 10th place in the Playoff standings, is a popular pick to win this Sunday. He has the series third-best driver rating of 88.7, four wins, six top fives and 10 top 10s at the track. It wouldn’t be the first time that he won in a do or die moment. Did you know that in 2014 he had to grab a victory to avoid elimination in the Playoffs and he did so at Talladega?

    Stenhouse may have the biggest challenge this weekend among the Playoff drivers. He’s sitting in 12th place in the standings with only the 11th-best driver rating but a closer look reveals why the Alabama 500 could provide the perfect opportunity to advance. Did you know that he has two wins this season, both at restrictor plate tracks, Talladega in May and Daytona in July?

    Matt Kenseth is presently just outside the top eight with one win in 2012, six top fives and 10 top 10s at the track. He has the series sixth-best driver rating (87.1) but did you know his best finish in the last five races was 23rd in 2016? The Joe Gibbs Racing driver and his team will have to rely on experience, strategy and luck to make it through to the next round.

    You can’t talk about Dega without talking about Dale Earnhardt Jr. He may not be competing for the championship but he is desperately searching for a win in his final full-time season in the Cup Series. Of the remaining tracks, this is probably his best chance.

    Although Earnhardt’s season has been disappointing, it’s difficult to ignore his impressive stats at Talladega, even taking into consideration that he’s only won once since 2004. He has the series second-best driver rating (91.0) and he leads all active drivers with six victories and 12 top-five finishes. But did you know he leads all active drivers in laps led at Talladega with 960?

    Earnhardt also seems to have a knack for winning when the most is on the line and his emotions are heightened. As he heads to Talladega for what may be the final time, his desire to add one more checkered flag to his collection is evident.

    “There are two things that are going to be incredibly motivating this weekend. One of them is going to be the fan support that we’re gonna see. I know they’ll be out there strong, they love the Earnhardts.

    “Also, put that camera on my helmet so I’m wearing that helmet cam all weekend. I purposely asked for that helmet cam for the Talladega race ‘cause imagine, it’s gonna hold me accountable and motivate me to be aggressive. I want to put some stuff on film that people are gonna want to watch. Between that and the fan support, I think we’re going to be in the gas all weekend,” he said.

    Updated:

     

    Will talent or Lady Luck prevail this weekend in the Alabama 500? Tune into NBC Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET to find out. In the meantime take a look at 12 reasons to watch Talladega as you prepare for what promises to be a wild weekend of racing.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

     

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Talladega

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Talladega