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Tag: Talladega Superspeedway

  • 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.

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    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 Camping World Truck Series Preview-Talladega

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Talladega

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend and it’s the final race in the Round of 8. Two drivers will be eliminated in competing for the playoffs after the race is over.

    Currently, there are 32 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list.

    Surprisingly, there have only been 11 races dating back to the first race in 2006, when NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin earned the win.

    In the past five races, there were three different winners, while Timothy Peters, who will not be competing this weekend, has repeated in the past two races. The lowest a winner has come from is 24th back in 2013 set by Johnny Sauter and the highest starting spot winner was from the pole at least three times in 2006, 2007 and 2015, respectively.

    Here’s a look at who we can expect to be a strong contender for the win this weekend.

      1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter is the best active driver statistically at Talladega. In five races, he has one win (2013), two top five and four top 10 finishes, but has one DNF in 2014. His average starting position is 14.0, while his average finishing position is 9.0. Anything can happen at Talladega, but Sauter might just pull off a win.
      2. Christopher Bell – Bell won’t have anything to worry about as he already is locked into the next round, but he’ll be fighting for some extra playoff points. In two races, he has a finish of 13th and sixth, respectively. Bell has an average finishing position of 9.5. Look for him to be up front on Saturday.
      3. Kaz Grala – No career starts for Grala at Talladega, but he has high expectations after becoming the youngest-ever winner at Daytona earlier this season. A win will certainly help him to move on to the next round as he sits below the cut line.
      4. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger just might be the spoiler in the playoffs Saturday afternoon. In last year’s race, he pulled off the win after leading for 45 laps. So if he ends up in victory lane at the end of the day, don’t find it surprising that the Alabama driver plays as the spoiler.
      5. Ben Rhodes – While his result from last year’s race may not look pretty, he is carrying momentum after his first career win at Las Vegas two weekends ago. He, along with others, will be fighting for stage points throughout the race.

    There will be two practices scheduled for Friday afternoon at 12 p.m. ET and 2 p.m. ET both on FS1. Qualifying is slated for Saturday morning beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET on FS1.Race coverage begins on FS1 and MRN Radio at noon ET, with the green flag dropping at 1:22 p.m. ET.

  • The View From My Recliner — Reality of Racing

    The View From My Recliner — Reality of Racing

    It’s been a while since I have written a column for Speedwaymedia.com. Life has been pretty busy.

    Tonight, racing got real.

    Tonight I don’t care about the laser inspection. Tonight I don’t care about loose lug nuts. Tonight, I care about the well-being of Aric Almirola.

    A brake rotor broke on Joey Logano’s AAA Ford and hooked Danica Patrick’s car and both went into the wall. Almirola while driving through the debris field ended up crashing into Patrick and Logano.

    Patrick and Logano climbed out of their car, but the safety crew had to cut the roof off of Almirola’s car and get the backboard and stretcher for Almirola to bring him to the care center.

    When cars are going more than 200 mph into the turn, a mechanical failure can be catastrophic. Because of the outstanding work done by NASCAR and the race teams to make the cars as safe as possible, the thoughts of someone getting seriously injured are fleeting at best.

    Tonight, those thoughts came to the forefront as Almirola was airlifted to the Kansas University Medical Center.

    When Joey Logano comes from the infield care center and the first words he says is he is praying for Aric Almirola, you know the impact these accidents have on the drivers.

    There is some great racing taking place at Kansas Speedway, but right now, I just want to know that Aric Almirola is ok.

    It takes a special person to drive a race car. Last week at Talladega when you saw Aric Almirola celebrating in Victory Lane with his family after winning the XFINITY Series race, you saw being a husband and father is his first priority.

    The time to talk about who wins the Go Bowling 400 or the 11 cars that didn’t make it through inspection to qualify will come later.

    Just keep Aric Almirola in your prayers.

     

  • ‘Big One’ strikes in waning laps of Talladega Cup race

    ‘Big One’ strikes in waning laps of Talladega Cup race

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Over a dozens cars were collected in the “Big One” in the closing laps of the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    With 20 laps to go, Chase Elliott was getting a bump from AJ Allmendinger working to draft past race leader Kyle Busch. Exiting Turn 2, Allmendinger drifted down towards the left-rear corner of Elliott’s car, getting Elliott loose. His No. 24 Chevrolet pointed down towards the inside wall for a second, then turned back up the track.

    Allmendinger hooked Elliott and sent him spinning into the path of Joey Logano, who’s No. 22 Ford submarined underneath Elliott’s car and the air lifted his car off the ground. His car was airborne for roughly three seconds before coming to a rest with the left-front tire riding the steel barrier of the outside retaining wall and on the hood of Michael McDowell’s car down the backstretch.

    This triggered a 16-car wreck and brought out the sixth caution of the race. Cleanup necessitated a 26-minute, 51-second red flag.

    Elliott, the primary pinball in the wreck, said afterwards that Allmendinger “had a big run and he kind of got to my bumper and just happened to be in a bad spot coming up off the corner and was skewed a little bit to my left rear. And when that happens, it just unloads these cars too much.”

    AJ Allmendinger’s car lies upside-down from contact from Joey Logano late in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Photo: Jerry Markland/Getty Images

    After Allmendinger hooked Elliott, his car got loose and turned up towards the wall. It was aided by contact from Kevin Harvick, who caught Allmendinger as he was swerving down to avoid him and hooked him in the process.

    Allmendinger did a roughly half-spin before sliding backwards and slamming rear-on into the drivers side of Erik Jones.

    Further contact from Logano, and the added force of cars piling into the 22 car, lifted Allmendinger’s car onto it’s left-side for roughly three seconds before settling upside-down.

    After exiting the infield care center, Allmendinger said he was glad he “didn’t get hit upside down.”

    “It’s just Talladega. It’s all it is,” he said. “The plan worked out. We waited in the back and got up front and I had (Dale Earnhardt) Junior pushing me, I had the best guy pushing me. I’m not sure. The No. 18 (Kyle Busch) and the No. 24 of Chase they were kind of moving around and at the time I think Harvick got behind me and we were shoving and Chase opened the door and then kind of closed it and I tried to check up just a little bit and tapped him and when I checked up it was a big wreck after that.”

    Other collected included Danica Patrick, who came down across the nose of Matt DiBenedetto and slammed into the jutted out opening of the inside retaining wall, Harvick, who spun up the track and sideswiped the outside wall, Martin Truex Jr. and Trevor Bayne, who both t-boned the passenger side of Logano’s car, and Austin Dillon, who slammed into the rear-end of Matt Kenseth’s car driving through the smoke of the wreck.

  • Last Lap Pass Gives Stenhouse First Cup Victory

    Last Lap Pass Gives Stenhouse First Cup Victory

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Coming to the white flag, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was running second. Coming to the checkered flag, he was leading and scored the victory.

    On the final restart in overtime, Kyle Busch was the leader with Stenhouse to his inside. He got ahead of Busch initially with two to go but was swallowed up with no draft help. He recovered with Jimmie Johnson pushing him past the inside of Busch coming to the line to take the white flag. The lead belonged to Stenhouse rounding Turn 1 and he blocked the advances of Busch and Jamie McMurray to score his first career victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

    “It’s been a long time coming,” Stenhouse said. “We’ve run really well here at Talladega. This is the closest race track to home. I got a lot of cheers riding around here today and the fans were awesome. We had a lot packed in here at Talladega and it felt old-school. Man, to finally get that win for Jack and everyone on our team is really special.”

    It’s the first victory by a Roush Fenway Racing driver since Carl Edwards at Sonoma Raceway in 2014.

    McMurray finished runner-up and Busch rounded out the podium.

    Aric Almirola and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top-five.

    Stenhouse led the field to the green flag at 2:20 p.m. and led the first 15 laps before trash on his grille forced him to jump out of line to get behind a car to remove it. This handed the lead to Brad Keselowski. The caution flew for the first time on lap 17 when Kyle Larson brushed the Turn 1 wall as a result of a cut right-front tire. Clint Bowyer ascended to the lead by opting not to pit.

    Back to green on lap 21, three lines battled for the race lead with Busch on the top line edging out the others on lap 28. Keselowski edged him out at the line on lap 34 to retake the lead.

    Denny Hamlin made an unscheduled stop for a vibration on lap 48, which played to his advantage when the stage concluded.

    Keselowski won the first stage.

    Hamlin cycled to the lead thanks to the timing of the vibration.

    The second stage was tamer, only interrupted by caution twice, Reed Sorenson’s right-front tire blowout and slamming the wall in in the tri-oval, and the end of the stage on lap 110, won by Hamlin.

    The lead changes during the stage came on laps 81 (Busch), during the third caution (Ryan Newman), 90 (Bowyer) and 92 (Hamlin).

    The final stage started with 72 to go, with Matt Kenseth in the lead.

    Hamlin took the lead with 70 to go, Keselowski with 69 to go, Hamlin with 68 to go, Keselowski with 67 to go, Kevin Harvick with 65 to go, Johnson with 59 to go and Harvick with 55 to go.

    Joey Logano took the lead for the first time exiting Turn 2 with 49 to go.

    A cycle of green flag stops with 45 to go cycled Kyle Busch to the race lead with 37 to go.

    Ryan Blaney brought out the fifth caution with 28 to go when he was impeded by Gray Gaulding going down the backstretch, bumped by Stenhouse and turned into the outside wall.

    With 20 to go, AJ Allmendinger bumped Chase Elliott exiting Turn 2, getting the 24 car loose which turned up the track and triggered a 16-car multi-car wreck.

    The seventh caution flew when Landon Cassill’s car stopped on the race track.

    Newman’s wreck on the backstretch with two to go set up the overtime run to the finish.

    The race lasted three hours, 29 minutes and 16 seconds at an average speed of 145.669 mph. There were 26 lead changes among 14 different drivers and eight cautions for 33 laps.

    Kyle Larson leaves with a 54-point lead over Martin Truex Jr.

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  • ‘Big One’ Strikes Early in XFINITY Talladega Race

    ‘Big One’ Strikes Early in XFINITY Talladega Race

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — The field was four laps shy of the end of the first stage of the Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway when the Big One was triggered.

    Riding down the backstretch on the 21st lap, Brennan Poole attempted to thread the needle between Kasey Kahne to his low-side and Matt Tifft and Daniel Suarez to his high-side. Poole made contact with Tifft, leading to Tifft’s loose car turning down and hooking the 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet up the track and into the left-rear corner panel of Suarez.

    This triggered a nine-car wreck, brought out the second caution of the race and cleanup necessitated a nine-minute and 28-second red flag.

    Despite being at the eye of the wreck, Suarez and Tifft both drove to a top-10 finish.

    “That’s the big thing here, surviving,” Tifft said. “This stage racing deal sure makes for a lot of intensity and wrecks at that to. We just got caught up in the first stage crash, hurt the nose of the Camry and got to a point where if we didn’t have a good pusher out back it was going to be hard to move around and get a lane going.”

    Among those collected were William Byron, who t-boned Suarez as Suarez slid down the track. Daniel Hemric was barely clipped by Suarez, spun up the track and his right-rear corner slammed into the wall in Turn 3. Darrell Wallace Jr. was turned down the track, following a shunt from the 13 car of Mark Thompson, and clipped the 24 car of Scott Lagasse Jr. Brandon Jones was turned down into the inside wall by Spencer Gallagher as both drove onto the apron to avoid the spinning cars ahead.

  • Stenhouse Takes Pole Position at Talladega

    Stenhouse Takes Pole Position at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday after winning the pole for the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    The driver of the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford won the pole after posting a final round time of 49.993 and a speed of 191.547 mph. It was his first pole at Talladega and his second Cup Series career pole in 158 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts.

    “It’ll be nice to lead the field to green here. The Fifth Third guys worked really, really hard on these cars. Like I said earlier, Jimmy Fennig has done a great job on these speedway cars. This is cool. Doug Yates builds awesome horsepower. With his dad, Robert, not doing as well as we would like, it would be cool to dedicate this one to him and all the hard work that the engine shop does. Man, it’s a cool way to start the weekend. I’m ready to get to Sunday,” Stenhouse said of his qualifying run.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start second in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after posting a time of 50.194 and a speed of 190.780 mph.

    “We always kind of come down here and find ourselves with an opportunity for the pole,” Earnhardt said. “Hopefully, we will get one before the year is out at one of these plate tracks. I know the guys have been so close at Daytona and Talladega for so many years, so it would be great to do it this last season together. Just came up a little short today, but the car is fast and it will be good for Sunday.”

    Brad Keselowski will start third in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford after posting a time of 50.287 and a speed of 190.427 mph.

    “A good effort for the Miller Lite Ford team. Qualifying was good. Qualifying up front means that you have a fast car,” Keselowski said. “To run a time that we did makes you feel like you have a car that will run up front and challenge for a win. We have a fast race car and I hope to make it count.”

    Matt Kenseth will start fourth in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after posting a time of 50.359 and a speed of 190.155 mph. Trevor Bayne will round out the top-five in his No. 6 RFR Ford after posting a time of 50.394 and a speed of 190.023 mph.

    Kevin Harvick, Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Paul Menard and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-10.

    Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    DJ Kennington is the lone DNQ of the race.

    GEICO 500 Starting Lineup:

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