NASCAR Talladega Sunday, April 19, 2020
NASCAR CUP SERIES TALLADEGA STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Active Talladega Leaders
Wins: 5 Brad Keselowski
Most Talladega top 3 finishes: 6 Clint Bowyer
Most Talladega top 10 finishes: 20 Kurt Busch (Winless)
Most Talladega laps led: 472 Jimmie Johnson
Most Talladega DNFs: 13 Martin Truex Jr.
3 Finished top 10 in each Talladega race last season: Aric Almirola, Chase Elliott & Ryan Newman
2 Finished top 5 in Stage 1 & 2 at Talladega 10/19 – Brad Keselowski & Joey Logano
2 Champions winless at Talladega – Kurt Busch 0 for 38 & Martin Truex Jr. 0 for 30
1-Kurt Busch: 2004 Champion – Winless in 38 Talladega races (5 Top 3 finishes)
2-Brad Keselowski: 5 Talladega wins – Leads active drivers
“Maybe I have just been lucky five times. I think there is a luck factor to Talladega that will always be there and there is a skill factor that seems to always be a moving target with different tactics and techniques based on the rules, regulations and competitors. You have to adapt to that and that is a big challenge when you have something you are successful with.”
2-Brad Keselowski won 3 of last 11 Talladega races
2-Brad Keselowski won 2 Talladega races after starting rear of field (4/09 & 10/14)
2-Brad Keselowski: 5 Talladega wins – 3 Wins by last lap pass (Most all-time)
2-Brad Keselowski 3-0 in Talladega races settled by last lap pass – Most wins of all drivers
2-Brad Keselowski: 8 Straight Talladega races led (248 Laps led) – Longest current streak
2-Brad Keselowski: Jeremy Bullins Talladega 10/19 winning crew chief
4-Kevin Harvick: 1 Talladega win (4/10) – Ended career-long 115-race winless streak
4-Kevin Harvick: Finished 17th at Talladega 10/19 – Followed with 5 straight top 10 finishes to end of season
6-Ryan Newman best finish last season: 2nd – Talladega Oct. (Closest finish last season)
8-Tyler Reddick: Daniel Hemric finished 5th at Talladega 4/19 in #8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
8-Tyler Reddick: 2019 Talladega Xfinity Series winner
9-Chase Elliott:
Talladega 4/19 winner – Started 11th, finished 4th in Stage 1 & Stage 2 winner, lap 14 pit road speeding penalty, 45 laps led (most) including final 4
“I was blown away by the people and how fired up everybody was. That was an unbelievable experience.
We are close to home, so that’s cool, and they made me feel that way. I couldn’t ask for much more there.”
9-Chase Elliott: Talladega 4/19 winner – First of 3 wins last season
9-Chase Elliott won last Talladega spring race – Last to win consecutive Talladega spring races: Jeff Gordon 2004 & ‘05
9-Chase Elliott: 64 Talladega laps led last season (45 April & 19 Oct.) – Most
10-Aric Almirola: Talladega 10/18 winner – Ended career-long 149-race winless streak (2nd win came 1561 days after 1st)
10-Aric Almirola: 7 Straight Talladega top 10 finishes – Longest current streak
10-Aric Almirola: Best Stewart-Haas Racing finisher last 3 Talladega races
11-Denny Hamlin: Talladega 5/14 winner – 300th career race
11-Denny Hamlin started rear of field each Talladega race last season – Finished 36th & 3rd
11-Denny Hamlin worst finish last season: 36th – Talladega April (Only DNF last season – Crash)
11-Denny Hamlin finished 3rd at Talladega 10/19 – best Toyota finisher (Next best Toyota: 15th – 96-Parker Kligerman)
12-Ryan Blaney: Talladega 10/19 winner – Only win last season
12-Ryan Blaney won last Talladega race – Last to win consecutive Talladega races: Jeff Gordon 4/07 & 10/07
12-Ryan Blaney:
Talladega 10/19 winner – Started 9th, finished top 10 in Stage 1 & 2, 35 laps led including final 7, lap 34 pit road speeding penalty
(Great miss lap 182 crash)
13-Ty Dillon: Talladega 4/19 Stage 1 winner – Finished 17th
14-Clint Bowyer: 2 Talladega wins (10/10 & 10/11) – Both by last-lap pass in Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
14-Clint Bowyer: Talladega 10/11 winner – 100th Richard Childress Racing win
14-Clint Bowyer: Talladega 10/19 Stage 2 winner – Finished 23rd
18-Kyle Busch: 1 Talladega win (4/08) – Winless last 22 Talladega races
18-Kyle Busch April 2018: “It’s easier to win the Powerball than to win at Talladega”
19-Martin Truex Jr.: 2017 Champion – Winless in 30 Talladega races
19-Martin Truex Jr.: 60 Races at Daytona (30) & Talladega (30) – Winless
19-Martin Truex Jr.: Finished 20th or worse last 7 Talladega races – Average finish: 27.6
19-Martin Truex Jr.: 2 Talladega top 5 finishes – 13 Talladega DNFs (10 Due to crashes)
19-Martin Truex Jr.: Failed to finish 13 of 30 Talladega races (43%) – 10 Due to crashes
20-Erik Jones: Finished 33rd or worse 4 of 6 Talladega races – Failed to finish all 4 due to crashes
20-Erik Jones: 1 Talladega top 10 finish – 4 Talladega DNFs (All due to crashes)
22-Joey Logano won 3 of last 9 Talladega races
22-Joey Logano: 4 Top 5 finishes last 5 Talladega races – Finished 11th (10/19)
24-William Byron: Talladega 10/19 Stage 1 winner – Finished 33rd (Crash)
24-William Byron: Finished 20th or worse all 4 Talladega races – 32 Total laps led in 3 of 4 Talladega races
32-Corey LaJoie finished 7th at Talladega 10/19
34-Michael McDowell finished 5th at Talladega 10/19
37-Ryan Preece: Finished 3rd at Talladega 4/19 – Average running position: 21st
43-Bubba Wallace: Finished 39th at Talladega 4/19 – Lap 11 crash while running 3rd
“I tried not to wreck my buddy, Ryan, and it cost our day and some others. I apologize.”
47-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Talladega 5/17 winner – First win in 158th career race & closest 2017 finish (.095 Seconds ahead of Jamie McMurray)
47-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: 109 Laps led last season – 66 Laps led at Daytona & Talladega
48-Jimmie Johnson: 2 Talladega wins – Both by last lap pass (Only 3 laps led 5/06 & .002 second margin-of-victory 4/11)
48-Jimmie Johnson worst finish last season: 38th – Talladega Oct. & Martinsville Oct.
88-Alex Bowman: Finished 2nd at Talladega 4/19 – Started 9th, finished 2nd in Stage 1 & 2, 7 laps led (First laps led in 2019)
“I’m glad to kind of turn things around. It’s been a rough start to the year and these guys deserve way better
than the finishes they’ve had. So, to come home second is not a win, but it’s headed in the right direction.”
88-Alex Bowman finished 2nd at Talladega 4/19 – first of 3 straight 2nd-place finishes last season
95-Christopher Bell: Best Talladega NTS finish: 2nd (2017) – Parker Kligerman winner
TALLADEGA TEAM FINISHES
| Talladega | 4/18 Finishes | 10/18 Finishes | 4/19 Finishes | 10/19 Finishes |
| Hendrick Motorsports | 3rd, 8th, 12th, 29th | 7th, 20th, 31st, 33rd | 1st, 2nd, 21st, 33rd | 8th, 33rd, 37th, 38th |
| Joe Gibbs Racing | 10th, 13th, 14th, 39th | 4th, 8th, 16th, 26th | 10th, 19th, 20th, 36th | 3rd, 19th, 26th, 34th |
| Stewart-Haas Racing | 2nd, 4th, 7th, 31st | 1st, 2nd, 14th, 28th | 9th, 12th, 29th, 38th | 4th, 17th, 23rd, 32nd |
| Team Penske | 1st, 18th, 33rd | 5th, 27th, 29th | 4th, 13th, 15th | 1st, 11th, 25th |
49 Different winners in 101 NASCAR Cup Series Talladega races
7 Different pole winners last 7 Talladega races
6 Different winners last 6 Talladega races – Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Aric Almirola, Chase Elliott & Ryan Blaney
Hendrick Motorsports: First win last season – Talladega April (10th race of season)
Only 1 of last 25 Talladega races won from first starting position – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 5/17
14 of 101 Talladega races won from first starting position
Driver starting first failed to finish 26 of 101 Talladega races
Drivers starting first failed to finish more Talladega races than they won
13 Failed to finish Talladega 4/19 & 15 failed to finish Talladega 10/19
Team Penske won 6 of last 9 Talladega races – 7 Wins last 11 Talladega races
Ford won 8 of last 9 Talladega races – Chevrolet won 4/19 (Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports)
4 Fords finished in top 5 at Talladega 10/19 – Denny Hamlin 3rd in Toyota & Austin Dillon 6th in Chevrolet
5 Chevrolets finished in top 6 at Talladega 4/19 – Joey Logano 4th in Ford & Ryan Newman 7th in Ford
4 Failed to finish both Talladega races last season: Chris Buescher, Matt DiBenedetto, Kyle Larson & David Ragan
6 Won pole in first try at Talladega
6 Won first career pole at Talladega
Worst official starting position to win: 36th – Jeff Gordon 4/00
3 Won from 34th starting position including Denny Hamlin 5/14
*4/03 Dale Earnhardt Jr. won after taking green from 43rd starting position after starting from the rear of field
*4/09 Brad Keselowski won after starting from the rear of the field
*10/14 Brad Keselowski won after starting from the rear of the field
11 Won first career race at Talladega – Only win for 6 drivers
Dale Earnhardt last career win: Talladega 10/15/00
Michael Waltrip last career win: Talladega 9/28/03
Dale Jarrett last career win: Talladega 10/2/05
Jamie McMurray last career win: Talladega 10/20/13
2 Failed to defend previous Talladega win – Dale Earnhardt 10/00 winner & Brian Vickers 10/06 winner
10 Talladega win streaks – Drivers winning consecutive races
Toyota won only 3 Talladega races – Winless last 11 Talladega races
26 Talladega races settled by last lap pass
9 of 16 Talladega Playoff races settled by last lap pass
Brad Keselowski passed Ryan Newman on final lap 2 Talladega wins – 2014 Playoff race & 2017 Playoff race
First win of season for last 4 Talladega winners – Joey Logano (4/18), Aric Almirola (10/18), Chase Elliott (4/19) & Ryan Blaney (10/19)
Drivers won first race of season at Talladega 46 times
First win of season for 10 of last 11 Talladega spring winners
Only win of season for 8 of 16 Talladega Playoff race winners including Ryan Blaney last season
1 Won Daytona 500 & both Talladega races in same year – Pete Hamilton 1970
1 Multi-day Talladega race (10/13-14/19) – First 57 laps run 10/13
14 Talladega Overtime finishes
Leader at scheduled distance failed to win 7 of last 9 Talladega Overtime races
4 Won Talladega in first try – Donnie Allison, Richard Brickhouse, Pete Hamilton & Brad Keselowski
Michael Waltrip won Talladega for first time in 36th try – Most of all drivers
Most laps led by Talladega winner: 153 – Pete Hamilton 8/70
Most laps led by Talladega spring race winner: 139 – Jeff Gordon 5/05
Fewest laps led by Talladega winner: 1 – Jeff Gordon 10/07, Brad Keselowski 4/09 & Aric Almirola 10/18
8 Talladega crashes involved 20 or more
Ryan Blaney over Ryan Newman by .007 seconds in 2019 Talladega Playoff race – Closest finish last season
Driver starting 1st at Talladega led first lap in only 41 of 101 races
Pole failed to lead 1st lap in 60 of 101 Talladega races
Most consecutive laps led from start at Talladega: 50 – Ricky Rudd (7/26/92)
Most consecutive laps led to end of Talladega: 71 – Davey Allison (5/3/92)
Most laps led by Talladega non-winner: 142 – Matt Kenseth (5/5/13)
Most consecutive Talladega laps led: 82 – Pete Hamilton (8/23/70)
Leader of most laps failed to win 15 of last 20 Talladega races
Pole failed to lead first lap 12 of last 21 Talladega races
Pole failed to lead any laps in 15 of 101 Talladega races
Richard Childress Racing: 100th win – Talladega 10/23/11 (Clint Bowyer)
Hendrick Motorsports leads all teams with 13 Talladega wins – 7 Drivers
Richard Childress Racing: 12 Talladega wins – Most of all tracks
Team Penske: 8 Talladega wins
Stewart-Haas Racing: 1 Talladega win – Aric Almirola 10/18
Only 1 driver won Stage 2 & Talladega race – Chase Elliott 4/19
Talladega Stage 1 winner finished outside top 10 last 4 Talladega races