NASCAR Sunday, April 30, 2017

NASCAR TALLADEGA STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most Talladega races: 61 Terry Labonte & Dave Marcis
• Most Talladega wins: 10 Dale Earnhardt
• Most Talladega 2nd-place finishes: 6 Buddy Baker & Tony Stewart
• Most Talladega top 3 finishes: 21 Dale Earnhardt
• Most Talladega top 5 finishes: 23 Dale Earnhardt
• Most Talladega top 10 finishes: 27 Dale Earnhardt
• Most Talladega laps led: 1377 Dale Earnhardt
• Most Talladega Playoff race wins: 2 Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano & Jamie McMurray
• Most Talladega Playoff race 2nd-place finishes: 2 Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick & Kasey Kahne
• Most Talladega Playoff race top 5 finishes: 4 Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth & Joey Logano
• Most Talladega Playoff race top 10 finishes: 7 Kurt Busch
• 5/7/72: Darrell Waltrip first career race – Talladega (Finished 38th)
• 5/1/16: Brad Keselowski: 4th Talladega win
• 5/1/16: Austin Dillon made 17 pit stops & finished 3rd
• 45 Different winners in 95 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Talladega races
• Talladega 5/16 most competitive race last year with season-high 37 lead changes & 17 leaders
• Team Penske won last 3 Talladega races (10/15, 5/16 & 10/16)
• Team Penske won 6 of last 10 restrictor-plate races including 3 of last 4 – Brad Keselowski 3 & Joey Logano 3
• Brad Keselowski won 3 of last 10 restrictor-plate races (2 Wins last 4 restrictor-plate races)
• Joey Logano won 3 of last 9 restrictor-plate races
• Stewart-Haas Racing winless at Talladega – 1 of 2 tracks (Kentucky)
• 10 Won first career race at Talladega – Only win for 6 drivers
• 23 Talladega races settled by last lap pass
• 7 of last 14 Talladega races settled by last lap pass
• Drivers won first race of season at Talladega 41 times
• First win of season for 7 of last 8 Talladega spring winners
• 12 Talladega overtime finishes – 6 in last 10 races
• Leader at scheduled distance failed to win 5 of last 7 Talladega overtime races
• Matt Kenseth lost 3 Talladega races after leading at scheduled distance
• 8 Talladega crashes involved 20 or more including 21 last spring (Lap 161)
• Joey Logano led final 45 laps winning last Talladega race
• Leader of most laps failed to win 12 of last 14 Talladega races
• Brad Keselowski led most laps both Talladega races last season – May winner & 38th in Oct. (Engine)
• 5 of last 9 Talladega races ended under caution
• Last to win consecutive Talladega races: Jeff Gordon 4/07 & 10/07 (Joey Logano won 2016 Talladega Playoff race)
• Last back-to-back spring wins – Jeff Gordon 2004 & ’05 (Brad Keselowski won last spring race)
• 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
• 7 Won Talladega for first time in 10th try
• Most laps led by Talladega winner: 153 – Pete Hamilton 8/70
• Fewest laps led by Talladega winner: 1 – Jeff Gordon 10/07 & Brad Keselowski 4/09
• 6 Won pole in first try at Talladega including Chase Elliott 5/16
• 6 Won first career pole at Talladega
• #24 won 3 of last 4 Talladega poles – Jeff Gordon (Both 2015) & Chase Elliott (5/16)
• Only 1 of last 37 Talladega races won from first starting position (Jeff Gordon 4/07) – No wins from pole last 19 races
• 13 of 95 Talladega races won from pole
• Driver starting first failed to finish 26 of 95 Talladega races (27%)
• Twice as many Talladega pole sitters failed to finish (26) compared to winners from pole (13)
• 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
• 10 Different winners 13 Talladega Playoff races
• Only win of season for 6 of 13 Talladega Playoff race winners – Jamie McMurray twice (2009 & ’13)
• No driver won Talladega Playoff race & championship in same season
• 9 of 13 Playoff champions finished 9th or better in Talladega Playoff race
• Non- Playoff driver won 5 of 13 Talladega Playoff races
• Best non- Playoff driver finished 6th or better all 13 Talladega Playoff races
• Jamie McMurray won twice as non- Playoff driver
• Brian Scott best non- Playoff finisher last Talladega Playoff race – Finished 2nd
• 7 of 13 Talladega Playoff races settled by last lap pass including 4 of last 7
• Clint Bowyer won 2 Talladega Playoff races – Both by last lap pass
• Kevin Harvick passed for final lead change 2 Talladega Playoff races
• Kyle Busch passed for final lead change 2 of last 4 Talladega Playoff races
• 18 or more finished on lead lap all 13 Talladega Playoff races – 34 Finished on lead lap last race
• 7 Talladega Playoff races ended under caution including 3 of last 5
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. tied record for consecutive superspeedway wins at 1 track with 4 (10/01, 4/02, 10/02 & 4/03)
• 7 Talladega season sweeps – Last: 2007 Jeff Gordon
• 2 Swept both Talladega races & championship in same season – Darrell Waltrip 1982 & Dale Earnhardt 1990
• 1 Won Daytona 500 & both Talladega races in same year – Pete Hamilton 1970
• 2 Failed to defend previous Talladega win – Dale Earnhardt 10/00 winner & Brian Vickers 10/06 winner
• David Pearson (1969) & Kyle Busch (5/13) – Only drivers to miss Talladega race & win championship in same year
• Driver starting 1st led first Talladega lap in only 38 of 95 races (40%)
• 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)
• 12 Talladega wins by Richard Childress Racing – Most of all tracks (Tied for most all-time with Hendrick)
• 12 Talladega wins by Hendrick Motorsports – Tied for most (Richard Childress Racing)
• 5 Talladega wins by Team Penske – Brad Keselowski (5/12, 10/14 & 5/16) & Joey Logano (10/15 & 10/16)
• 4 Talladega wins by Joe Gibbs Racing by 4 different drivers (Kyle Busch, Hamlin, B. Labonte & Stewart)
• 4 Talladega wins by Roush

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES TALLADEGA STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most Talladega races: 20 Joe Nemechek
• Most Talladega wins: 3 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most Talladega 2nd-place finishes: 3 Joey Logano & Joe Nemechek
• Most Talladega top 3 finishes: 6 Joey Logano & Joe Nemechek
• Most Talladega top 5 finishes: 7 Joe Nemechek
• Most Talladega top 10 finishes: 9 Joe Nemechek
• Most Talladega laps led: 202 Joe Nemechek
• 20 Different winners in 25 Talladega Xfinity Series races
• Only 4 won Talladega more than once – Martin Truex, Jr. 3, Joey Logano 2, Joe Nemechek 2 & Elliott Sadler 2
• 3 of last 4 Talladega winners eligible for championship points – Regan Smith (2013) & Elliott Sadler (2014 & ‘16)
• 10 Talladega races settled by last lap pass including 7 of last 8
• Elliott Sadler won last 2 Talladega races settled by last lap pass (2014 & ’16)
• Last 3 Talladega races settled by last lap pass won by JR Motorsports driver
• 8 Talladega races had margin of victory of one tenth of a second or smaller
• Leader at scheduled distance failed to win 7 of 8 overtime Talladega races
• Leader at scheduled distance failed to win last 7 overtime Talladega races
• 2 Won Talladega in first try – Greg Sacks & Martin Truex, Jr.
• Jason Keller won Talladega for first time in 10th try – Most of all drivers
• 6 Won Talladega in 3rd try
• Mid-race leader won 2 of 25 Talladega races – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 2003 & Joey Logano 2015
• Leader of most laps failed to win 6 of last 8 Talladega races
• Leader of most laps failed to win 15 of 25 races
• Brandon Jones led most laps last Talladega race – Finished 18th
• Fewest laps led by winner – 1 David Ragan 2009 & Elliott Sadler 2016
• Latest point winner took lead for first time – Final lap David Ragan 2009 & Elliott Sadler 2016
• 6 Different winners last 6 restrictor-plate races
• JR Motorsports won 5 of last 12 restrictor-plate races – 5 Different crew chiefs
• 6 of last 10 restrictor-plate races settled by last-lap pass
• Ryan Reed only repeat winner last 8 restrictor-plate races (2 Wins) – 6 Others 1 win each
• Pole failed to finish 8 of last 22 Talladega races – 7 Due to crashes
• First Talladega win for 8 of last 10 winners
• 2 Talladega winners from pole – Joe Nemechek 1998 & Tony Stewart 2008
• Worst starting position of Talladega winner: 35th – Joe Nemechek 2000
• 7 Won first career pole at Talladega – 5 Won pole in first try
• 2 Won first career race at Talladega – Greg Sacks (1996) & David Ragan (2009)
• 1 Led most laps, but failed to finish – Michael Waltrip 1995 Crash
• Chevrolet leads with 14 Talladega wins
• Keselowski 2010 & Truex, Jr. 2004 & ’05 only drivers to win Talladega & championship in same season