NASCAR Talladega Sunday, September 24, 2023
Talladega Superspeedway NASCAR Cup Series Stats Highlights
Talladega 4/23
Kyle Busch
Talladega April winner – Started 17th, finished outside top 10 in Stage 1 & 2, 3 laps led, avg. running pos.: 16.5
Winner pit stops: Kyle Busch – 7 Lap 39 (G), 63, 66, 103 (G), 123, 124, 144
Stage 1 winner: Chase Elliott 12th
Stage 2 winner: Aric Almirola 22nd
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Chase Elliott 1st & 2nd
Most points scored: 44 Chase Elliott
Passed for final lead change: Bubba Wallace Finished 28th
Winner final laps led: Kyle Busch 1
Cautions: 8
Longest green run: 54 Laps (68-121)
Best free pass finisher: Chase Briscoe 4th
Best finisher with pit road speeding penalty: Chase Briscoe 4th
Best starting rear of field finisher: Todd Gilliland 10th
Best Hendrick: William Byron 7th
Best Gibbs: Christopher Bell 8th
Best Stewart-Haas: Chase Briscoe 4th
Best Penske: Ryan Blaney 2nd
Talladega 10/22
Chase Elliott
Talladega 10/22 winner – Started 16th, finished 3rd in Stage 1 & Stage 2 winner, 10 laps led, passed Blaney on final lap
Winner pit stops: Chase Elliott (5 Stops) 26, 62, 101 (G), 123, 162 (G)
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Chase Elliott 3rd & 1st
Best free pass finisher: Christopher Bell 17th
Best finisher with pit road speeding penalty: Austin Cindric 9th
Best starting rear of field finisher: Bubba Wallace 16th
Best Hendrick: Chase Elliott 1st – Only Hendrick driver in top 10
Best Gibbs: Denny Hamlin 5th – Only Gibbs driver in top 15
Best Stewart-Haas: Chase Briscoe 10th
Best Penske: Ryan Blaney 2nd
51 Different winners in 108 NASCAR Cup Series Talladega races
15 Different winners 19 Talladega Playoff races
No driver won Talladega Playoff race & championship in same season
11 of 19 Playoff champions finished 9th or better in Talladega Playoff race
Non-Playoff driver won 6 of 19 Talladega Playoff races
Best non-Playoff driver finished 6th or better all 19 Talladega Playoff races – Top 3 last 7 races
11 of 19 Talladega Playoff races settled by last lap pass
Brad Keselowski: 2 Talladega Playoff race wins – Both by last lap pass (Passed Ryan Newman both times)
8 Talladega Playoff races ended under caution
Team Penske won 5 of last 9 Talladega Playoff races – Brad Keselowski 2, Joey Logano 2 & Ryan Blaney 1
Ford won 6 of last 9 Talladega Playoff races
24 Drivers won 1 Talladega race
7 Different winners last 7 Talladega races –
Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott & Kyle Busch
Ryan Blaney: Only repeat winner last 8 Talladega races (2 Wins) – 6 Others 1 win each
Drivers starting first failed to finish more Talladega races than they won
Team Penske won 8 of last 16 Talladega races – 9 Wins last 18 Talladega races
Ford won 10 of last 16 Talladega races
Chevrolet 3 straight Talladega wins – Winless previous 5 Talladega races
First win of season for 17 of last 23 Daytona-Talladega winners
13 Different winners in last 13 Daytona-Talladega races –
Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott,
Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Bubba Wallace
12 Won first career race at Talladega – Only win for 6 drivers
2 Rookie of the Year candidates won Talladega – Ron Bouchard 8/81 & Davey Allison 5/87
Dale Earnhardt Jr. won 4 straight Talladega races (10/01, 4/02, 10/02 & 4/03)
Last to win consecutive Talladega races: Ryan Blaney (10/19 & 6/20)
11 Talladega win streaks – Drivers winning consecutive races (Kyle Busch won last Talladega race)
7 Talladega season sweeps – Last: 2007 Jeff Gordon
2 Swept both Talladega races & championship in same season – Darrell Waltrip 1982 & Dale Earnhardt 1990
Toyota won only 5 Talladega races – 2 Wins last 6 Talladega races
5/4/80: Top 6 finishers Oldsmobile
8/2/81: Top 7 finishers Buick
10/15/00: Top 6 finishers Chevrolet
32 Talladega races settled by last lap pass including last 3
11 of 19 Talladega Playoff races settled by last lap pass
Brad Keselowski: 6 Talladega wins – 4 Wins by last lap pass (Most all-time)
Brad Keselowski 4-0 in Talladega races settled by last lap pass – Most wins of all drivers
First win of season for 7 of last 10 Talladega winners –
Joey Logano (4/18), Aric Almirola (10/18), Chase Elliott (4/19), Ryan Blaney (10/19),
Ryan Blaney (6/20), Brad Keselowski (4/21) & Bubba Wallace (10/21)
Drivers won first race of season at Talladega 49 times
Only win of season for 9 of 19 Talladega Playoff race winners
18 Talladega Overtime finishes
Leader at scheduled distance failed to win 10 of last 13 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
Fewest laps led by Talladega winner: 1 (5 Times)
Jeff Gordon 10/07, Brad Keselowski 4/09, Aric Almirola 10/18, Brad Keselowski 4/21 & Ross Chastain 4/22
8 Talladega crashes involved 20 or more
Martin Truex Jr. only driver failing to finish both Talladega races & winning championship in same year (2017)
Ryan Blaney: 2 Talladega wins by .007 seconds over 2nd-place
Kevin Harvick passed for final lead change at Talladega 4 times – All with 3 or fewer laps to go
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)
Richard Childress Racing: 100th win – Talladega 10/23/11 (Clint Bowyer)
Hendrick Motorsports leads all teams with 14 Talladega wins – 7 Drivers
Richard Childress Racing: 13 Talladega wins – 3 Drivers
Team Penske: 10 Talladega wins
Joe Gibbs Racing: 5 Talladega wins
RFK Racing: 5 Talladega wins
Stewart-Haas Racing: 1 Talladega win
Trackhouse Racing: 1 Talladega win
Teams finished 1-2 in 13 Talladega races – Hendrick Motorsports 5 times
Brothers finished 1-2 in 2 Talladega races – 5/71 Donnie & Bobby Allison and 10/97 Terry & Bobby Labonte
Only 1 driver won Stage 1 & Talladega race – Brad Keselowski 10/17