NASCAR Talladega Sunday, September 26, 2021
TALLADEGA NASCAR CUP SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Pit window April: 36-42 Laps
Talladega wins: 9 Drivers – 18 Wins
Brad Keselowski: 6
Joey Logano: 3
Ryan Blaney & Denny Hamlin 2
Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick & Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1
Champions winless at Talladega:
Kurt Busch 0 for 41 & Martin Truex Jr. 0 for 33
First win of season for 13 of last 15 Superspeedway winners
Brad Keselowski:
Talladega April winner– Started 10th, finished 19th in Stage 1 & 2nd in Stage 2, 1 lap led, lap 60 involved in crash, avg. running pos.: 8th
Denny Hamlin:
Talladega 10/20 winner – Finished 26th in Stage 1 & 28th in Stage 2, avg. running pos.: 20th, running 6th entering final lap
William Byron:
Finished 2nd at Talladega April – 12 Laps led, lap 119 involved in crash, running 9th into final lap
Michael McDowell:
Finished 3rd at Talladega April – Started 23rd, finished 8th in Stage 1 & 3rd in Stage 2
Kevin Harvick:
Finished 4th at Talladega April– 12 Laps led, lap 91 pit road speeding, lap 105 over-the-wall too soon, running 8th entering final lap
Matt DiBenedetto:
Finished 5th at Talladega April – 5 Times led (most) for 28 laps (2nd most), passed for lead on final lap
Tyler Reddick:
Finished 7th at Talladega April – Started 20th, finished outside top 10 in Stage 1 & 2, running 14th with 2 laps to go
Austin Dillon:
Finished 8th at Talladega April – Started 11th, finished 11th in Stage 1 & 2, running 14th entering final lap
Ryan Blaney:
Finished 9th at Talladega April– Started 7th, finished 2nd in Stage 1 & 6th in Stage 2, 11 laps led, running 3rd entering final lap
Cole Custer:
Finished 10th at Talladega April – Started 27th, finished 21st in Stage 1 & 19th in Stage 2
49 Different winners in 104 NASCAR Cup Series Talladega races
13 Different winners 17 Talladega Playoff races
No driver won Talladega Playoff race & championship in same season
11 of 17 Playoff champions finished 9th or better in Talladega Playoff race
Non-Playoff driver won 5 of 17 Talladega Playoff races
Best non-Playoff driver finished 6th or better all 17 Talladega Playoff races – Top 3 last 5 races
Jamie McMurray won twice as non-Playoff driver
Erik Jones best non-Playoff finisher last Talladega Playoff race – Finished 2nd
10 of 17 Talladega Playoff races settled by last lap pass including 7 of last 11
Brad Keselowski: 2 Talladega Playoff race wins – Both by last lap pass (Passed Ryan Newman both times)
7 Talladega Playoff races ended under caution
Team Penske won 5 of last 7 Talladega Playoff races – Brad Keselowski 2, Joey Logano 2 & Ryan Blaney 1
Ford won 6 of last 7 Talladega Playoff races
Ryan Blaney: Only repeat winner last 7 Talladega races (2 Wins) – 5 Others 1 win each
Ryan Blaney: 2 Wins last 4 Talladega races – Finished 25th (10/20) & 9th (4/21)
Ryan Blaney: 2 Talladega wins by .007 seconds over 2nd-place
15 of 104 Talladega races won from first starting position
Driver starting first failed to finish 26 of 104 Talladega races
Drivers starting first failed to finish more Talladega races than they won
Team Penske won 8 of last 12 Talladega races – 9 Wins last 14 Talladega races
Ford won 10 of last 12 Talladega races – Chevrolet won 4/19 (Chase Elliott) & Toyota won 10/20 (Denny Hamlin)
Toyota won 1 of last 14 Toyota races – Denny Hamlin 10/20
Worst official starting position to win Talladega: 36th – Jeff Gordon 4/00
3 Won Talladega from 34th starting position
Brad Keselowski won 2 Talladega races after starting rear of field (4/09 & 10/14)
*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
2 Rookie of the Year candidates won Talladega – Ron Bouchard 8/81 & Davey Allison 5/87
11 Talladega win streaks – Drivers winning consecutive races (Brad Keselowski won in April)
7 Talladega season sweeps – Last: 2007 Jeff Gordon (Brad Keselowski won in April)
Toyota won only 4 Talladega races – 1 Win last 14 Talladega races
5/4/80: Top 6 finishers Oldsmobile
8/2/81: Top 7 finishers Buick
10/15/00: Top 6 finishers Chevrolet
29 Talladega races settled by last lap pass
10 of 17 Talladega Playoff races settled by last lap pass
Brad Keselowski: 6 Talladega wins – 4 Wins by last lap pass (Most all-time)
Matt DiBenedetto: Passed for lead on final lap last 2 Talladega races
Brad Keselowski 4-0 in Talladega races settled by last lap pass – Most wins of all drivers
First win of season for 6 of last 7 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)
Drivers won first race of season at Talladega 47 times
Only win of season for 8 of 17 Talladega Playoff race winners
17 Talladega Overtime finishes
Leader at scheduled distance failed to win 9 of last 12 Talladega Overtime races
Longest Talladega race: 200 Laps (4/10 & 10/20)
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 & Brad Keselowski 4/21
8 Talladega crashes involved 20 or more
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 13 Talladega wins – 7 Drivers
Richard Childress Racing: 12 Talladega wins
Team Penske: 10 Talladega wins
Joe Gibbs Racing: 5 Talladega wins
Stewart-Haas Racing: 1 Talladega win
Teams finished 1-2 in 13 Talladega races – Henrick Motorsports 5 times
Brothers finished 1-2 in 2 Talladega races – 5/71 Donnie & Bobby Allison and 10/97 Terry Labonte & Bobby Labonte
Only 1 driver won Stage 1 & Talladega race – Brad Keselowski 10/17
Only 1 driver won Stage 2 & Talladega race – Chase Elliott 4/19
Matt DiBenedetto: Talladega 4/21 Stage 1 winner – Finished 5th
Bubba Wallace: Talladega 4/21 Stage 2 winner – Finished 19th
TALLADEGA NASCAR XFINITY SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Pit window April: 40-42 Laps
Jeb Burton:
Talladega April winner – Started 9th, finished 2nd in Stage 1 & 17th in Stage 2, avg. running pos. 5.9
“I definitely broke down talking to my dad and mom. They told me to dry it up and stop crying and enjoy it.
They were crying too. We just wanted this for so long.”
Austin Cindric:
Finished 2nd at Talladega April – Started 1st, finished 4th in Stage 1 & 3rd in Stage 2, 24 laps led (most)
AJ Allmendinger:
Finished 3rd at Talladega April – Started 11th, finished 6th in Stage 1 & 15th in Stage 2
Riley Herbst:
Finished 4th at Talladega April – Started 19th, finished 14th in Stage 1 & 12th in Stage 2
Ryan Sieg:
Finished 5th at Talladega April – Started 17th, finished 23rd in Stage 1 & 22nd in Stage 2, 1 laps led
Noah Gragson:
Finished 6th at Talladega April – Started 4th, finished 3rd in Stage 1 & Stage 2 winner, 8 laps led, Dash 4 Cash winner
Brandon Brown:
Finished 7th at Talladega April – Started 18th, finished top 10 in Stage 1 & 2, 1 lap led
Justin Haley:
Finished 8th at Talladega April – Started 5th, Stage 1 winner & finished 14th in Stage 2, 2 laps led
Myatt Snider:
Finished 9th at Talladega April – Started 10th, finished 11th in Stage 1 & 6th in Stage 2, 3 laps led
Harrison Burton:
Finished 10th at Talladega April – Started 3rd, finished 5th in Stage 1 & 11th in Stage 2, 6 laps led
25 Different winners in 31 Talladega Xfinity Series races
Only 5 won Talladega more than once – Martin Truex, Jr. 3, Justin Haley 2, Joey Logano 2, Joe Nemechek 2 & Elliott Sadler 2
Pole failed to finish 10 of last 28 Talladega races – 9 Due to crashes
First Talladega win for 13 of last 16 winners
Kaulig Racing won last 3 Talladega races – Justin Haley 6/20, 10/20 & Jeb Burton 4/21
3 Talladega winners from first starting position – Joe Nemechek 1998, Tony Stewart 2008 & Justin Haley 6/20
Worst starting position of Talladega winner: 35th – Joe Nemechek 2000
5 Won first career race at Talladega –
Greg Sacks(1996),David Ragan(2009),Spencer Gallagher(2018),Justin Haley(6/20)& Jeb Burton(4/21)
12 Talladega races settled by last lap pass
Mid-race leader won 2 of 31 Talladega races – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 2003 & Joey Logano 2015
Mid-race leader failed to finish 6 of 31 Talladega races
Leader of most laps won 11 of 31 Talladega races
Fewest laps led by winner – 1 David Ragan 2009, Elliott Sadler 2016 & Spencer Gallagher 2018
Latest point winner took lead for first time – Final lap David Ragan 2009, Elliott Sadler 2016 & Spencer Gallagher 2018
1 Led most laps, but failed to finish – Michael Waltrip 1995 Crash
Brad Keselowski 2010, Tyler Reddick 2019 & Martin Truex, Jr. 2004 & ’05 won Talladega & championship in same season
Leader of most laps failed to win 11 of last 14 Talladega races
Leader of most laps failed to win 20 of 31 Talladega races
8 Talladega races had margin of victory of one tenth of a second or smaller
9 Talladega Overtime finishes
Leader at scheduled distance failed to win 8 of 9 Overtime Talladega races
Leader at scheduled distance failed to win last 8 Overtime Talladega races
8 Talladega NXS races with 15 or more involved in a single crash
Stage 2 winner failed to win all 6 Talladega races