NASCAR Talladega Sunday, September 27, 2020
Active Talladega Leaders
Wins: 5 Brad Keselowski
Most Talladega top 3 finishes: 6 Clint Bowyer
Most Talladega top 10 finishes: 21 Kurt Busch (Winless)
Most Talladega laps led: 524 Matt Kenseth
Most Talladega lead lap finishes: 28 Kevin Harvick
Most Talladega races running at finish: 35 Kevin Harvick
Most Talladega DNFs: 13 Martin Truex Jr.
Winner pit stops & lap Talladega June: Ryan Blaney (6 Stops) 27, 61, 97, 122, 143, 145
Longest green flag run Talladega June: 40 Laps (147-186)
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2 Talladega June: Kyle Busch (5th & 3rd)
Speeding Talladega June: Ryan Preece (15th), Ryan Newman (24th), Matt DiBenedetto (26th)
Rear of field Talladega June: William Byron (11th), Brendan Gaughan, Daniel Suarez, B.J. McLeod, Garrett Smithley, Joey Gase
Best HMS Talladega June: 7th Alex Bowman
Best JGR Talladega June: 4th Denny Hamlin
Best SHR Talladega June: 3rd Aric Almirola
Best TPR Talladega June: 1st Ryan Blaney
Denny Hamlin: Only driver to finish top 5 all 3 superspeedway races this season – Daytona 500 champion
3 Finished top 10 all 3 superspeedway races this season: Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher & Denny Hamlin
Most superspeedway laps led this season: 106 Denny Hamlin
Most superspeedway races led this season: All 3 Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin & Joey Logano
First win of season for last 11 Superspeedway winners
1-Kurt Busch: 2004 Champion – Winless in 39 Talladega races (5 Top 3 finishes)
(Won first Las Vegas race in 22nd try)
1-Kurt Busch: 1 Top 30 finish in 3 superspeedway races this season (Failed to finish 2 races) – Finished 9th at Talladega June
2-Brad Keselowski: 6 Superspeedway wins – Leads active drivers
2-Brad Keselowski: 3 Wins last 12 Talladega races
2-Brad Keselowski: 5 Talladega wins – 3 Wins by last lap pass (Most all-time)
2-Brad Keselowski passed Ryan Newman on final lap 2 Talladega wins – 2014 Playoff race & 2017 Playoff race
2-Brad Keselowski 3-0 in Talladega races settled by last lap pass – Most wins of all drivers
2-Brad Keselowski: 2 Talladega Playoff race wins – Both by last lap pass (Passed Ryan Newman each time)
3-Austin Dillon: 1 Top 5 finish in 14 Talladega races – Finished 3rd (5/16)
4-Kevin Harvick passed for final lead change at Talladega 4 times – All with 3 or fewer laps to go
4-Kevin Harvick 1 Win & 2 losses in Talladega races settled by last lap pass including June
4-Kevin Harvick: 1 Top 15 finish in last 4 Talladega races – Finished 10th in June
6-Ryan Newman best non-Playoff finisher 2 of last 3 Talladega Playoff races – Finished 2nd in 2017 & 2nd in 2019
9-Chase Elliott: 4 Talladega top 10 finishes – 3 Finishes of 30th or worse
10-Aric Almirola: 8 Straight Talladega top 10 finishes – Ties all-time longest streak (Dale Earnhardt Jr.)
10-Aric Almirola: Best Stewart-Haas Racing finisher last 4 Talladega races
11-Denny Hamlin: Finished 4th or better last 4 superspeedway races – 2020 Daytona 500 champion
11-Denny Hamlin: Finished 4th or better 3 of last 4 Talladega races
12-Ryan Blaney: 2 Straight Talladega wins – Only 1 top 5 finish previous 10 Talladega races
12-Ryan Blaney:
2 Straight Talladega wins – Buddy Baker won 3 straight (5/75, 8/75 & 5/76) & Dale Earnhardt Jr. won 4 straight (10/01, 4/02, 10/02 & 4/03)
12-Ryan Blaney: Only repeat winner last 7 Talladega races (2 Wins) – 5 Others 1 win each
12-Ryan Blaney only 2019 & ’20 win came at Talladega
12-Ryan Blaney won last 2 Talladega races by .007 seconds over 2nd-place
12-Ryan Blaney: Finished 6th or better last 4 superspeedway races – 2 Wins (Talladega 10/19 & Talladega June)
12-Ryan Blaney: 3 Top 2 finishes last 4 superspeedway races – 2 Wins (Talladega 10/19 & Talladega June)
12-Ryan Blaney: 8 Straight superspeedway races led – 127 Laps led
14-Clint Bowyer: 2 Talladega Playoff race wins – Both by last lap pass
17-Chris Buescher: 1 Top 10 finish in 10 Talladega races – Finished 6th in June
17-Chris Buescher: Finished 9th or better all 3 superspeedway races this season
18-Kyle Busch: 1 Win in 30 Talladega races (4/08) – Winless last 23 Talladega races
18-Kyle Busch: Finished 32nd or worse all 3 superspeedway races this season – Failed to finish 2 of 3 superspeedway races
18-Kyle Busch: 9 Straight superspeedway races led (Longest current streak) – 103 Laps led
19-Martin Truex Jr.: Finished 4th at Daytona Aug. – Finished 20th or worse previous 7 superspeedway races
19-Martin Truex Jr.: Finished 20th or worse last 8 Talladega races
20-Erik Jones: 1 Top 5 finish in 7 Talladega races – Finished 5th in June
22-Joey Logano: 3 Wins last 10 Talladega races
22-Joey Logano: Finished 17th or worse all 3 superspeedway races this season – Failed to finish 2 of 3 superspeedway races
22-Joey Logano: 7 Straight superspeedway races led – 179 Laps led
24-William Byron: Finished 11th at Talladega June (Started rear of field) – Finished 20th or worse previous 4 Talladega races
38-John Hunter Nemechek: Finished 8th at Talladega June – Best Rookie finisher
42-Matt Kenseth lost 3 Talladega races in overtime after leading at scheduled distance
43-Bubba Wallace: 1 Top 15 finish in 5 Talladega races – Finished 14th in June
47-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: 1 Talladega win (5/17) – 4 Talladega top 3 finishes
48-Jimmie Johnson: No top 5 finishes last 10 Talladega races – Average finish last 10 Talladega races: 20th
62-Brendan Gaughan: 3 Top 10 finishes last 6 superspeedway races
88-Alex Bowman: 3 Talladega top 10 finishes – All 3 in last 5 races
49 Different winners in 102 NASCAR Cup Series Talladega races
12 Different winners 16 Talladega Playoff races
No driver won Talladega Playoff race & championship in same season
10 of 16 Playoff champions finished 9th or better in Talladega Playoff race
Non-Playoff driver won 5 of 16 Talladega Playoff races
Best non-Playoff driver finished 6th or better all 16 Talladega Playoff races – Top 3 last 4 races
Jamie McMurray won twice as non-Playoff driver
9 of 16 Talladega Playoff races settled by last lap pass including 6 of last 10
7 Talladega Playoff races ended under caution
Team Penske won 5 of last 6 Talladega Playoff races – Brad Keselowski 2, Joey Logano 2 & Ryan Blaney 1
Ford won last 6 Talladega Playoff races
Only 1 of last 26 Talladega races won from first starting position – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 5/17
14 of 102 Talladega races won from first starting position
Driver starting first failed to finish 26 of 102 Talladega races
Drivers starting first failed to finish more Talladega races than they won
Team Penske won 7 of last 10 Talladega races – 8 Wins last 12 Talladega races
Ford won 9 of last 10 Talladega races – Chevrolet won 4/19 (Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports)
6 Won pole in first try at Talladega
6 Won first career pole at Talladega
Worst official starting position to win Talladega: 36th – Jeff Gordon 4/00
3 Won Talladega from 34th starting position including Denny Hamlin 5/14
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
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
Dale Earnhardt Jr. tied record for consecutive superspeedway wins at 1 track with 4 (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)
7 Talladega season sweeps – Last: 2007 Jeff Gordon (Ryan Blaney won Talladega June)
Last back-to-back fall wins – Joey Logano 2015 & ’16 (Ryan Blaney won last fall race)
2 Swept both Talladega races & championship in same season – Darrell Waltrip 1982 & Dale Earnhardt 1990
Toyota won only 3 Talladega races – Winless last 12 Talladega races
27 Talladega races settled by last lap pass
9 of 16 Talladega Playoff races settled by last lap pass
First win of season for last 5 Talladega winners –
Joey Logano (4/18), Aric Almirola (10/18), Chase Elliott (4/19), Ryan Blaney (10/19) & Ryan Blaney (6/20)
Drivers won first race of season at Talladega 47 times
Only win of season for 8 of 16 Talladega Playoff race winners including Ryan Blaney last season
1 Multi-day Talladega race (10/13-14/19) – First 57 laps run 10/13
4 Postponed Talladega races
15 Talladega Overtime finishes
Leader at scheduled distance failed to win 7 of last 10 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
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 & Aric Almirola 10/18
8 Talladega crashes involved 20 or more
Martin Truex Jr. only driver failing to finish both Talladega races & winning championship in same year (2017)
David Pearson (1969) & Kyle Busch (5/13) – Only drivers to miss Talladega race & win championship in same year
Driver starting 1st at Talladega led first lap in only 41 of 102 races
Pole failed to lead 1st lap in 60 of 102 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 21 Talladega races
Pole failed to lead first lap 12 of last 22 Talladega races
Pole failed to lead any laps in 15 of 102 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
Team Penske: 9 Talladega wins
Only 1 driver won Stage 2 & Talladega race – Chase Elliott 4/19
Talladega Stage 1 winner finished outside top 10 last 5 Talladega races
Winner of Previous Race Won Talladega 8 Times – Last: 2015 Joey Logano
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES TALLADEGA STATS HIGHLIGHTS
11-Justin Haley: Finished 7th or better last 5 races at Daytona & Talladega – 2 Straight wins (Talladega June & Daytona Aug.)
11-Justin Haley: Only driver to finish top 10 all 3 superspeedway races this season – Average finish: 2.7
20-Harrison Burton: Finished 32nd at Talladega June – Finished top 10 previous 12 races (Streak started at Texas 11/19)
98-Chase Briscoe: Only driver to lead all 3 superspeedway races this season – 42 Laps led
24 Different winners in 29 Talladega Xfinity Series races
8 Talladega NXS races with 15 or more involved in a single crash
Only 4 won Talladega more than once – Martin Truex, Jr. 3, Joey Logano 2, Joe Nemechek 2 & Elliott Sadler 2
Pole failed to finish 10 of last 26 Talladega races – 9 Due to crashes
First Talladega win for 12 of last 14 winners including last 4
3 Talladega winners from first starting position – Joe Nemechek 1998, Tony Stewart 2008 & Justin Haley 2020
Worst starting position of Talladega winner: 35th – Joe Nemechek 2000
4 Won first career race at Talladega – Greg Sacks (1996), David Ragan (2009), Spencer Gallagher (2018) & Justin Haley (2020)
12 Talladega races settled by last lap pass
Chevrolet leads with 17 Talladega wins
2 Won Talladega in first try – Greg Sacks & Martin Truex, Jr.
Mid-race leader won 2 of 29 Talladega races – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 2003 & Joey Logano 2015
Leader of most laps failed to win 9 of last 12 Talladega races
Leader of most laps failed to win 18 of 29 Talladega races
Fewest laps led by winner – 1 David Ragan 2009, Elliott Sadler 2016 & Spencer Gallagher 2018
Brad Keselowski 2010, Tyler Reddick 2019 & Martin Truex, Jr. 2004 & ’05 won Talladega & championship in same season
9 Won first career pole at Talladega – 5 Won pole in first try
8 Talladega races had margin of victory of one tenth of a second or smaller
Leader at scheduled distance failed to win 8 of 9 Overtime Talladega races
Stage 2 winner failed to win all 4 Talladega races