Richard Childress Racing’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series history at Talladega Superspeedway … Richard Childress began his driving career at Talladega Superspeedway in 1969 and is in a tie for the most all-time car owner victories at the storied Alabama-based race track with 12 wins. Dale Earnhardt visited Victory Lane nine times, while Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer swept the 2010 events at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Bowyer added to the Welcome, N.C.-based organization’s total by claiming RCR’s 100th Sprint Cup Series win when NASCAR’s senior series visited the facility in October 2011. In 166 starts, RCR also has four pole awards, 41 top-five, 67 top-10 finishes and has led 1,837 laps of competition.
RCR in the MENCS … In 2,763 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts dating back to 1969, RCR has amassed 48 pole awards, 106 wins, 477 top-five finishes and 1,035 top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 17.7 and an average finishing position of 16.1. RCR has earned 15 total championships (six Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championships with Earnhardt in 1986, ’87, ’90, ’91, ’93 and ’94, six NASCAR XFINITY Series titles, two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series titles and one ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards title) and was the first organization to win titles in NASCAR’s three national series.
Interactive RCR … For up-to-date news and exclusive content, visit RCR’s corporate Twitter page – @RCRracing – along with the RCR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team Twitter page – @RCRCup, and driver Twitter pages @austindillon3 and @RyanJNewman. Information about the 15-time championship winning organization can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardChildressRacing and at www.RCRracing.com along with official driver pages – http://www.facebook.com/austindillon3, www.facebook.com/PaulMenard27 and www.facebook.com/RyanNewmanNASCAR.
Catch the Action … The GEICO 500 will be televised live Sunday, May 7 beginning at 2 p.m. EDT on FOX and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
This Week’s Dow Intellifresh Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway … In seven Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Talladega, Dillon earned his best finish at the 2.66-mile track in April 2016 when he finished third after making 17 pit stops and driving through the field with a battered racecar. His best finish in four NASCAR XFINITY Series Starts is also third. He has two starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, earning a best finish of seventh in October 2011.
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Meet Dillon … Dillon is scheduled to participate in the Tweet Up at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday at 9:45 a.m. ET. Follow @JeffGluck and @BobPockrass on Twitter for more information.
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:
You always seem to have pretty good success at Talladega Superspeedway …
“Yeah, I’ve done a lot of different things there and finished a lot of different ways. I do love the speedways. It’s been fun. We were pretty good at Daytona and I’m thinking we are going to bring something faster yet to Talladega.”
How does stage racing change at Talladega Superspeedway?
“Superspeedway you definitely want to try and get those bonus points when you can, so staying aggressive is good, but obviously, the main thing is winning the race. Trying to be smart if you can take advantage of others mistakes coming down to the end of a stage, take advantage of them, but if you can gain points, gain them.”
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PAUL MENARD QUOTE:
With stage racing growing in importance every single week, how does that dynamic change at a superspeedway versus a short track?
“It’s another opportunity to score points, and they all add up. For plate tracks, it really makes it harder to justify riding around and waiting to the end, which is something I’ve never been in favor of under normal circumstances anyway. We’ll go out there this weekend and race hard like always and go after our main goal, which is to win.”
Winner, Winner … Newman increased his chances of punching his ticket to the MENCS playoffs with a victory at Phoenix Raceway on March 19th in the No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet. The win equates to the driver’s 18th-career Cup Series victory and RCR’s 106th.
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Rescue Ranch Playground Project … Ryan and Krissie Newman are in the midst of a $400,000 fundraising and build for Rescue Ranch. It is a community wide effort that will benefit countless children annually. The fully-inclusive playground will be 10,000 sq./ft. and encompasses a barrier-free option for children of all abilities to play together. The official ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for June 3. For more information, please watch: https://youtu.be/Iwg63IVTOHs.
RYAN NEWMAN QUOTES:
What is the key to being successful at Talladega Superspeedway?
“It’s all about having a fast racecar and be lucky enough to stay out front and not getting in somebody else’s mess. You also have to have a good day on pit road because it seems like we have a lot of green-flag runs. If you have a bad stop, it is really easy to lose a lap. It’s all about keeping yourself in the game.”
What is the most challenging part of Talladega?
“I think it’s when you have a mediocre car and you are stuck in the middle of the pack racing three to four cars wide. It’s in our nature as a driver to be competitive and race. There are times when you just have to back out and be the smartest.”
After one restrictor-plate race in the books this season, how do you think the stages will play out?
“I think the stage racing will definitely change the strategy of how I will race this race. In the past, I would drop to the back and make a run at the front when there was less than 50 laps to go. I think we’ll see what we saw in Daytona earlier this year. I think you may see a few guys drop back for just a little bit but at some point, they will run to the front or at least run to their best position to get points. It really is no different than any other track. You still have time to kind of put yourself in position or wait to put yourself in position.”
Richmond Review … Daniel Hemric was the highest RCR finisher in third, Austin Dillon fourth, Ty Dillon 19th, Brandon Jones 33rd and Brendan Gaughan 35th, respectively, in the Richmond 250 at Richmond International Raceway. Hemric earned his first-career pole award in his first NASCAR XFINITY Series trip to the 0.75-mile short track. He was the Sunoco Rookie of the Race and qualified for the XFINITY Racing Dash 4 Cash bonus for the second week in a row.
Welcome Kennedy … This weekend will be Ben Kennedy’s first race of the year in the No. 2 Rheem Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing. Kennedy is slated to pilot the No. 2 Chevrolet in eight events for the 2017 season.
The Points … All three RCR XFINITY Series full-time drivers remain in the top 20 of the driver point standings as the Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the ninth event of the season. Daniel Hemric is currently fourth, Brandon Jones is 13th and Brendan Gaughan is 17th. The No. 2 and No. 3 RCR teams are fourth and ninth in the owner point standings, respectively. Hemric is currently second in the XFINITY Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year point standings, five points out of first place.
Catch the Action … Coverage of this week’s Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway will be televised live on Saturday, May 6, beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern time on FOX. It will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM channel 90.
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Welcome to RCR … This is weekend one of eight XFINITY Series events that Kennedy will race in the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing. Next up on the schedule for Kennedy is Iowa Speedway in June.
Meet Ben … Fans have the opportunity to join Kennedy and other XFINITY Series drivers for an autograph session Friday, May 5, at 2:30 p.m. local time. The event is located in the Legends Hospitality Village at Talladega Superspeedway.
BEN KENNEDY QUOTE:
What are your thoughts heading into this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway?
“I’m looking forward to getting back to the track and in the car in Talladega. It’s been a long offseason for me, and there’s a lot of anticipation going into the weekend. I think we’ll have a good shot with the No. 2 Rheem team and Justin Alexander calling the shots atop the pit box. Hopefully we’ll get up to speed quick and be in contention to win, but my goal is to learn a lot this year behind the wheel.”
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Meet Dillon … Fans will have two opportunities to meet Dillon on Sunday, May 7 in Talladega Superspeedway’s fan zone. Dillon will be at the GEICO display at 9:50 a.m. C.T. to meet fans and sign autographs. Later that morning, at 10:15 a.m. C.T., he will make a visit to the Team Chevy Stage.
TY DILLON QUOTES:
Is there anything that you can take from Daytona earlier this year and apply to Talladega?
“We’ve got to be perfect at what we can control. We had a fast Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet in Daytona, but we ran out of gas at the end and took ourselves out. There’s really only so much that you can do to protect yourself there. You’ve got to stay out of all the crashes and be there at the end of the race. Hopefully there’s not as much melee in Talladega as there was at Daytona this year. All you can do at the superspeedways to have a shot at making a winning move on the last lap is survive.”
Did the segment racing contribute to the wildness of Daytona? And if so, do you think Talladega will be calmer or just as wild.
“I’d say so. People were a little more aggressive than usual with the stage racing. They waited the whole off-season to get back in cars, and then they got all this news about the new format. People were ready to go, wanting to see how much those points were worth. But, a lot of people didn’t get to because they were wrecked and on the hook. I think now that we’ve settled into the format and in seeing how crazy Daytona got, everyone will be more aware of how aggressively they’re racing in Talladega. If you take yourself out in the first stage, you have no shot at the bonus points.”
Meet the Driver … Fans will have multiple opportunities to meet Hemric throughout the weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. The XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year contender is slated to take part in the XFINITY Series autograph session in the Legends Hospitality Village on Friday, May 5, starting at 2:30 p.m. local time. He will also take part in the ‘Big One on the Blvd’ on Friday evening, starting at 7:30 p.m. local time. Hemric will also make an appearance in the XFINITY Zone on Saturday, May 6, starting at 10:45 a.m. local time.
Rearview Mirror: Richmond … Hemric earned his second consecutive top-five finish last weekend at Richmond International Raceway by finishing third in the No. 21 Blue Gate Bank Chevrolet Camaro. The rookie driver also earned his first-career XFINITY Series pole award, was the Sunoco Rookie of the Race and qualified for the XFINITY Racing Dash 4 Cash bonus for the second week in a row.
DANIEL HEMRIC QUOTE:
You have two Camping World Truck Series starts at Talladega Superspeedway, but will be making your first XFINITY Series start there this week. What are the biggest differences between Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway?
“The one thing that sticks out to me is the amount of grip that Talladega seems to have in the racetrack compared to Daytona. The racetrack is so much wider than Daytona, too. Anything you do to help your car handling-wise at Daytona, you take some of that out at Talladega. With all the action we saw at Daytona with the cars moving around in the draft and suddenly losing the aero-grip while in the pack, it is easy to get yourself in trouble like I did at Daytona. You have got to make sure we creep back toward the direction of having our cars handle like they did at Daytona to be good and be able to make moves at Talladega. You’ve got to make sure you can maneuver your car and you can drive the thing. That’s going to be the biggest thing. If we can do that with our No. 21 Blue Gate Bank Chevrolet, we’ll have a good day.”
Meet Brandon Jones … Fans of Jones have a couple of opportunities to meet the driver this weekend. Jones will participate alongside his competitors in the XFINITY Series autograph session on Friday, May 5 starting at 2:30 p.m. local time. After that, fans can catch Jones as he sits down for a Q&A at the Team Chevy stage starting at 3:30 p.m. local time on Friday, May 5.
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BRANDON JONES QUOTES:
We now go from a couple of weekends at short tracks to the biggest one of them all at Talladega Superspeedway. Racing there can be mentally draining on drivers, what’s it like for you?
“Your brain is definitely tired after racing at Talladega. There’s a lot of planning that goes on at 200 miles per hour for the entire length of the race. We were good on speed earlier at Daytona and I managed to get my first pole there, so I’m hoping we can back that up at Talladega and have another fast No. 33 Nexteer Chevrolet this weekend. Talladega has been a track for me that I’ve been better at than Daytona during the actual race. I’ve had a couple shots to win at Talladega back in the Truck Series and ARCA Racing Series, so I’m hoping for another chance to get in to Victory Lane this weekend.”
Everyone thinks a superspeedway is a superspeedway, but how does Talladega differ from Daytona?
“Talladega is a lot wider and more worn out than Daytona is. There are a lot more bumps at Talladega as well, but you can also see a lot more of the track too. There is a lot more room to duck down on the backstretch and kind of see where you’re at. When you’re in a pack racing like that you normally can’t see more than what’s right in front of you, or maybe one car-length beyond that, so being able to duck down and see more of what’s in front of you is a key difference between the two.”
At the South Point … This week, the South Point Hotel & Casino will host the 2017 Miss Nevada United States on May 7 in the Showroom. For more information and tickets visit southpointcasino.com.
Season in a Loop … According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Gaughan ranks seventh in Quality Passes with 278 passes so far this season. Gaughan has spent 557 of his contested laps competing in the top 15 of the running order and is currently 17th in the XFINITY Series driver point standings.
Come See Gaughan … On Friday, May 5, Gaughan will participate in a question-and-answer session at 2:50 p.m. local time at the XFINITY Fanzone located in the Talladega Superspeedway Fan Midway.
BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:
You finished fifth last year at Talladega Superspeedway. Is there anything you can take from Daytona with the new package?
“Yes! The only difference is Talladega will have less handling. Daytona, all the drivers said that handling was starting to come back. It was a fun Daytona. The handling shouldn’t be an issue at Talladega. We will just be stuck on the bottom. We are going to trim our race cars out a little bit, get them a little more slick with less downforce. I love restrictor plate racing. I do enjoy it, and I’ve always felt I have been pretty good at it. In the last year-and-a-half we finally have good finishes to show for it. We are going there for a chance at a ‘W.’ We were really good at Daytona and had a chance to win. We hope to keep the momentum going and get the ‘W’ at Talladega Superspeedway.
