Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Talladega II
NASCAR returns to Sweet Home Alabama this weekend for what is sure to be an action-packed Sunday afternoon at the 2.66-mile Superspeedway. Jack Roush has five Cup wins at the track and eight overall, and he has five top-10s in the past five outings, with laps led in those five consecutive races.
YellaWood 500
Sunday, Oct. 3 at 2 p.m. ET
NBC, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
· Ryan Newman, No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford Mustang
· Chris Buescher, No. 17 Violet Defense Ford Mustang
Vegas Recap, Talladega Preview
· Newman finished 20th last weekend at Las Vegas in a race that saw just one natural caution across 400 miles, while Buescher finished 25th.
· Kohler Generators returns to Newman’s Ford for Talladega, and will run a pink number on the roof and sides in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month which kicks off this weekend.
· Violet Defense is back for its second-straight primary on the No. 17 at Talladega.
Recently at Dega
An RFR Ford has led laps in five straight Talladega events, and Jack Roush has five top-10s in that stretch. Take out a controversial post-race penalty for Chris Buescher last fall, and the tally would be six. Going back to his first Talladega race with RFR in 2019, Ryan Newman finished seventh, then followed that with second, 24th, sixth and 13th. Buescher ran sixth in this race a season ago, and was aligned for another sixth-place run in the fall before the penalty gave him a 22nd-place finish officially.
Photo Finish at the Line
It came down to the final few inches for Newman two years ago in the fall race, as he finished second behind Ryan Blaney by .007 seconds, the sixth-closest finish in NASCAR history. Newman lined up fifth on the inside line for the final restart with three laps to go. After a four-car group went single-file coming to the white flag, Newman took the lead and led coming out of turn four and through the tri-oval before Blaney snuck to his inside just before the start/finish line. It was a long 188 laps for the entire field as rain set in after 57 laps were completed, postponing the finish to Monday afternoon.
Running Clear Across Alabama
Roush Fenway has seen its fair share of success at the Alabama track, amassing 275 starts, eight wins, 44 top-fives and 94 top-10s across NASCAR’s three major touring series. Roush machines have also tallied seven poles, including three in cup action, and have led more than 1500 laps.
Winning in Greenbow
Roush Fenway has won in all three of NASCAR’s major series at Talladega. The team won its first race at Talladega in the NCS event in the spring of 1995. Former Roush Fenway driver Mark Martin won for the organization in all three series at the 2.66-mile oval.
Most recently, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. piloted his Fifth Third Bank Ford to victory lane four years ago when the NCS rolled through Talladega for the organization’s eighth win at the historic track.
Fastest Chicken in the South
Former Roush Fenway driver Mark Martin won the fastest Cup race ever recorded on May 10, 1997 at Talladega piloting the No. 6 Ford. Martin, who held off NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt, started from the 18th position and led 47 laps en route to the victory. The race saw 26 lead changes and had an average speed of 188.354 mph.
Tale of the Tape
Roush Fenway has started 216 NCS races at Talladega with 77 top-10 and 37 top-five finishes along with three poles. Former drivers Mark Martin (1995, 1997), Jamie McMurray (2009), Matt Kenseth (2012) and Stenhouse are responsible for RFR’s combined five Cup wins and overall a Jack Roush Ford has led 1519 laps at the 2.66-mile track.
Roush Fenway Talladega Wins
1995-1 Martin Cup
1997-1 Martin Cup
1997 Martin NXS
2006 Martin Truck
2009 Ragan NXS
2009-2 McMurray Cup
2012-2 Kenseth Cup
2017-1 Stenhouse Cup
