TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY (2.66-MILE OVAL)
LOCATION: TALLADEGA, ALABAMA
EVENT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 10 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 1 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, MAY 1 (FOX/MRN/SIRIUSXM)
No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS / Kasey Kahne
Driver Kasey Kahne Hometown Enumclaw, Washington
Age 36 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2016 Season
14th in standings
9 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
1 top-five finish
3 top-10 finishes
0 laps led
Career
441 starts
17 wins
27 pole positions
87 top-five finishes
159 top-10 finishes
4,607 laps led
Track Career
24 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
3 top-five finishes
5 top-10 finishes
83 laps led
TALLADEGA STATISTICS: Kasey Kahne earned one of his 17 pole awards at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2012. He also has started from the outside pole position in his last two starts at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Two of the 36-year-old driver’s top-five finishes have ended with him taking the checkered flag in the runner-up position.
CLOSING KAHNE: According to NASCAR’s loop data, in the last 22 starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Kahne ranks first in the closers category. Closers are determined by the number of positions that a driver improves over the last 10 percent of the race. The Enumclaw, Washington, native has gained an average of 3.1 spots and moved up 69 total positions during that span.
THANK AMERICA’S TEACHERS: Farmers Insurance is teaming up with Thank America’s Teachers once again to give away $1 million in educational grants to teachers across the country. The public can get involved by sending thank-you notes to inspirational teachers and voting for teachers’ proposals at ThankAmericasTeachers.com. Throughout the year, Farmers will give $2,500 educational grants to 180 teachers to fund projects in the classroom in addition to six $100,000 educational grants. The Thank America’s Teachers logo will run on the lower quarter panel of Kahne’s No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS this weekend at Talladega.
WELCOME ABOARD AARP: AARP’s Drive to End Hunger Foundation will continue its relationship with Hendrick Motorsports for the 2016 season, its sixth in NASCAR. Drive to End Hunger will be the primary partner on Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet SS at Bristol Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway and an associate partner of the team at all other events. Drive to End Hunger, supported by donations from individuals, corporations and other nonprofit groups, aims to raise awareness and funds to fight hunger among those 50 and older and to provide short- and long-term solutions to older adult hunger. For more information or to get involved, please visit www.DriveToEndHunger.org or follow @Drive2EndHunger on Twitter.
THE FIRST PITCH: On May 3, Kahne will head to Wilmington, Delaware, to compete on behalf of Pocono Raceway in its fourth annual softball tournament against Dover International Speedway and fellow NASCAR driver Austin Dillon. The media event and game will take place at Frawley Stadium, home of the Wilmington Blue Rocks. The event is open to media members for coverage and participation in the game – first pitch is at 4 p.m. ET. Contact Lauren Emling if you are interested in attending.
No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS / Chase Elliott
Driver Chase Elliott Hometown Dawsonville, Georgia
Age 20 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2016 Season
11th in standings
9 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
2 top-five finishes
5 top-10 finishes
5 laps led
Career
14 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
2 top-five finishes
5 top-10 finishes
5 laps led
Track Career
0 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
0 top-10 finishes
0 laps led
NAPA ON THE NO. 24 CHEVROLET SS: After a two-week hiatus, NAPA AUTO PARTS will once again be the primary partner on board Rookie of the Year contender Chase Elliott’s No. 24 Chevrolet SS this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. NAPA will be the primary sponsor on the car for 17 additional Sprint Cup Series races this year.
ROOKIE RANKING: Elliott leads the 2016 Rookie of the Year contender standings heading into Talladega by 22 points over second-place Ryan Blaney and 35 points over third-place Brian Scott. Elliott has accumulated a total of 116 rookie points this year through the first nine races. Among active drivers, his five top-10 finishes rank second behind teammate Jimmie Johnson’s six for the most top-10s through the first nine races of a rookie season.
IMPRESSIVE STATS: Elliott has earned six top-12 finishes in the first nine races of the 2016 season with five of those being top-10 finishes, including two top-five efforts at Bristol and Texas. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native secured his first top-10 finish of 2016 at his home track, Atlanta Motor Speedway. In addition to producing impressive end results, Elliott has been able to come back from a lap down to finish in the top 15 twice this year. According to NASCAR loop data, Elliott ranks fifth in percentage of quality passes this season with 59.6 percent.
QUICK QUALIFYING: Elliott may not have experience qualifying at Talladega in the Cup Series, but the young driver laid down a quick qualifying lap earlier this year in his first Cup plate race, earning the prestigious Daytona 500 pole position. The rookie became the youngest driver (20 years, 2 months and 17 days) to land the top spot in NASCAR’s biggest race with a speed of 196.314 mph.
RACE TO THE CHASE: Elliott currently sits 11th in the standings, trailing points-leader Carl Edwards by 97 markers. Elliott is just 12 points outside of the top 10. The 20-year-old driver is six years younger than any driver currently inside of the top 16 with approximately one third of the regular-season races completed.
NO. 24 AT TALLADEGA: The No. 24 team earned its first win at Talladega in 1996 with the Chevrolet piloted by Jeff Gordon. After a rain delay and two red-flag conditions for major incidents, NASCAR halted the race due to darkness and Gordon, who had aptly displayed the art of preservation, was declared the winner. The team has gone on to earn five additional victories at the superspeedway as well as five pole awards and 20 top-10 finishes. In 2015, under the guidance of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the No. 24 team swept both pole positions in Talladega qualifying.
TESTING AT THE BRICKYARD: Hendrick Motorsports is sending Elliott and the No. 24 team to the enclave of Speedway, Indiana, to represent the organization this Tuesday and Wednesday during Goodyear’s tire test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This will be the first time that Elliott and Gustafson will work together on the 2.5-mile track. Last summer, Elliott made his track debut at IMS, starting 28th and racing his way to an 18th-place finish. It was one of five points-paying Cup races the rookie started under the guidance of then-crew chief Kenny Francis. Elliott will be available in the media center on Wednesday from 12:35 to 12:45 p.m.
DOUBLE DUTY: In addition to racing the No. 24 for Hendrick Motorsports in 2016, Elliott is running a limited schedule in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, piloting the Nos. 5 and 88 Chevrolets for JR Motorsports. After participating in the NXS event in the No. 88 this weekend at Talladega, Elliott’s next NXS race will be on Friday, July 1, at Daytona International Speedway.
No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS / Jimmie Johnson
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 40 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2016 Season
3rd in standings
9 starts
2 wins
0 pole positions
5 top-five finishes
6 top-10 finishes
215 laps led
Career
516 starts
77 wins
34 pole positions
212 top-five finishes
320 top-10 finishes
17,924 laps led
Track Career
28 starts
2 wins
1 pole position
7 top-five finishes
11 top-10 finishes
467 laps led
DEGA STATS: In the last three outings at Talladega Superspeedway, Johnson has led a total of 168 out of a possible 578 laps. Over his 28 starts at the track, Johnson has an average start of 9.8 and an average finish of 16.9.
‘PUSHY’ TEAMMATE: Restrictor plate racing is known for teammates “pushing” each other through the draft, so one could say Johnson has been a pushy teammate. Johnson has finished second at Talladega three times and each have been behind a Hendrick Motorsports teammate. Johnson and then-teammate Gordon swept the 2007 season events at Talladega by finishing one-two. Johnson also finished second to teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. one year ago.
SO CLOSE: Talladega is known for its close finishes and in this race one year ago Johnson finished second by 0.159 seconds behind race-winner and teammate Earnhardt at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.
LOCAL TIES: Longtime No. 48 front-tire carrier R.J. Barnette hails from nearby Pinson, Alabama, and played football at Samford University. Barnette has been on the Lowe’s team for seven seasons and has earned two championships with Johnson behind the wheel. Andrew Childers, jackman for the No. 48 team, is from Tucker, Georgia, and also played football at Samford University, located in Birmingham, Alabama.
VOTE NOW FOR HELMET OF HOPE CHARITIES: Ten non-profit organizations that support K-12 public education have been selected as semi-finalists in the Jimmie Johnson Foundation’s Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope program. The public will vote for their favorite semi-finalist from Friday, April 29 to Friday, May 6. The five organizations that earn the most votes will each receive a $25,000 grant, a Blue Bunny Ice Cream party and will have their logo featured on Johnson’s helmet during the Sprint Cup race on Aug. 7 at Watkins Glen. Votes will be accepted at www.helmetofhope.org.
DOVER TICKET PACKAGE: Tickets are on sale now for the May 15 Sprint Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway and fans can purchase a ticket for a Jimmie Johnson Fan Q&A. The package is $60 and includes one adult ticket, one junior ticket (ages 14 and younger) in the lower section of the turns and access to an exclusive question-and-answer session with the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and 10-time Dover winner. For more information, click here.
No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS / Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hometown Kannapolis, North Carolina
Age 41 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2016 Season
7th in standings
9 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
4 top-five finishes
5 top-10 finishes
49 laps led
Career
586 starts
26 wins
13 pole positions
147 top-five finishes
251 top-10 finishes
8,183 laps led
Track Career
32 starts
6 wins
0 pole positions
12 top-five finishes
16 top-10 finishes
960 laps led
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS, will be available to members of the media at 3 p.m. local time on Friday at the Talladega Superspeedway media center.
ALL HE DOES: Winning may not be all Earnhardt does at Talladega Superspeedway, but the driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS does have six wins on the 2.66-mile tri-oval, more than he has at any other track on the Sprint Cup circuit. Last season, he won there in the spring race and entered Talladega’s fall race in a win-to-continue Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup scenario, where he finished second, just missing his opportunity to make it into the penultimate round of the Chase. With an average of 93.8, Earnhardt has the best driver rating among active drivers at the track. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points.
AMELIA RETURNS: Crew chief Greg Ives and the No. 88 Nationwide team are bringing “Amelia,” named after pilot Amelia Earhart, back for Talladega. Amelia is the chassis that Earnhardt drove to three wins in 2015 – one in the first Daytona Duel in February, another at Daytona in July, and one at Talladega in May – and another earlier this season, in the first Daytona Duel. After receiving some damage in the 2016 Daytona 500, the team repaired the chassis in preparation for this Sunday’s race.
TALLADEGA LOOP DATA: In addition to his driver rating, Earnhardt also holds the top spot in several other loop data categories, including average running position (13.6), laps in the top 15 (2,673) and laps led (471 in the last 10 years, 960 in his career). The Kannapolis, North Carolina, native is near the top of the chart in many additional categories, including average speed late in a run (third – 193.611 mph), fastest laps run (eighth – 84), green-flag passes (fifth – 7,375), green-flag speed (fourth – 193.641 mph) and quality passes (third – 4,829).
LAVENDER GLOVES: During the month of May, Earnhardt will be wearing gloves accented in lavender to represent pediatric cancer awareness as part of The Dale Jr. Foundation’s ongoing Driven to Give Gloves program. The gloves will be auctioned off at the end of the month to raise funds for Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s clinical and research programs. Nationwide Children’s is America’s largest pediatric hospital and research center with all care provided regardless of a family’s ability to pay. Each year, more than 150 children are newly diagnosed with cancer at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and patients receive ongoing treatment and therapies during more than 13,000 visits annually. The hospital’s cancer center is one of the largest in America offering world-class diagnostic, treatment and research facilities that provide comprehensive, multi-disciplinary care for patients with cancer and acute and chronic blood disorders.
HOMETOWN HERO: William “Rowdy” Harrell, rear-tire carrier for the No. 88 Nationwide team, can certainly be called a hometown hero when he returns to Alabama, and particularly to Moundville, the small town where he grew up. After all, there is a street bearing his name – Rowdy Harrell Way – that leads to his high school football stadium. After playing football in high school, Harrell was a walk-on linebacker for Nick Saban’s well-known University of Alabama football team, winning three national championships in his four years with the team. The 6-foot-tall, 26-year-old tire carrier can also add race-winner to his list of accolades, as he joined the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 team in 2014 and became one of the six primary over-the-wall crew members in 2015. During those two seasons, the No. 88 team racked up seven wins, including the 2014 Daytona 500.
SANDWICHES FOR A CAUSE: Earnhardt drove the No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro to victory in his final NASCAR XFINITY Series race of the 2016 season, earning his first win as a driver for his own JR Motorsports team. The win helped create another spike in donations for Blessings in a Backpack, a national, non-profit organization which packs food for school children who are at risk of going hungry on the weekends. Earnhardt’s banana and mayo sandwich tweet has helped raise approximately $160,000, including his match and Hellmann’s contribution, for the non-profit organization on behalf of The Dale Jr. Foundation.
Hendrick Motorsports
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT TALLADEGA: At Talladega Superspeedway, Hendrick Motorsports has 12 wins, 10 pole positions, 53 top-five finishes and 77 top-10s. Hendrick Motorsports’ most recent Talladega win came last season, when Earnhardt made his way to Victory Lane after qualifying fourth.
SIX MAKE 12: Hendrick Motorsports’ 12 wins at Talladega have come thanks to six different drivers. Ken Schrader earned the organization’s first win at the track in 1988. Gordon contributed six wins, Johnson has earned two, and Brian Vickers, Terry Labonte and Earnhardt have claimed one apiece.
ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 242 victories, 207 pole positions, 992 top-five finishes and 1,656 top-10 finishes in Sprint Cup competition. Its teams have led 65,286 laps since 1984.
QUOTABLE /
“(Hendrick Motorsports owner) Mr. (Rick) Hendrick always gives us great race cars. Talladega is a very challenging track because of the draft. Our team communication has been really good the past few weeks between me, (No. 5 team crew chief) Keith (Rodden) and the engineers, and we’ve been putting together solid weekends. We’re going to keep heading in that direction and hopefully we continue to have strong performances.”
Kasey Kahne on racing at Talladega
“Talladega is always known for close finishes and I’m excited to get back. The racing there, you can’t really compare it to anything else. Talladega is a special place because it’s a historic racetrack for our sport. I remember watching a lot of races there. My dad still has that qualifying record and it’s obviously very impressive. It says a lot of him, Uncle Ernie and Uncle Dan, and really everybody who worked on those cars back then. They all went the extra mile to make things like that happen. So, when I think about that, it just takes the respect level that I already have for all that they did with what they had back then, and makes it even greater.”
Chase Elliott on racing at Talladega
“The XFINITY races and the Cup races are very different so it’s hard to compare the two. The cars drive differently on the plate tracks for sure, the style of drafting that you do is a little bit different so it’s really hard to compare the two. I think the biggest thing that you can kind of take from one to the other is just being surrounded by cars the entire time and gaining that comfort level of drafting and pack racing.”
Elliott on running double duty
“So much work and pride goes into my Lowe’s Chevy speedway cars back at the shop at Hendrick Motorsports. From the engine department to the body and chassis shops, our stuff is just top notch. The people back at the shop work hard. I’m looking forward to going down to Talladega this weekend and seeing what we’ve got.”
Jimmie Johnson on racing at Talladega
“We’re going to have ‘Amelia.’ She is fixed and (No. 88 team crew chief) Greg (Ives) says she is going to be the primary. He’s fired up his Twitter account recently … and he let all the fans know on Monday that Amelia is coming back. I’m excited about that – we know how she ran last year. We just have to run Talladega like we have to win it, just like we did the last time we were there. We did a good job. If we run it like that, we’ll be up front at the end.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. on racing at Talladega
