The NASCAR Cup Series, the Xfinity Series and the ARCA Menards Series travel to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. The Camping World Truck Series has a week off from competition but returns May 1 at Kansas Speedway.
Team Penske has been dominant at Talladega scoring seven victories in the last 11 races at the 2.66-mile track. Brad Keselowski leads all active drivers with five victories (2009, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017). Joey Logano has won three times (2015, 2016, 2018) and Ryan Blaney has two wins, in 2019 and 2020.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin leads the series standings and is still looking for his first win of the year. He is the most recent Talladega winner, in October 2020, and also won in 2014. He has eight top-fives (five consecutive) in nine races this season and it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through to victory lane.
The Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash continues this week at Talladega. Noah Gragson, who won the first $100,000 bonus at Martinsville, is eligible, along with Josh Berry, Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones.
There will be no practice or qualifying sessions for the Cup and Xfinity Series due to COVID-19 protocols established by NASCAR.
The starting lineups will be determined by the following metrics formula:
• 25 percent: Driver’s finishing position from the previous race
• 25 percent: Car owner’s finishing position from the previous race
• 35 percent: Team owner points ranking
• 15 percent: Fastest lap from the previous race
All times are Eastern.
Saturday, April 24
1 p.m.: Arca Menards Series General Tire 200 (76 Laps, 202.16 Miles)
FS1/MRN
4 p.m.: Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300
Distance: 300.58 miles (113 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 25),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 50), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 113)
FS1/MRN/TSN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Pole: Austin Cindric
Sunday, April 25
2 p.m.: Cup Series GEICO 500
Distance: 500 miles (188 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 60),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 120), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 188)
FOX/MRN/TSN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Pole: Denny Hamlin
Talladega Superspeedway Data
Season Race #: 10 of 36 (04-25-21)
Track Size: 2.66-miles
Banking/Turn 1 & 2: 33 degrees
Banking/Turn 3 & 4: 33 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 16.5 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 2 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 4,300 feet
Backstretch Length: 4,000 feet
Race Length: 188 laps / 500 miles
Stage 1 & 2 Length: 60 laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 68 laps
Talladega Superspeedway Qualifying Information:
Track qualifying record: Bill Elliott, Ford, 212.809 mph (44.998 seconds) on April 30, 1987.
2020 pole winner: Martin Truex Jr. – Qualifying was not held, the starting lineups were set by random draw due to the pandemic.
- Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch lead all active NCS drivers in starts with 40 each.
- Chase Elliott leads all active drivers in the NCS in average starting position at 5.8 in 10 starts.
- Kevin Harvick and Elliott lead all active drivers in poles two each, followed by Austin Dillon (1), Kurt Busch (1), Martin Truex Jr. (1), and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (1).
- The youngest pole winner is Chase Elliott (May 1, 2016 – 20 years, 5 months, 3 days).
Talladega Superspeedway Race Information:
Track race record: Mark Martin, Ford, 188.354 mph, (02:39:18) on May 10, 1997.
2020 race winner: Ryan Blaney, Ford, 146.933 mph, (03:27:28) on June 22, 2020.
- Brad Keselowski leads all active NCS drivers in wins with five victories (2009, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017).
- Brad Keselowski (2009) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2017) won their first NCS race at Talladega.
- Hendrick Motorsports leads the series in wins by an organization with 13 victories among seven different drivers.
- Nine different manufacturers have won in the NCS at Talladega with Chevrolet (41) leading, followed by Ford (30), Mercury (7), Buick (6), Oldsmobile (6), Dodge (4), Toyota (4), Plymouth (3), and Pontiac (2).
- Chevrolet also leads in consecutive wins with 13 straight victories among five drivers from April 25, 1999 to May 1, 2005.
- Kurt Busch leads all active drivers in top 10s at Talladega with 21.
- Joey Logano leads all active drivers in laps led with 397 laps in 24 starts.
Top 12 Driver Ratings at Talladega
Joey Logano – 91.7
Chase Elliott – 90.7
Ryan Blaney – 90.6
Kurt Busch – 90.0
Brad Keselowski – 89.9
Denny Hamlin – 83.6
William Byron – 83.4
Ricky Stenhouse Jr – 82.2
Cole Custer – 81.7
Kyle Busch – 81.1
Kevin Harvick – 80.1
Tyler Reddick – 79.9
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2020 races (32 total) among active drivers at Talladega Superspeedway.
