TALLADEGA, AL – When NASCAR announced changes to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format for the 2014 season, taking the checkered flag in one of the first 26 races all but guaranteed a birth in the 10-race playoff. Denny Hamlin, who hopes to defend his GEICO 500 title at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, May 3, can attest to the high importance of a victory in order to have a shot at the season-ending title.
Before claiming his first career win at NASCAR’s Most Competitive track in May of 2014, Hamlin had managed only five Top-10 finishes in 16 starts at Talladega. He had not fared any better at NASCAR’s other restrictor-plate track, Daytona International Speedway, where he had managed only two Top-5’s in 16 Sprint Cup races prior to last season. But Hamlin was the runner-up to Dale Earnhardt Jr. in last year’s Daytona 500, and he followed that superspeedway performance with a victory at Talladega Superspeedway last May.
Besides those two finishes, Hamlin only had four additional Top-5 finishes during the season’s first 26 races before the Chase would start. Had he not won at the 2.66-mile venue, holding off the likes of runner-up Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Clint Bowyer, he would not have made the title battle. He would have finished outside of the top 16 in points, the cutoff for making The Chase.
“Winning Talladega obviously put us in the Chase, and for me, it was our first points paying victory on a restrictor plate race track,” said Hamlin. “It really just happened to be the momentum that we carried on from Daytona. It was a great feeling for us, and as a race team, every time we go to Talladega we feel as confident as we would going to somewhere like Martinsville (where he is a multiple race winner).”
The win saw Hamlin lead six times for 12 laps, including the final two. As a result of the victory, Hamlin made The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, and took full advantage of the opportunity, gaining momentum in the final 10 races. With less than 10 laps to go in the series’ finale’ at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Hamlin was leading and looked to be in position for his first championship. He was passed with just eight laps to go and wound up finishing third in the championship. It was an achievement that might otherwise have not happened without the success of his Talladega triumph.
“We overachieved a bit in the Chase, in terms of running better than we had run all year. But, some of that goes back to making gains in the regular season, knowing that we were all but assured a Chase berth with our victory” admitted Hamlin.
Talladega Superspeedway has proven to be a site of many surprises and magic. This May’s GEICO 500 promises the same. Can Hamlin win consecutive springtime classics? The last driver to win two straight in the springtime event (GEICO 500) was Jeff Gordon, who did it in 2005.
Talladega’s weekend kicks off on Friday (May 1) with practice sessions for the GEICO 500 (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series) and Winn-Dixie 300 (NASCAR XFINITY Series), as well as practice, qualifying and green flag for the International Motorsports Hall of Fame 200 ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards event, set to start at 5 pm (CST). The evening concludes with “The “Big One on the Blvd” Mardi Gras-style parade, which will feature NASCAR drivers and fan competitions on the track’s infield Talladega Blvd.
Saturday’s slate includes qualifying for the GEICO 500 and Winn-Dixie 300, followed by the start of the Winn-Dixie 300 at 2 p.m. (CST). The day concludes in the evening with the Talladega Superspeedway traditional Infield Concert featuring country music maverick and Columbia Nashville recording artist Chase Rice. Buddy Rice and Dee Jay Silver will get the party started. The concert is free with the purchase of a Sunday GEICO 500 (12 noon CST start) admission ticket. For ticket information, call 1-877-Go2-DEGA or visit www.talladegasuperspeedway.com.
All seating along the fronstretch grandstands and towers are equipped with roomy and comfortable 21- and 22-inch wide chair back seats. Large High Definition Sprint Vision video boards that were implemented in 2014 will be back – three are permanent – and placed along the frontstretch to provide views of the whole track to every seat in the house. The video boards, three of which that are now permanent, are an initiative that is planned to be implemented at all International Speedway Corporation (ISC) tracks in the coming years.
About Talladega Superspeedway
NASCAR speeds back into Talladega Superspeedway May 1-3 for the GEICO 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and Winn-Dixie 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series event. NASCAR’s Most Competitive Track (record 88 lead changes in 188 laps), with the circuit’s steepest banking (33 degrees) and longest distance (2.66 miles), is the most fun and fan-friendly, offering up hundreds of acres of free camping, amazing kids ticket prices and special offers for military members and college students. Talladega Superspeedway is NASCAR’s “Party Capital” thanks to the track’s infamous infield, which features the traditional Saturday Night concert and the world renowned Talladega Blvd, home of the “Big One on the Blvd” party. The historic venue features the most comfortable seats in motorsports, large video viewing boards (a new initiative planned for future implementation at all ISC tracks) lining the frontstretch and endless activities for fans throughout its event weekends. Log on to www.talladegasuperspeedway.com
