NASCAR Cup Series

“We are thrilled about the opening of the Talladega Grille at the newly renovated wing of the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Airport,” said Grant Lynch, Chairman of Talladega Superspeedway. “Many of our race fans fly into Birmingham before they make the short trip to NASCAR’s Most Competitive Track, and we are excited about having our brand greet them upon their arrival.

"It's definitely a big weekend for our team. Obviously it's not been the season that we had hoped it would be, and definitely not sitting where we'd like to be in points. But we felt like Watkins Glen would be a good place for us to kind of put in a little bit of extra effort.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie Michael Annett and his Pilot Flying J Chevrolet SS team descend upon New York's Watkins Glen International for the second and final road course race on the 2014 Cup Series calendar this Sunday. Though it marks Annett's first Cup start at the 2.45-mile facility, he isn't a novice there.

Road Course Racin'...Justin Allgaier will make his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) start at Watkins Glen International this weekend. Sunday's race will be his second NSCS road course start this season. He has two top 10s and has led one lap in five NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) starts at the 2.45-mile road course. One of Allgaier's three wins in the NNS came at a road course, at Montreal in 2012.

The Michael Waltrip Racing team saw a likely top-10 finish evaporate in a 13-car accident Sunday at Pocono Raceway. The 37th-place finish left Vickers 21st in points 51 behind the 16th and final qualifier for NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. With just five races remaining before the start of the Chase, Scott says winning becomes imperative to secure a Chase berth.

Toyota has two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) victories at Watkins Glen International (WGI), and Camry driver Busch has registered both wins in his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 18 Camry. Busch earned the first Watkins Glen victory for Toyota in 2008 at the upstate New York road course when he started from the pole after qualifying was cancelled due to rain and was out front for 52 (of 90) laps in the event.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ fall stop at Martinsville Speedway has always figured large in the season championship. But the significance of this year’s Goody’s® Headache Relief Shot® 500 cannot be understated.

“This is a race that I’ve been looking forward to all year. I love road racing and coming off the win at Sonoma we feel like this is a great opportunity for our team to go get some bonus points and have a little more fun before the Chase starts. It’s a huge weekend for our 99 team driving the Cheez-It Ford with Kellogg’s Cheez-It being the title sponsor of the race.

“We learned a lot last year at Watkins Glen, and for me the seat time at the road courses is so valuable. I felt like we had a decent run going on at Sonoma earlier this year, so hopefully that will help this weekend. Pit strategy and track position are key at Watkins Glen, so we will have a plan heading into Sunday and hopefully leave there with a top-10 finish.”

McMurray at The Glen: McMurray has made 11 previous starts at Watkins Glen. He has one top-five, two top-ten finishes and has led 13 laps. McMurray has an average starting position of 15.5 and an average finish of 19.5. He has completed 895 of 994 (90%) laps of competition. His best qualifying result was a front row start from the second position in 2010 and a best finish of third in 2006.