NASCAR Cup Series

No. 15 Aaron’s/Alabama National Champions Toyota driver Clint Bowyer races at Talladega Superspeedway in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race with a special paint scheme honoring the 2011 University of Alabama’s BCS National Championship football team.

Fastenal will sponsor all three Roush Fenway Racing entries in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 27. The Fastenal paint schemes for Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth will also incorporate the “NASCAR Unites – An American Salute” red, white and blue theme.

RCA recording artist Kris Allen, the season 8 winner of “American Idol,” will perform the National Anthem prior to the start of the June 3 “FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks” NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway.

0 – fewest cautions for a Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway (three times, most recent 10/6/02)

About 100 miles west of Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway sits the campus of theUniversity of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, home of the 2009 and 2011 NCAA football national-championship-winning Alabama Crimson Tide.

For the first half of the race, it looked like Carl Edwards would be the man in victory lane at the end of the Capitol City 400. However, after a late race penalty Edwards was put to the rear of the field, giving the lead up for grabs.

Earnhardt nearly broke through at Richmond, finishing second to Kyle Busch in the Capital City 400. Earnhardt now trails points leader Greg Biffle by five points in the Sprint Cup point standings.

Charging Hard: McMurray won the USG Improving the Finish Award for the Capital City 400 at Richmond International Raceway by charging up 23 spots from his 37th-place starting position, to finish 14th.

Two-time Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip gets help this weekend from nine-year-old Emery Beavis of Dyerbury, Tenn., who designed the No.55 Toyota’s paint scheme.

Dodge won the first Sprint Cup race at Talladega in 1969. Richard Brickhouse was the winner as Dodge swept the first four positions.