NASCAR Cup Series

Horns were honking and the RVs were rolling through the new Turn 3 Oversized Vehicle Tunnel at Talladega Superspeedway Wednesday as NASCAR drivers Jeffrey Earnhardt and Chase Briscoe assisted in the ribbon cutting ceremony as part of the “official” Grand Opening for thousands of fans to enter the track’s iconic infield.

After two successful weekends on the short tracks followed by the Easter weekend break, Paul Menard and the No. 21 Quick Lane team head to one of the biggest tracks, Talladega Superspeedway where an all-new rules package will be used.

“Talladega is one of our best chances to win a race and have a great finish for our Love's Travel Stops Ford, especially since we started the season so strong at Daytona. We know what we need to do to execute well and have a clean race. I'm optimistic about the speeds we'll see this weekend from all three Front Row Motorsports cars. We’re happy to welcome Brisk to our team this weekend, too. I think we’re all looking forward to a good run on Sunday.”

Talladega Preview: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be heading to Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 29, for 500 miles of action around the Alabama tri-oval. Hamlin will be looking for his second career victory at Talladega, after capturing the checkered flag in 2014. Hamlin and the #11 FedEx team will look to earn their third win of the season and get back into the top two in the Cup Series standings.

DIBENEDETTO BY THE NUMBERS: In eight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Matt DiBenedetto has an average start of 33.4 and an average finish of 27.4. He’s completed 1,397 of 1,524 (91.7 percent) career laps and has led for 20 laps at the 2.66-mile high-banked track.

Newman will make his 35th Cup start at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. In 34 prior starts, Newman has 13 top-10s and six top-fives with an average finish of 19.6.

The two-time Xfinity champion has 11 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Talladega with an average finishing position of 10.6.

Officials from Rick Ware Racing (RWR) announced today that mainstay film director and stuntman Stanton Barrett will drive the team’s No. 52 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

David Ragan and Front Row Motorsports (FRM) will once again bring the colors of the Shriners Hospitals for Children to the NASCAR Cup Series. Ragan will make the 2019 debut of the No. 38 Shriners Hospitals for Children Ford Mustang during this weekend's events at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Talladega Superspeedway’s Freedom Trophy has been a staple at the historic venue, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, since 2014. The patriotic trophy will be presented to the winner of the April 28 GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race by a warrior of the Wounded Warrior Project – U.S. Army, Staff Sergeant Donald Jones.