NASCAR Cup PR

“We didn’t get to draft yet so I actually had to watch pretty closely to see what to expect. We were working on single car stuff and getting some of our little quirks and little issues right. There was different single car stuff that we had to work on and get right."

ERIK JONES, No. 20 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Can you talk about the sensation you felt during the first practice session? “It feels really fast, but you look at the speeds and look at the times and actually the fastest car wasn’t even as fast as we were here last year."

DAVID RAGAN, No. 38 Shriners Hospitals for Children Ford Mustang - WHAT DID YOU PICK UP ON IN PRACTICE? “I think we have learned that it isn’t fun to wreck in practice so we try to be a little conservative. Right off the bat I felt my car accelerate right off the bat from pit road, a lot faster than normal at a speedway. I felt the runs were incredible. I have never been able to get such a quick run catching a car in front of me."

Talladega Superspeedway is ready to crank up the excitement for this weekend’s motorsports tripleheader, announcing the lineup for pre-race dignitaries for the GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event, the MoneyLion 300 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the ARCA Menards Series’ General Tire 200.

CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Toco Warranty Ford Mustang -- DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE BETTER TO BE OUT FRONT IN THE FINAL LAP OR BE SECOND OR THIRD OR WHAT? “It is always better to be out front whether you are at Talladega or Texas or anywhere in between. Out front is where everyone wants to be.

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang -- WHAT WILL WE SEE THIS WEEKEND? TANDEMS? WEIRD COMBINATION OF TANDEMS? NO TANDEMS AT ALL? “I will get back to you. I honestly don't know. I think there is a lot of speculation about what we will see."

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang -- WITH THE ARCA SERIES BEING HERE THIS WEEK, YOU GOT YOUR LAUNCH AS A DEVELOPMENT DRIVER AND RAN SOME RACES FOR VENTURINI MOTORSPORTS. WHAT WAS THAT EXPERIENCE LIKE?

Jimmie Johnson on racing at Talladega: "Lots of unknowns as far as the package goes this weekend at Talladega. It should make for some interesting racing for sure. Personally, I've enjoyed a great vacation with my family after competing in the Boston Marathon and I'm looking forward to this weekend."

Talladega Superspeedway’s high banks produce some of the most spine-tingling, unpredictable, high-speed action in all of NASCAR, but for all the genuine suspense generated, Ford drivers seem to have cornered the market on victory recently.

Starting 2019 Strong… Toyota drivers have earned six victories in the first nine Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) races of the season, including a streak of three straight wins. Martin Truex Jr. is the most recent Camry driver to win, which he did at Richmond Raceway’s Toyota Owners 400. Kyle Busch was victorious at ISM Raceway, Auto Club Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway while Denny Hamlin started the season with a Daytona 500 win and was triumphant again at Texas Motor Speedway in March. Should a Camry driver win at Talladega, he would also tie Toyota’s consecutive wins record (four) in the MENCS, marking the fifth time in Toyota MENCS history that drivers have posted four-consecutive wins in a single season.