Patrick hoping to duplicate her Daytona success at Talladega
Danica Patrick’s rookie season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition has been a roller coaster to say the least. When the announcement was made that she would make the move to NASCAR’s top series, it quickly became one of the sports most divisive topics. While she has many supporters, made evident by the long lines at her souvenir trailer, she also has acquired many critics. A large number of race fans feel she “doesn’t deserve to be here” and that she “hasn’t paid her dues”.
With already being in the spotlight during the pre-season media tour, the season opening Daytona 500 only solidified her place there. Patrick surprised everyone by clinching the pole for the “Great American Race”. Instantly, the NASCAR talk shows lit up with callers saying “Anyone can qualify, she will go straight to the back!” Patrick did just the opposite however, staying in the top ten most of the day and finished in a very respectable eighth place.
After Daytona, the roller coaster took a downward turn. Patrick qualified no better than 37th over the next five races and the critics were having a field day with these stats. However Patrick’s finishing position was a different story. A blown tire ended her day after only 184 laps at Phoenix, relegating her to a 39th place finish. After Phoenix her finishes, though not great, did steadily improve each week. Patrick had a 33rd at Las Vegas, 28th at a tough Bristol track and 26th the following week at Fontana. This steady improvement was what crew chief Tony Gibson and car owner Tony Stewart were looking for.
The surprise of the season came the next week at Martinsville. A tough, flat half-mile track, known for being extremely difficult for rookie drivers. Patrick would start the race 32nd, but slowly and methodically work her way through the field. It looked as if she would grab her second top ten finish of the season, but late race contact with Brian Vickers, dropped her to 12th. A great finish for a rookie at Martinsville and probably a big hit to Las Vegas odds makers! No one expected Patrick to even finish the event much less with a solid very respectable finish.
Fast forward to the Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Talladega will be the second plate race of the season and Patrick is hoping to duplicate her earlier “plate track” success. She spoke to reporters Friday morning from the garage area, where she was asked about her expectations. Patrick responded saying, “ I suppose based on Daytona and how fast this car is, which is the same car we ran at Daytona, and how the race went. I suppose it’s fair to say that there should be a little spike in expectation, but you also have to take into consideration on these big speedways that there is a whole lot of luck that comes into it.”
Patrick will also get some extra track time over the weekend, as she will also compete in the Aaron’s 312 NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday. Patrick pointed out that she believes that racing on Saturday will help, “Yeah, the Nationwide race, that is why we are doing it. We are going to try to win and we are doing it to get a little more practice for Sunday.” Patrick will be driving the No.34 Chevrolet for Turner-Scott Motorsports.
It’s worth pointing out that while this season’s results have been up and down, we should remember that she is a rookie and she sits 26th in the standings, only four positions behind her boss, Tony Stewart.
Only time will tell if Patrick will be the first female to win a race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Talladega is known for hosting many first time winners and could be the place for her to make history……..again!
The Parrott/Amirola Combination Beginning to Show Success
Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Gwaltney Ford will make his 7th career start at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Aaron’s 499. Going into this weekend, Almirola sits 11th in the series points standings with three top-10 finishes in the last three races. This is significantly better than his 20th place finish in final NSCS points standings last season. Almirola’s success this season comes after Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) swapped crew chiefs for Almirola and No. 9, Marcos Ambrose, with ten races to go last season.
Todd Parrott took over as crew chief for Almirola after the swap. Parrott has 31 career wins and a 1999 Sprint Cup Series Championship with Dale Jarrett. “Aric has really shown the desire and dedication to get his first Sprint Cup Series win,” Parrot said. “It was great our team helped Marcos to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win and poles. We are now ready to help direct Almirola and the No. 43 team to the same results and better.”
When asked about his team’s recent success on Friday morning at Talladega Superspeedway, Parrott said, “Things have gone well so far for us this year. We have had some good finishes the last three weeks. The guys are doing a good job in the shop. My team at the race track are probably the best guys in the garage. We are really happy with the job they do, and we will just keep doing what we are doing.”
Almirola and the RPM team look to avoid the ‘big one’ and continue their streak of top-10 finishes at the series’ largest track, Talladega Superspeedway.
Previewing the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway
The 10th NASCAR Sprint Cup (NSCS) event of 2013 will be held at the meanest, biggest, wildest track on the circuit…..Talladega Superspeedway. At 2.66 miles in length and banking nearing 35 degrees, this tack certainly isn’t one for the faint of heart. The first race took place back in September of 1969 and it had its fair share of controversy. Superstars such as Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough and David Pearson all boycotted the race due to concerns over tires and safety. They looked at those intimidating high banks and turned away while a few brave men dared to take the monster of a track on. Bill France resisted the the pleas to cancel the race and drivers from a lower series were used to fill the field.
Richard Brickhouse was a member of the boycotting group of drivers who called themselves the Professional Driver Association (PDA). He resigned from the PDA a day before the race and went on to win the inaugural event by 7 seconds over Jim Vandiver. It was the only victory in the North Carolina native’s 39 race NSCS career. Since that day, many strange and tragic incidents have occurred at Talladega and some believe it is due to a medicine man from an Indian tribe back in the 1800’s. Local legend tells that he that put a curse on the valley when President Andrew Jackson ordered the tribe to leave and forcing them to reservations. Talladega is feared by many and respected by all and this weekend marks the 88th event held at the legendary speedway. Here are some stats and facts regarding Dega that you should know as today’s racing superstars gear up for one wild ride this weekend!
Talladega Superspeedway Track Facts
Track Type: Tri-Oval
Track Size: 2.66 miles
Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 33 degrees
Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 33 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 16.5 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 3 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 4,300 feet
Backstretch Length: 4,000 feet
Race Length: 188 laps / 500.08 miles
Track History & Records
Inaugural Race Winner: Richard Brickhouse by 7 seconds over Jim Vandiver in September of 1969
Most Wins By a Driver: Dale Earnhardt (10)
Most Wins By a Team: Richard Childress Racing with 12 followed by Hendrick Motorsports with 11
Most Wins By a Manufactuer: Chevrolet with 38 followed by Ford with 19
Youngest Race Winner: Bobby Hillin Jr. at 22 years, 1 month and 22 days in July of 1986
Oldest Race Winner: Harry Gant at 51 years, 3 months and 26 days in May of 1991
Least Amount of Cautions: None in April of 2001 and October of 2002
Most Amount of Cautions: 11 in April of 2004
– This will be the 88th NSCS race held at Talladega Superspeedway
– 429 drivers have compteted at Talladega Superspeedway and 47 of them have won
– Dave Marcis has made more starts at Talladega than any other driver with 61
– The track has been repaved 4 times with the most recent one being in the fall of 2006
Talladega Qualifying Stats
Track Record: Bill Elliott with a lap time of 44.998 (2012.809mph) in May of 1987
Youngest Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson at 26 years, 7 months and 4 days in April of 2002
Oldest Pole Winner: Mark Martin at 52 years, 9 months and 14 days in October of 2012
Inaugural Pole Winner: Bobby Isaac with a speed of 199.466 mph in 1969
– 13 of the 87 NSCS races at Talladega have been won from the pole
– 36 drivers have won poles at Talladega led by Bill Elliott with 8
– 10 drivers have won consecutive poles at Talladega and Bill Elliott holds the record for most consecutive poles with six
– 13 different times has the pole sitter won the race with the last time being Jeff Gordon in May of 2007
– The deepest in the field that a race winner has started was 36th by Jeff Gordon in April of 2000
Top 10 Driver Ratings At Talladega
1.) Jeff Burton…………………………… 91.4
2.) Dale Earnhardt Jr…………………… 89.6
3.) Matt Kenseth………………………… 88.9
4.) Brian Vickers………………………… 87.3
5.) Kurt Busch……………………………. 86.1
6.) Brad Keselowski……………………. 85.6
7.) David Ragan…………………………. 85.5
8.) Denny Hamlin……………………….. 84.9
9.) Tony Stewart…………………………. 83.5
10.) Jeff Gordon………………………….. 83.1
Best Average Finish Among Active Drivers
1.) Brad Keselowski———–12.2
2.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.——–15.0
3.) Kevin Harvick————-15.4
4.) Tony Stewart————– 15.8
5.) David Ragan————— 16.0
6.) Kurt Busch—————–16.1
7.) Clint Bowyer————–16.1
8.) Jeff Gordon—————-16.4
9.) Jimmie Johnson———-17.7
10.) Travis Kvapil————17.8
Most Wins Among Active Drivers
1.) Jeff Gordon—————-6
2.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.——-5
3.) Clint Bowyer————-2
4.) Brad Keselowski——–2
5.) Jimmie Johnson——-2
6.) Terry Labonte———-2
7.) Matt Kenseth———–1
8.) Kevin Harvick———1
9.) Jamie McMurray—–1
10.) Tony Stewart——–1
Most Top 5’s Among Active Drivers
1.) Jeff Gordon————–15
2.) Terry Labonte———-14
3.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.—–11
4.) Tony Stewart———-9
5.) Michael Waltrip ——-9
6.) Bobby Labonte——–7
7.) Kurt Busch————-6
8.) Kevin Harvick———6
9.) Matt Kenseth———-5
10.) Jimmie Johnson—-5
Most Top 10’s Among Active Drivers
1.) Terry Labonte———–24
2.) Jeff Gordon————–23
3.) Jeff Burton—————19
4.) Michael Waltrip———16
5.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.——15
6.) Tony Stewart———–13
7.) Kurt Busch————-13
8.) Bobby Labonte——-13
9.) Kevin Harvick——–10
10.) Jimmie Johnson—9
Laps Led Among Active Drivers
1.) Jeff Gordon—————839
2.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.——737
3.) Terry Labonte———-362
4.) Tony Stewart———–317
5.) Matt Kenseth———–294
6.) Jimmie Johnson——-234
7.) Michael Waltrip——-233
8.) Jamie McMurray—–221
9.) Denny Hamlin——–204
10.) Kevin Harvick——155
I’d like to tell you what to expect this weekend but to be honest, I have no idea. The Gen-6 cars couldn’t pass each other at Daytona but I don’t believe it will be that difficult at Talladega. Dega is more about pure flat-out speed and less about handling which will help when it comes to trying to pass. Also, these teams had no clue what they were doing when we showed up for Speedweeks but they have learned so much regarding these cars over the last 2 1/2 months of racing and are more prepared. The race will be better than the 500 but don’t expect it to be like last fall when they were 3 and 4 wide 10 rows deep. Even with the lack of passing at Daytona, the “big one” still happened and it won’t be any different this weekend. It’s not a matter of if the big wreck will happen but simply when.
Favorites heading into Talladega have to be Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Matt has dominated almost every single restrictor plate race over the past couple of years but due to circumstances out of his control, he failed to win every time. Jr. is an Earnhardt and when you have that last name, you have to be fast here. His father won here a record 10 times and Jr. is a contender every time they visit this track too. Last time NASCAR was at Talladega though, he was involved in a massive last lap crash that gave him a concussion forcing the driver of the No.88 to miss the next two races. Jeff Gordon is another driver with an impressive record at Talladega but this is a race where luck plays a major factor and that poor guy doesn’t seem to have any good luck as of late. You can bet he will be fast though with that Hendrick power under the hood and a 4x champion behind the wheel.
Drivers that have struggled at Talladega include Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose, Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard and Kasey Kahne. Just because they don’t have a great record doesn’t mean they haven’t been competitive though. A track clearing wreck is waiting around every corner and when it happens, a driver has little control over whether they emerge from the smoke unscathed or not no matter where they are running. Talladega is a track where you might as well blindly pick a driver out of a hat with how unpredictable it is. The race strategy is always the same and that’s survive. Some teams do it by hiding in the back which doesn’t always work out while others try to put their car out front hoping that the mess is behind them which doesn’t work out all the time either. Then there are the ones who throw caution to the wind and just go for it and hope that luck ends up being in their favor. It’s sure to be one wild weekend of racing from ARCA to Nationwide and ending it with the Cup guys battling on Sunday. This is definitely one race you don’t want to miss!
