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TALLADEGA, Ala. — Around this time last year at Talladega Superspeedway, Brennan Poole experienced the thrill of winning, followed by the sinking feeling of third-place disappointment in a matter of minutes.

 

This weekend’s Sparks Energy 300 marks the XFINITY Series’ first stop at the Alabama superspeedway since that day — which brings some unfinished business for the No. 48 team.

 

“Our guys have been calling it ‘redemption weekend’ this week,” Poole said Friday at the Talladega Media Center with a slight smile.

 

Poole’s No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was running third in the final overtime lap of the April 30, 2016 XFINITY Series event at Talladega, when the seas – the seas being leader Joey Logano and second-place driver Elliott Sadler — seemed to part with a hard wreck triggered by the pair on the final turn. Poole shot through the middle, cheering inside the car for what he and NASCAR announcers thought was his first career XFINITY Series win.

 

However, after further review, NASCAR officials ruled that Sadler’s No. 1 Chevrolet was ahead when the caution flag waved — which freezes the field per NASCAR overtime rules — thus awarding the victory to Sadler’s JR Motorsports camp.

 

RELATED: Poole wins fans after losing in Talladega

 

Saturday’s 300-miler is a chance for Poole to finally nab that first career win in the series that has eluded him for 58 races.

 

“Last year, this is where we were the closest (to a win),” Poole said. “It seems like for whatever reason I can just finish third — I’ve got several thirds, I need to break the plane a little bit and get up to battle for some of these wins and lead some laps and just be a little bit more in contention.”

 

But that third-place run at Talladega a year ago seemed to spark something for Poole’s No. 48 team; more than 77 percent of his 22 top-10 finishes have come since that day, most recently a trio of eighth-place results at Phoenix, Fontana and Bristol this season.

“We definitely have a lot of confidence coming into this weekend,” Poole said. “But really, even last week, these next string of races are really good tracks for me. Richmond, we were really fast and qualified really well, we just didn’t have the race go the way that we wanted it to … Then going to Charlotte, last year, we ran in the top five both races and had a parts failure that kept us from moving on in the playoffs.

 

“I’m excited about these next several weeks and feel like we have just as good of an opportunity as anybody.”

 

One of the beauties of Talladega and all of its restrictor-plate glory is that its Alabama asphalt is practically breeding ground for first-time winners and surprise visitors to Victory Lane. Think Brad Keselowski (2009), Ken Schrader (1988), Dick Brooks (1973).

 

This — along with fast cars and a 10th-place spot in the series standings — gives Poole confidence heading into race weekend.

“All the cars handle so good here that there’s so many people that have an opportunity to win a race, that literally it could be anybody,” Poole said. “So, it’s really just about putting yourself in that position to be able to make it happen.

 

“I feel like we’ve got a good team and a fast car where we feel like we could be up there and be in position to win tomorrow.”

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BUY TICKETS: See the races at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Chase Elliott wasn’t even a glimmer in father and Hall of Famer Bill Elliott’s eye when the elder Elliott drove the No. 9 Ford at 212.809 mph during qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway on April 30, 1987.

 That blistering-fast speed — run before restrictor plates were implemented at superspeedways — remains the track record today.

And 30 years later, the younger Elliott is honoring his father’s accomplishment by wearing a special pair of Alpine Stars racing shoes for this weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Talladega.

“The shoes, I’m pretty excited about them,” Elliott said Friday at Talladega. “Thirty years ago this weekend, Dad ran 212 here, which I think is really, really cool.”


Like his father’s original racing shoes, Elliott’s new kicks are red, white and gold. On one side, the shoes read “World’s Fastest Race Car” along with Bill Elliott’s name. On the other, the 212.809 mph speed and Elliott No. 9 car number are written.

 But while Elliott’s shoes resemble his famous father’s from the iconic 212 mph lap around ‘Dega, his No. 24 Chevrolet isn’t quite the same.

“I don’t know that I could handle it, but I would definitely try for sure,” Elliott said lightheartedly when asked if he’d run his father’s 212 mph car wide-open. “I’d love to give it a shot. But I don’t know that I would have what it takes to hold it wide-open.

“I mean, that’s not easy, back then. They laid the spoiler back; I remember dad telling me stories, they basically just kept leaning it back until they he just couldn’t take it anymore. That was how they figured out when to stop. He just kept pushing limits until he couldn’t drive it, which is pretty cool, really.”

 

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BUY TICKETS: See the races at Talladega

 

NASCAR fans at all Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races will have a new way to decorate their Snaps with a NASCAR-themed Lens, beginning with the Talladega Superspeedway race on Sunday.

 

The NASCAR and Snapchat-partnered Lens will don Snapchatters attending the events with a NASCAR-branded mesh cap, sunglasses and a full mustache. Lenses are a creative, animated way for Snapchatters to express themselves, and offers them the ability to apply real-time visual effects and sounds to their selfies, and the world around them. They’re activated when a Snapchatter taps on their face, or a surface with the rear-facing camera.

 

To add NASCAR on Snapchat, click here or search for “NASCAR” in the app when adding accounts by username.

Additionally, Snapchat is covering the GEICO 500 at Talladega with its second Our Story of the season. Fans in and around the race track will be able to share their unique race-day experiences by submitting Snaps to the collective Story. Snaps submitted from the event will be curated and packaged, then available to view in Snapchat Discover.

 

“Snapchat has become integral to sharing the NASCAR experience on race days, and particularly for our younger fans,” said Scott Warfield, NASCAR managing director, social media. “This unique feature gives our fans yet another way to personalize their NASCAR content on the platform.”

 

NASCAR is in the second year of a partnership with Snap Inc, and recently used the company’s latest product, Spectacles, to contribute circular video Snaps to the Our Story covering the 2017 Daytona 500.

 

The GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway will begin at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 7, and will be broadcast live on FOX, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (channel 90) and MRN, with additional coverage on NASCAR.com.

 

Tickets to NASCAR national series events are available at NASCAR.com/tickets.

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BUY TICKETS: See the races at Talladega

RELATED: Practice results

 

Clint Bowyer led a brief practice session Friday at Talladega Superspeedway, turning a lap in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at 196.822 mph.
Bowyer clocked the time before the red flag came out at 2:44 p.m. ET for rain after 13 minutes, 29 seconds of action on the 2.66-mile track.

 

Kevin Harvick was second in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at 196.439 mph. Rounding out the top five were Brad Keselowski in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, Kurt Busch in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford and Joey Logano on the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

 

The session was so abbreviated because of rain that Erik Jones and Kyle Busch completed a field-high 13 laps for the most time on the track.

 

The cars of Kyle Larson, Danica Patrick and Ty Dillon were scheduled to sit out the first 15 minutes of practice to serve penalties, and were not able to turn a single lap. Larson and Dillon were late to pre-race inspection at Richmond; Patrick failed pre-race LIS.

 

Rain in the area led to the cancelling of final practice, which had been scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET.

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BUY TICKETS: See the races at Talladega

 

 

# Car Driver Team
1 96 * DJ Kennington Triad CNC Toyota
2 55 * Reed Sorenson Xchange of America Toyota
3 75 * Brendan Gaughan(i) Beard Oil Distributing Chevrolet
4 7 * Elliott Sadler(i) Golden Corral Chevrolet
5 15 Joey Gase(i) Sparks Energy Chevrolet
6 32 Matt DiBenedetto EJ Wade Foundation Ford
7 72 Cole Whitt RTIC Coolers Chevrolet
8 10 Danica Patrick Aspen Dental Ford
9 13 Ty Dillon # GEICO Chevrolet
10 42 Kyle Larson Share an Ice Cold Coke Chevrolet
11 83 * Corey LaJoie # Dustless Blasting Toyota
12 38 David Ragan Camping World/Good Sam Ford
13 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet
14 37 Chris Buescher Velveeta Chevrolet
15 23 Gray Gaulding # SunFrog.com Toyota
16 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald’s $1 Any Size Soft Drink Chevrolet
17 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet
18 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger ClickList Chevrolet
19 78 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota
20 34 Landon Cassill Love’s Travel Stops Ford
21 3 Austin Dillon Dow Intellifresh Chevrolet
22 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet
23 27 Paul Menard Valvoline/Menards Chevrolet
24 95 Michael McDowell Winn-Dixie Chevrolet
25 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet
26 24 Chase Elliott Hooters Chevrolet
27 5 Kasey Kahne UniFirst Chevrolet
28 18 Kyle Busch Skittles Red White & Blue Toyota
29 20 Matt Kenseth Circle K Toyota
30 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota
31 77 Erik Jones # ToyotaCare Toyota
32 19 Daniel Suarez # ARRIS Toyota
33 43 Aric Almirola Fresh From Florida Ford
34 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fifth Third Bank Ford
35 21 Ryan Blaney Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford
36 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford
37 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford
38 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford
39 2 Brad Keselowski Fitzgerald Glider Kits Ford
40 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s Ford
41 14 Clint Bowyer Haas Automation Demo Days Ford

* Required to qualify on time, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

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BUY TICKETS: See the races at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. — There are several marked differences between Talladega Superspeedway and its sister restrictor-plate track, Daytona International Speedway.

For one thing, Daytona has tighter corners. Handling is more of an issue at the ‘Birthplace of Speed.’ At Daytona, driving double-file through the corners is about all most drivers care to risk, whereas at Talladega, with its sweeping turns and higher banking, three- and four-wide is possible without calamity.

Perhaps the most obvious difference between the two speedways is the placement of the start/finish line. At Daytona, its location in the center of the tri-oval is typical of most large tracks.

At Talladega, on the other hand, you don’t get to the stripe until you exit the tri-oval, past the exit from pit road. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. wanted to give fans seated in the frontstretch grandstands at Talladega plenty of opportunity to see cars slingshot past each other in the tri-oval as they raced toward the checkered flag.

And the location of the finish line certainly affects where drivers make their moves on the final lap.

“That extra distance creates just a little bit different finish,” said NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Brennan Poole. “Guys can try to set up a little differently and make some moves and make some things happen and wait a little bit longer.

“It’s still all about timing. If the start/finish line was in the tri-oval, maybe guys would do something a little bit different, and time it a little bit different.”

“They moved it there to bring the tri-oval more into play,” added Elliott Sadler, who is competing in both the NASCAR XFINITY Series and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races this weekend. “It just adds more excitement coming down to the start/finish line — definitely.”

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BUY TICKETS: See the races at Talladega

RELATED: Qualifying order

 

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a simple explanation for the fan reaction at Talladega Superspeedway, site of Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).

“If you go to a race at Talladega, your driver can literally, possibly take the lead at any moment in the race,” Earnhardt Jr., a six-time winner at the 2.66-mile track, said Friday. “You can’t say that anywhere else.

“So, with that comes a responsibility, I think, as a driver to try to make that happen because when you come off Turn 4 you can see a big difference in arms in the air and people excited about what just happened when you take the lead. … You can’t create that anywhere else.

“And they want you to keep doing that all day long because they just want to celebrate all day. They want to have fun. When you get up there and mix it up it gives them what they want. So, I think that is why I like running here and definitely makes it a unique experience as opposed to any other track we go to.”
RELATED: Every Earnhardt win at Talladega
When it comes to lead changes, Talladega is the hands-down, foot-to-the-floor leader in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. In the spring race of 2010 and again in ’11, there were an amazing 88 lead changes. In the fall race of ’10 the lead changed hands 87 times. In fact, nine of the top 10 races for most lead changes took place here.

Some of that can be traced to the rules packages of the day, but it’s worth noting that the ’73 race, held in the heat of the summer, featured 64 lead changes.

Dale Earnhardt was one of the sport’s best when it came to the 200 mph game of chance known as restrictor-plate racing, winning 10 times at Talladega and three times at Daytona. Maybe he couldn’t really “see” the air as some thought, but the seven-time champion understood the nuances of drafting probably better than anyone.

And Earnhardt Jr. has enjoyed similar success. Six of his 26 career victories have come at Talladega, where the Hendrick Motorsports driver is scheduled to make only two more starts.

Only 17 races remain in the series’ regular season, and 10 more after that, the playoffs that will determine this year’s champion. Earnhardt Jr. has spent nearly two decades trying to reach the pinnacle of the sport and now just one final opportunity remains.

RELATED: Junior opens up about retirement

 

Twenty-fourth in points, winless thus far this season and with only a single top-10 finish, it’s been a rocky start for the series’ most popular driver.

Three plate races provide three more opportunities, but no more than the others that have yet to be run elsewhere. If some feel this is a “must-win” race for Earnhardt Jr., he’s not buying it.

“That mindset might actually work and produce results for some guys,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s probably the best way for me to go about it. But I definitely need to go in there and be aggressive and I know when I’ve won races here what approach I took that day that helped me get there. And I know I need to be a certain way mentally … to have success.

“I don’t buy the notion that we can’t win anywhere but Talladega and Daytona; we have had a dry spell, I haven’t won a lot of races, but we have won at other tracks in the past. But I think if I go in thinking this is a must-win, I’m probably going to make mistakes …

“I just know what I need to do, I’m going to go out there and try to do it. I’ve said it in the past, you’ve got to run the last 50 laps mistake-free. The guy that does that will win the race. …

“Every move and decision and turn of the wheel has to be the right decision.”

There’s concern, but trust too, he said. Trust in his team and crew chief Greg Ives and the Hendrick Motorsports organization for whom he has spent the last dozen years.

“We’ve got a good set-up under the car and we are doing the best thing we can for ourselves to be competitive whether we are in the playoffs, whether it’s the second race of the year or the last race of the year,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We take the best car we can and give it our best effort.

“We just need to put together some races here. We’ve got to get a good handful of races under our belt that are finishes that we can be proud of and see where that nets us on the points deal, but it would be nice if we could just go ahead and get a win out of the way and get on with it.”

No matter the results, he said, “It’s going to be a fun year.”

“I do think we can win some races,” he said. “I really do.”

Earnhardt has seen the fans standing, arms raised in unison as he charged out of Turn 4 with the lead and the race on the line here at Talladega on numerous occasions in the past.

Sunday, he hopes to see it once again.

 

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BUY TICKETS: See the races at Talladega
RELATED: Full weekend schedule for Talladega

 

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series are at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend.

 

Below are the stage lengths for each race. Click here to bookmark stage lengths for every race this season.

 

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (Race is Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, FOX)

Stage 1: Ends on Lap 55
Stage 2: Ends on Lap 110
Final Stage: Scheduled to end on Lap 188

XFINITY Series (Race is Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX)

Stage 1: Ends on Lap 25
Stage 2: Ends on Lap 50
Final Stage: Scheduled to end on Lap 113

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NASCAR on Thursday issued an L1-level penalty to Team Penske’s No. 22 team for a rear suspension violation discovered during teardown at the R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina. The penalty carries multiple consequences, which includes making Joey Logano’s win at Richmond on Sunday encumbered.

The encumbered win is the first for a victorious Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team since NASCAR adopted that policy in 2016. What that means is Logano cannot use the Richmond win as consideration for an automatic playoff spot. Should Logano still make the postseason, the five playoff points that come with a victory would not apply for Richmond. The official race record will still list Logano as the winner.

Additional penalties are a $50,000 fine and two-race suspension for crew chief Todd Gordon, and the loss of 25 driver points and 25 owner points.

The violation was under Section 20 of the NASCAR Rule Book. According to the penalty grid NASCAR issued, the No. 22 team did not adhere to the following: the Truck trailing arm spacer/pinion angle shim mating surfaces must be planar and must be in complete contact with corresponding mating surfaces at all points and at all times.

There was no immediate announcement from Team Penske on if the team would appeal the penalty.

Other penalties issued Thursday include:

• The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was missing one lug nut in a post-race check Sunday at Richmond International Raceway. Crew chief Mike Wheeler was handed a $10,000 fine after one lug nut was found to be improperly secured. The infraction was noted after driver Denny Hamlin recorded a season-best third-place finish in the Toyota Owners 400.

• Three teams in the NASCAR XFINITY Series also drew penalties for lug-nut infractions, the most severe of which was issued to the Richard Childress Racing No. 21 Chevrolet, driven to a third-place finish from the pole at Richmond by rookie Daniel Hemric. The car was found with two unsecured lug nuts, resulting in a $10,000 fine and a one-race suspension for crew chief Danny Stockman Jr.

Two other teams were dealt $5,000 crew chief fines for one unsecured lug nut each: the No. 3 driven by Ty Dillon (crew chief: Matt Swiderski) and the No. 46 driven by Quin Houff (crew chief: Mark Setzer).

The guidelines for post-race lug-nut violations are a part of the sport’s deterrence system, updated by competition officials in the offseason for the 2017 NASCAR Rule Book.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

BUY TICKETS: See the races at Talladega

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. unintentionally collided at Richmond International Raceway in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400, saddling the latter with his fifth finish of 30th or worse of the season.

While the incident was clearly a mistake acknowledged by both drivers, the seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion decided to call into Junior’s “Dale Jr. Download” podcast on Tuesday to … clear the air.

Johnson explained that his water bottle got dislodged from its holster inside the car and caused him to miss the call from spotter Earl Barban that Earnhardt was close behind him exiting the corner.

MORE: Johnson, Earnhardt Jr. get together late at Richmond

“I think we were both pretty shocked … I clearly came out to the wall with all intentions to have the entire race track to myself,” said Johnson, who explained that he truly did not see the No. 88 Chevrolet. “… Is your mom OK with me?”

Johnson was referring to the backlash of Junior Nation, with Earnhardt’s mom Brenda even chiming in via text to Junior.

MORE: After Dale Jr. wreck, Jimmie takes on Twitter haters

“Yeah, she’s a trip. She texts me after every race and usually they’re pretty funny. She doesn’t mean to be funny, but she’s new to social media … she’s new to texting, to be honest with you, as you can tell by her shorthand,” Earnhardt said. “It’s funny to share with folks what she says, sometimes. She’s old school and been around racing a long time. 

“She’s fine and (you and I are) all good. Fans think that whenever we have a run-in that we’re going to get mad at each other, but teammates don’t get mad at each other too often.”

Earnhardt went on to say, “As wild as it was, I knew it was a mistake. I knew it wasn’t like he just wasn’t giving me room. I knew how hard we hit, and I was like, ‘he didn’t even know I was there.’ “

Earnhardt also mentioned a time at Bristol Motor Speedway when he and former teammate Jeff Gordon got into each other … but that was a bit of a different result.

“Me and Jeff ran into each other at Bristol … well, I ran into him and cut his left rear tire,” Earnhardt said. “Now, that, he was mad. So, that’s understandable. But I knew when we hit, Jimmie had no clue that I was even there.”