BLANEY'S TOP 5 SCORES ONE FOR THE NASCAR "JOES"
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Track:
Talladega Superspeedway
Race Sponsor:
Distance:
499 Miles
Laps:
188 Laps
Talladega. Like Charo, Cher and Tiger, Talladega is one word with instant connotation.
Whether that connotation is good or bad depends greatly on who you talk to. Talladega is the fastest track in NASCAR. It’s the largest track in NASCAR. Last year, it was the most polarizing track in NASCAR. Some drivers argue luck is more important than skill. Others believe letting things fly full throttle is an art form, just like road-racing or short tracks.
At its best, the track is home to NASCAR’s fastest finish. Mark Martin won in 1997 averaging 188.354 mph. There wasn't a single caution all day.
At its worst, there was 2008. The Spring race featured Brad Keselowski's first win, which came at the expense of Carl Edwards. Fortunately nobody died from this.
The fall race featured rule changes the morning of the race, a few hundred miles of drivers practically protesting in single-file, then another mess at the end that almost killed Ryan Newman before Jamie McMurray took home the checkered flag.
For those new to the sport, cars routinely run together in one or two giant lines because of the draft. If you get out of the draft, it’s not a matter of if you lose spots, but rather how many. This even applies on pit road. Drivers have to stay in the pack if they have any chance of contending.
Drivers want to run in packs of two. They can't the whole race. Coupled with Chase and team consequences, and we could have some odd tandems come Sunday afternoon.
Cars will bring their Daytona setup here. The smaller fuel cells could lead to fuel issues at the end, especially is we see a green or white checker because it would probably lead to a wreck and another green and white checker.
This race makes roulette look scientific. Expect surprises. Prepare for anything. Now some random facts to impress your friends when the race coverage begins at 1:00 EDT on ESPN.
- Jeff Gordon has six career wins here, the most of any active driver. Still he only has the 12th best average finish among active drivers
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. has five career wins here, half as many as his father, who seemed to own this place.
- Brad Keselowski has the highest average finish among active drivers, even though he won at Talladega only twice, including earlier this year.
- Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson won here last year.
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola and Tony Stewart have the other five best average finishes.
- The track’s media guide is 134 pages.
- I don’t know how they fill 134 pages of content either.
- The track has 33 degrees of banking in the corners, 16.5 degrees of baking in the frontstretch and two degrees of banking in the backstretch
- The frontstretch is 4,300 feet. The measily backstretch is just 4,000 feet long. Pathetic.
- The grandstand seats 143,231.
- The track won't let you bring in fireworks, flag poles and rollerblades.
- You can bring children to the race, just not strollers.
- If you get busted bringing fireworks to the tracks, the fan guide threatens you with prosecution.
- I wouldn't want to mess with southern justice either.
- The 1984 Aaron’s 499 had 75 official lead changes.
- In 1986, 26 of the 40 drivers who started the AMP Energy 500 led at least one lap.
- In 1993, the AMP Energy 500 became the first 500-mile race to produce 1,000 official lead changes over the years.
- The infield is 212 acres.
- There are 7,440 light bulbs used the scoring display.
- Now I know how they fill 134 pages in the media guide.
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