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Date Opened: September, 1969
First NWCS Race: Talladega 500, September 14, 1969
Qualifying Record: Bill Elliott, 212.809 mph (44.998 sec.), 4/30/87
Race Record: Mark Martin, 188.354 mph, 5/10/97
TRACK CONFIGURATION
Distance: 2.66 Mile Tri-oval
Banking in Turns 1-4: 33
Banking on Tri-oval: 18
Banking on Backstretch: 2
Length of Frontstretch: 4,300 ft.
Length of Backstretch: 4,000 ft.
Grandstand Seating: 138,000
Miles/Laps: 500 mi. = 188 laps
Purse: $4,882,015
Last year's winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ok, my thoughts on this race and who to pick. DEI or RCR. Period! Kurt Busch has a good finishing record here, and he seems to be on a roll. Matt Kenseth too. Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon may also do well, (but not win). Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton, Sterling Marlin may have a good showing. Terry Labonte has something to prove, and he does race well here. As long as he doesn’t get caught up in the big one.
My pick to win? None other than Michael Waltrip. No other driver has had 4 wins in a row at this track; otherwise I would pick Dale Jr. Either way, you can’t go wrong by picking the DEI powerhouse.
Last Year’s Race
DEI finishes 1-2 in Aaron's 499
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
TALLADEGA,
Ala. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. prevailed in a four-lap shootout and won the
Aaron’s 499 Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway -- his second straight win
at the “World’s Fastest Speedway.”
Earnhardt Jr., who had a dominant No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet all day, was .060 seconds -- about a car-length -- ahead of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. teammate Michael Waltrip’s No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet at the line. The victory was the first this season for Chevrolet.
It was the third time since the 2001 Daytona 500 that Earnhardt Jr. and Waltrip had finished 1-2 on restrictor plate tracks. Waltrip won at Daytona and Earnhardt Jr. won the 2001 Pepsi 400, Daytona’s summer race as well as last fall’s EA Sports 500 here.
“All day we led,” Earnhardt Jr. said Sunday after averaging 159.022
mph and leading 133 of 188 laps. “I don’t think anyone could beat my car
-- even though I think the No. 48 (Bud Pole
winner Jimmie Johnson) had the best car -- but when they gang up on you
and you’re by yourself (you don’t know).”
“His car was just faster than us (and) I thought it was my turn to win, too,” Waltrip said. “I was able to get up to his bumper but it was too little, too late.”
Kurt Busch’s No. 97 Rubbermaid Ford, Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet and Sterling Marlin’s No. 40 Coors Light Dodge rounded out the top five.
“We were just having fun -- this is awesome,” said Busch, who had the added pressure of racing for injured team owner Jack Roush. “We were the best in class, but there was just nothing we had for the DEI cars today -- they’ve got it going on.”
Dale Jarrett, Johnson, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Burton and Kyle Petty completed the rest of the top ten.
After the race Marlin, who finished sixth, queried the NASCAR officials
on what he interpreted as
a yellow-line violation by Kenny Wallace with two laps to go.
After reviewing the tape, NASCAR determined Wallace had in fact gained a position by going under the yellow line and penalized him, dropping him from fifth to 21st, the last car on the lead lap.
Wallace accepted the penalty without protest.
“They were looking for help from me,” said Wallace, who has not driven in a Winston Cup race since leaving the No. 1 Pennzoil Chevrolet in March that he was driving for Steve Park. “You had to take every move you could make. That’s dangerous, but when you want a win that bad you do it.”
Marlin unofficially maintained his lead in the Winston Cup standings by 109 over DeWalt Ford driver Matt Kenseth. Wallace, Busch and Earnhardt Jr. -- who moved up four spots with his win -- round out the top five.
“It’s a lot of hard work on the restrictor plate tracks that leads to this,” Earnhardt Jr. said of his success, which includes three wins, a second place and an eighth in the last six plate races at Daytona and Talladega. “We’ve done it and it’s paying off.
“It’s just a great win for us. We’re going to try for that championship and if we keep up like this we’ll get it.”
Two cautions in the last 24 laps, including the second that forced a red flag for 15:29 with six laps remaining, set up the finish to the ninth NASCAR Winston Cup race of the season.
Earnhardt Jr. leaped into the lead by three car lengths on the next to last restart with 14 laps left, but by the end of lap 175, Jarrett and Waltrip had pulled up on Earnhardt Jr.’s bumper.
The complexion of the race changed again when Mark Martin’s crippled
No. 6 Pfizer/Viagra Ford,
which had been blackflagged by NASCAR for not meeting the minimum speed,
pulled off the track in Turn 3.
As the caution flew with eight laps left, Tony Stewart’s similarly damaged No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac leaked oil onto the race track, forcing a cleanup that induced NASCAR to display the red flag as the field circulated on lap 183. NASCAR permanently parked Stewart during the caution, as well.
While the field sat on the backstretch under caution, an oil leak was detected under Jeremy Mayfield’s No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Intrepid. He was instructed when the race resumed to return to the garage area on the track’s apron, with a cleanup truck following him to put absorbent on the fluid he left behind.
In terms of the depth of the field that could be involved in the finish, the number of competitive cars was cut roughly in half by a 24-car wreck entering the backstretch with less than 25 laps remaining.
The accident appeared to begin when Mike Wallace’s No. 33 Preen Chevrolet and Stewart’s car made contact, forcing Stewart’s Pontiac into the outside wall. Elliott Sadler had the most serious impact when his No. 21 Motorcraft Ford arrowed across the infield grass into the inside retaining wall.
“I commend NASCAR on what they do with our safety devices,” Sadler said. “My HANS device did great -- I’ll just be sore tomorrow.”
Earnhardt Jr. and Jarrett led about 14 cars that were in front of the melee and Jarrett was ahead by inches when the field got back to the start/finish line with 24 laps remaining. When the race restarted, Earnhardt Jr. was in front of Jarrett and Johnson.
Earnhardt Jr., Waltrip: Potent 1-2 punch
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- When racing on restrictor-plate tracks, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. has a 1-2 punch befitting Mike Tyson.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip have finished first and second in three of the past six restrictor plate races -- a Daytona 500 victory for Waltrip in 2001, a Pepsi 400 win for Junior five months later and Sunday’s rousing 1-2 finish in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Moments after taking the checkers Sunday, marking his second plate race win in the past three tries, Earnhardt Jr. made certain his crew understood the importance of their teammate.
“All credit goes to Michael on this one y’all, all of it,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Do y’all hear me? Without him we wouldn’t have won this thing.”
Agreed. Following a 15-minute red-flag stoppage of the event, Waltrip ran second to Junior over the final four laps, fending off possible contenders left and right. Junior is well aware the frustration that builds from such a precarious situation.
“I know how frustrating it is, it’s awfully mentally hard when guys are beating on your bumper and trying to pass you, and you’re holding them off so your teammate can win,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “That’s why we have teammates.
“When you’re in those situations you have an advantage over the field. I know what he deals with. It’d be hard, but what’s good for me is good for DEI . What’s good for Michael is good for DEI. It’s all about keeping the company going.”
They’re doing just fine on plate tracks. Earnhardt Jr. has won three of the past four plate races, including the past two at Talladega. He had a good teacher, mind you.
“He’s very talented, obviously,” said Waltrip, whose second-place effort Sunday marked his season high. “I observe him doing things out there that are pretty impressive. He’s just learned a lot by watching on TV when he was growing up, and being at the races on the weekend and then we could apply what he learned directly to himself when he would get the car and he could perform.”
Sunday, the duo ran one after the other for essentially half the race. That’s becoming commonplace.
“That’s best hand to be holding at the end of the race -- to have a teammate with you,” Junior said.
Fifty laps into Sunday’s event, Junior held up the hang loose sign as the duo coursed through Turns 3 and 4. Waltrip was amused.
“He’s crazy,” Waltrip said. “We’re from two different generations, but we seem to be able to mesh pretty good.”
Your
Momma
"Don't come here and grumble about going too
fast. Get the hell out of the race car if you've got feathers
on your legs or butt. Put a kerosene rag around your ankles so the
ants won't climb up there and eat that candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt – 1998
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