Track facts for Talladega Superspeedway:
- Number of previous races: 80.
- First Sprint Cup race: September 14, 1969, won by Richard Brickhouse.
- Last Sprint Cup race: April 26, 2009, won by Brad Keselowski.
- Won from pole: 13, most recently by Jeff Gordon in 2007.
- Won from top-5 starting position: 47 times in 80 races (59%).
- Won from top-10 starting position: 58 times (73%).
- Won from 21st or worse starting position: 6 times (8%).
- Worst starting spot for race winner: 36th, by Jeff Gordon in 2000.
- Most laps led: 153, by Pete Hamilton in 1970.
- Fewest laps led by a race winner: 1, by Jeff Gordon in 2007 and Brad Keselowski in 2009.
- Track records:
- Fastest race: 188.354 mph by Mark Martin in 1997.
- Fastest qualifying speed: 212.809 mph by Bill Elliott in 1987.
- Most lead changes: 75 in 1984.
- Closest finish: Dale Earnhardt's .005 second margin over Ernie Irvan in 1993.
- Most caution flags: 11 in 2004.
- From 2001-2009 a typical Talladega race had 45.5 lead changes, 6.4 cautions for 26.2 laps, and an average green-flag run of 22.0 laps.
Manufacturers / Owners:
- Victories by manufacturer: Chevrolet (34), Ford (17), Mercury (7), Buick (6), Oldsmobile (6), Dodge (3), Plymouth (3), Pontiac (2), Toyota (2).
- Most victories by owner: Rick Hendrick (10), Richard Childress (9), Dale Earnhardt Inc. (6), Harry Ranier (6), Junior Johnson (5), Bud Moore (5), Wood Brothers (5).
Driver Notes:
- The most Talladega races without a:
| | Active Drivers | All-Time |
| Win: | Jeff Burton (31 races) | Ricky Rudd (59 races) |
| Top 5: | Derrike Cope (24) | Jimmy Means (33) |
| Top 10: | David Reutimann (5) | Dick Trickle (19) |
| Pole: | Jeff Burton (31) | Kyle Petty (53) |
| Lap led: | Marcos Ambrose (1) | Tommy Gale (23) |
| Lead-lap finish: | Allmendinger, Hornish (2) | Buddy Arrington (30) |
- Top career marks at Talladega:
| | Active Drivers | All-Time |
| Races: | Bill Elliott (54) | Dave Marcis (61) |
| Wins: | Jeff Gordon (6) | Dale Earnhardt (10) |
| Top 5s: | Terry Labonte (14) | Dale Earnhardt (23) |
| Top 10s: | Terry Labonte (23) | Dale Earnhardt (27) |
| Poles: | Bill Elliott (8) | Bill Elliott (8) |
| Laps: | Bill Elliott (9,229) | Dave Marcis (9,774) |
| Laps led: | Jeff Gordon (805) | Dale Earnhardt (1,377) |
| Lead-lap finishes: | Terry Labonte (29) | Terry Labonte (29)
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- Best average finish among active drivers at Talladega (3 or more starts):
- Kurt Busch (12.1)
- Tony Stewart (13.8)
- David Ragan (14.0)
- Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (14.2)
- Bill Elliott (14.7)
- Kevin Harvick (16.0)
- Mark Martin (16.1)
- Jeff Gordon (16.4)
- Worst average finish among active drivers at Talladega (3 or more starts):
- Martin Truex, Jr. (28.1)
- David Reutimann (27.4)
- Todd Bodine (26.8)
- Derrike Cope (26.3)
- Kyle Busch (25.7)
- Mike Bliss (25.4)
- Reed Sorenson (25.3)
- David Stremme (25.2)
Chase drivers at Talladega:
| Driver | Races | Win | T5 | T10 | Pole | Laps | Led | AvSt | AvFn | Rating |
|---|
| Jimmie Johnson | 15 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2707 | 192 | 10.9 | 17.7 | 84.1 |
| Mark Martin | 43 | 2 | 10 | 22 | 2 | 7141 | 315 | 14.2 | 16.1 | 58.7 |
| Jeff Gordon | 33 | 6 | 13 | 16 | 1 | 5563 | 805 | 12.3 | 16.4 | 85.9 |
| Tony Stewart | 21 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 3854 | 268 | 17.4 | 13.8 | 92.4 |
| Juan Pablo Montoya | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 924 | 17 | 17.2 | 18.6 | 81.0 |
| Kurt Busch | 17 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 3073 | 96 | 23.3 | 12.1 | 87.7 |
| Ryan Newman | 15 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 2319 | 50 | 14.8 | 18.5 | 80.0 |
| Greg Biffle | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2204 | 22 | 18.1 | 23.8 | 67.4 |
| Denny Hamlin | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1229 | 164 | 17.7 | 18.9 | 94.8 |
| Carl Edwards | 10 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1582 | 13 | 16.2 | 24.5 | 67.3 |
| Kasey Kahne | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1717 | 14 | 28.4 | 23.5 | 65.0 |
| Brian Vickers | 10 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1711 | 56 | 21.6 | 19.7 | 90.1 |
Driver Rating is based on a formula developed by NASCAR which combines "loop data" elements such as average running position, average speed under green, number of fastest laps, etc. There is a maximum of 150 points that a driver can earn for each race. Driver Rating is not available for races prior to 2005.
Trends:
| Driver | Overall Points | Rank | Points in last 6 races | Rank |
|---|
| Jimmie Johnson | 6098 | 1 | 1068 | 1 |
| Mark Martin | 5980 | 2 | 940 | 2 |
| Jeff Gordon | 5948 | 3 | 938 | 3 |
| Tony Stewart | 5906 | 4 | 881 | 5 |
| Juan Pablo Montoya | 5898 | 5 | 903 | 4 |
| Kurt Busch | 5858 | 6 | 848 | 6 |
| Ryan Newman | 5786 | 7 | 791 | 7 |
| Greg Biffle | 5748 | 8 | 753 | 8 |
| Denny Hamlin | 5746 | 9 | 726 | 13 |
| Carl Edwards | 5685 | 10 | 690 | 15 |
| Kasey Kahne | 5659 | 11 | 639 | 18 |
| Brian Vickers | 5568 | 12 | 563 | 25 |
Drivers trending upward in the points are indicated in green; drivers trending down are indicated in red. Drivers who are generally holding their positions are not shaded, though it should be noted that being at or near the top of the points and merely maintaining that position (there's nowhere to go but down, after all) is evidence of quality performance.
Non-Chase drivers:
Drivers who failed to qualify for the Chase, but who have performed well in the past six races include Clint Bowyer (751 points, 9th overall), Casey Mears (744 points, 10th overall), Matt Kenseth (730 points, 11th overall) and Kyle Busch (730 points, 11th overall).
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