Talladega Lineup, News, Notes, Stats, ETC.

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Race: Sunday, April 17, 2011 in Talladega, AL

Title Sponsor: Aaron's

Scheduled Green Flag (approx): 1:19pm/et

•NASCAR Pre-race: FOX - 12:00pm/et

•Television Race Coverage: FOX, 1:00pm/et

•In the Booth: Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds

•Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda

•Hollywood Hotel: Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond

•SPEED's NASCAR Raceday Pre-Race Show: 10:00am/et with John Roberts, Kyle Petty, Kenny Wallace

 

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Track Specifications

Track/Race Length: 2.66 mile quad oval, 188 laps, 500.08 miles
Superspeedway: 2.66-mile trioval 48 feet wide (12-foot apron)
Turns: Banking: 33° Length: 3,750 feet Radius: 1,100 feet
Trioval: Banking: 18°
Frontstretch: Chute length: 2,150 feet (from turn to middle of trioval) Total length: 4,300 feet Banking: 16.5°
Backstretch: Length: 4,000 feet Banking: 2°
Pit Road: Length: 3,000 feet; Width: 48 feet
Pit Road Speed: 55mph
Pace Car Speed: 70mph
Grandstand Seating: 143,231
Track last paved: Summer 2006
Opened: 1969

 

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Race Festivities/Officials

Grand Marshal: Auburn Tigers head football coach Gene Chizik
Command to start engines: Gene Chizik
Honorary Starter/Wave Green Flag: winner of the Aaron's Weekend of Your Dreams promotion
Invocation: Mike Jackson, Director of Alabama Raceway Ministries
National Anthem: Recording artist Ashton Shepherd
Military Flyover: ?

 

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Track Records

•A Record Fit for a King: Richard "The King" Petty won twice in 46 Talladega starts. But his two wins managed to set an unusual record. The first win came on August 11, 1974. The second came on May 1, 1983, setting the mark for longest stretch between wins at the 2.66-mile oval.(10-2-2004)

•Slowest Cup race ever at Talladega 2004: A track record 11 caution periods over 55 laps caused the average speed to be 129.396mph, the slowest in a NASCAR Winston/Nextel Cup race at Talladega. The record (130.892) was set in 1975 in a race won by Buddy Baker.(4-27-2004)

•October 2010 Pole Sitter: #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, 184.640mph, finished 3rd

•April 2010 Pole Sitter: none, due to inclement weather

•Track/Event Qualifying Record (no restrictor plate): Bill Elliott, April 1987, 212.809mph

•Track/Event Qualifying Record (Restrictor Plate): Bill Elliott, May 1990, 199.388 (15/16th inch plate)

•Oldest Pole Winner: Ricky Rudd, 47 years, 7 months, 13 days, 4/25/2004

•Youngest Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson, 26 years, 7 months, 4 days, 4/21/2002

•October 2010 Race Winner: #33-Clint Bowyer, 163.618mph, started 2nd

•April 2010 Race Winner: #29-Kevin Harvick, 150.590mph, started 4th

•Track Race Record: Mark Martin, May 1997, 188.354mph

•Slowest Race Record: Jeff Gordon, April 25, 2004, 129.396mph

•Worst Starting Spot to Win: Jeff Gordon, April 2000, started 36th

•Oldest Race Winner: Harry Gant, 52 years, 3 months, 26 days, May 1991

•Youngest Race Winner: Bobby Hillin Jr., 22 years, 1 months, 22 days, July 1986

•Expect 197-198 mph speeds at Talladega: The day of the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway in February was one of anxiety for NASCAR officials. They watched as Sprint Cup drivers, hooked up in the new Daytona version of the two-car draft, shot speeds into a relative stratosphere, spinning gauges to 206 miles per hour. That was very fast. That also was not acceptable. So NASCAR stepped into its occasional role as speed police, eventually changing the engine restrictor plate that helps control speeds at Daytona and Talladega and toying with the cooling systems that teams use to feed air to the engine compartment, with the aim of occasionally disrupting the two-car tandems. The plan worked, and a modification of it will be in use this weekend during practice and qualifying for the Aaron's 499 and the race itself at Talladega Superspeedway. After Daytona Speedweeks, NASCAR dropped the size of the restrictor plate by 1/64 of an inch to 7/8 for this weekend. A minor impact on speed is expected. John Darby, Sprint Cup Series director, said he expects speeds this weekend to be in the 197-198 mph neighborhood "with an occasional lap at 200 to 201

 

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Numbers for Talladega Superspeedway

0 - fewest cautions for a Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway (three times, most recent 10/6/02)
1 - fewest laps led by race winner (twice, most recent 4/26/09)
1 - fewest cars on the lead lap at finish (twice, most recent 5/6/79)
2 - laps led by race winner Kevin Harvick last spring
8 - cautions in last year's spring race
10 - most wins (Dale Earnhardt Sr.)
11 - number of jet dryers available for track drying this weekend
13 - wins from the pole; 32 from the front row
29 - most leaders (5/25/11)
40 - most cars running at finish (4/22/01)
41 - drivers have posted wins in the 83 races
62 - most caution laps (5/7/72)
88 - most lead changes (5/25/10)
153 - most laps led by race winner (Pete Hamilton, 8/23/70)
BONUS: In addition to Talladega Superspeedway (83 races), six other Alabama tracks hosted 19 Sprint Cup events from 1951 to 1969. New Mobile Speedway was the first Alabama track hosting the series with two races in 1951. No other Sprint Cup races were held at the .750-mile dirt track. The final race at Montgomery Speedway was run on December 8, 1968, but was recorded as the second race of the 1969 season behind a race at Middle Georgia Raceway (Macon) on November 17, 1968. The first race actually held in 1969 was at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway on February 1, 1969 before the series converged on Daytona where the two qualifying races as well as the Daytona 500 were counted as part of the 54-race 1969 season.

 

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Record lead changes at Talladega

Whenever a lead change takes place on the race track, the NASCAR control tower announces it thusly: "New Leader, the [car number]." There were many such announcements at the two Talladega races last season. The April race had an all-time NASCAR record 88 lead changes; the October race had 87. The October race got off to a quick start  there were 10 lead changes in the first 10 laps. The record for number of different leaders was also broken last April  29 different drivers led at least one lap. Figure on a similar ratio this weekend. The lead change and leader records both fell in the season's first restrictor plate race  the Daytona 500. That jump-started a season that has already seen three races with records in lead changes, and another  Texas, last weekend  that came two lead changes short of tying the record. Many competition numbers are highs through seven races. For instance &
" There has been an average of 13 leaders per race, most through seven races in series history.
" There has been an average of 31.4 lead changes per race, most through seven races in series history.
" There have been six different winners in the first seven races, most since 2003.
" There has been an average of 3,581 green flag passes all around the track per race, most through seven races since the inception of Loop Data in 2005.
" There has been an average of 39 green flag passes for the lead all around the track per race, second-most through seven races since the inception of Loop Data in 2005.

 

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At Talladega Superspeedway

· Construction began on what was then known as the Alabama International Motor Speedway on May 23, 1968.
· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on Sept. 14, 1969.
· The name changed to Talladega Superspeedway in 1989.
· Fourth repaving completed on Sept. 19, 2006.
· There have been 83 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Talladega Superspeedway since the track opened in 1969; two a year every year except the inaugural season, which had just one.
· Richard Brickhouse won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
· Bobby Isaac won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole in September 1969. Isaac won the first three poles there.
· 35 different drivers have won poles. Bill Elliott leads all drivers with eight poles.
· 41 different drivers have posted victories, led by Dale Earnhardt Sr. (10). Eighteen drivers have won more than once.
· Jeff Gordon leads all other active drivers in victories, with six. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is second among active drivers in victories with five.
· Richard Childress Racing has won 11 races, more than any other organization. Hendrick Motorsports, with 10 wins, can match that mark this weekend.
· 32 of 83 races have been won from a top-two starting position, including 13 from the pole; 23 have been won from a starting position outside the top 10. The most recent driver to win from the pole was Jeff Gordon in 2007 (spring).
· The furthest back in the field a race winner started was 36th, by Jeff Gordon in 2000.
· Mark Martin's pace in the 1997 spring race set an all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup record for the fastest race ever. He won the caution-free race with an average speed of 188.354 mph and covered the 500-mile distance in two hours, 39 minutes and 18 seconds.
· Last season's spring race set the all-time and track records for lead changes (88) and lap leaders (29). The previous highs were 75 lead changes (set on May 6, 1984) and 28 lap leaders (set on Oct. 5, 2008). Both previous records also were set at Talladega.
· Dale Earnhardt Jr. had four consecutive victories (October 2001 through April 2003), the most ever by a driver there. Buddy Baker (three  May 1975 through May 1976) is the only other driver to win more than two consecutive races there.
· Since the inception of electronic scoring in 1993, every race that has ended under green has had a margin of victory under half a second.

 

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STARTING LINEUP

1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevy 178.248 53.723
2 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevy 177.844 53.845
3 5 Mark Martin Chevy 177.807 53.856
4 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy 177.765 53.869
5 27 Paul Menard Chevy 177.702 53.888
6 9 Landon Cassill Chevy 177.685 53.893
7 6 David Ragan Ford 177.438 53.968
8 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 177.379 53.986
9 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 177.369 53.989
10 33 Clint Bowyer Chevy 177.353 53.994
11 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 177.353 53.994
12 15 Michael Waltrip Toyota 177.317 54.005
13 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chevy 177.182 54.046
14 0 David Reutimann Toyota 177.143 54.058
15 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 177.120 54.065
16 43 A J Allmendinger Ford 177.087 54.075
17 16 Greg Biffle Ford 177.074 54.079
18 78 Regan Smith Chevy 177.061 54.083
19 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 177.032 54.092
20 99 Carl Edwards Ford 177.006 54.100
21 1 Jamie McMurray Chevy 176.872 54.141
22 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 176.695 54.195
23 39 Ryan Newman Chevy 176.659 54.206
24 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 176.575 54.232
25 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 176.519 54.249
26 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 176.477 54.262
27 31 Jeff Burton Chevy 176.461 54.267
28 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 176.425 54.278
29 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 176.370 54.295
30 14 Tony Stewart Chevy 176.347 54.302
31 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 176.298 54.317
32 97 Kevin Conway Toyota 176.195 54.349
33 35 Steve Park Chevy 176.162 54.359
34 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 175.939 54.428
35 36 Dave Blaney Chevy 175.806 54.469
36 20 Joey Logano Toyota 175.410 54.592
37 71 Andy Lally Ford 175.349 54.611
38 29 Kevin Harvick Chevy 175.154 54.672
39 34 David Gilliland Ford 175.134 54.678
40 13 Casey Mears Toyota 174.595 54.847
41 32 Terry Labonte Ford 174.271 54.949
42 7 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 000.000 00.000
43 46 Bill Elliott Chevy 169.983 56.335
DNQ 60 Mike Skinner Toyota 175.090 54.692
DNQ 37 Tony Raines Ford 175.000 54.720
DNQ 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 174.840 54.770

 

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Jeff Gordon wins Talladega pole

#24-Jeff Gordon won the Coors Light pole for the Aaron's 499 Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway with a speed of 178.248mph. It is his 1st pole of the season and the 70th of his career, which is third on the all time list. #48-Johnson starts 2nd followed by #5-Martin, #88-Earnhardt, Jr., #27-Menard, #09-Cassill, #6-Ragan, #22-Busch, #83-Vickers, and #21-Bayne.
Hendrick Motorsports swept the top 4 qualifying positions, only the third time that has been done in NASCAR history.
The go-or-go homers who made the race (8): #15-Waltrip, #87-Nemechek, #38-Kvapil, #97-Conway, #35-Park, #36-Blaney, #71-Lally, and #46-Elliott (who used the past champions provisional).
The go-or-go homers who failed to qualify for the race (3): #60-Skinner, #37-Raines, #66-McDowell.

 

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Qualifying Fast Facts - Talladega

Jeff Gordon won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 42nd Annual Aaron's 499 with a lap of 53.723 seconds, 178.248 mph.
This is his 70th pole in 625 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. Gordon surpasses Cale Yarborough for third-place on the all-time pole winners list.
This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2011.
This is his second pole in 37 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Jimmie Johnson (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2011 and his 13th in 19 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Mark Martin (third) posted his 22nd top-10 start at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his fourth in eight races this season.
Andy Lally (37th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Hendrick Motorsports becomes the third team in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history to qualify four cars in the top four starting positions (Pete DePaolo 1965 - Charlotte; Jack Roush 2005 - Auto Club).

 

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NSCS Practice 1

1 14 Tony Stewart Office Chevy 194.239 49.300 180.055
2 39 Ryan Newman Chevy 194.235 49.301 165.798
3 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 193.713 49.434 184.238
4 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevy 193.713 49.434 179.329
5 43 A J Allmendinger Ford 193.080 49.596 166.093
6 31 Jeff Burton Chevy 193.076 49.597 167.488
7 20 Joey Logano Toyota 192.692 49.696 185.213
8 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 192.684 49.698 184.104
9 34 David Gilliland Ford 192.544 49.734 183.102
10 09 Landon Cassill Chevy 192.544 49.734 179.470
11 29 Kevin Harvick Chevy 192.351 49.784 175.392
12 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 192.347 49.785 185.147
13 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 192.336 49.788 183.813
14 27 Paul Menard Chevy 192.336 49.788 174.414
15 24 Jeff Gordon Chevy 191.558 49.990 179.938
16 5 Mark Martin Chevy 191.554 49.991 180.010
17 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 191.248 50.071 179.653
18 33 Clint Bowyer Chevy 191.012 50.133 174.760
19 00 David Reutimann Toyota 190.700 50.215 181.624
20 78 Regan Smith Chevy 190.689 50.218 178.800
21 16 Greg Biffle Ford 190.677 50.221 183.079
22 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 190.670 50.223 174.695
23 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 190.666 50.224 180.651
24 13 Casey Mears Toyota 190.662 50.225 178.616
25 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 190.616 50.237 182.522
26 6 David Ragan Ford 190.613 50.238 182.620
27 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 190.442 50.283 182.095
28 99 Carl Edwards Ford 190.442 50.283 183.615
29 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy 189.959 50.411 175.375
30 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 189.646 50.494 175.216
31 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 189.646 50.494 182.159
32 46 B. Elliot / JJ. Yeley Chevy 189.635 50.497 177.767
33 32 Terry Labonte Ford 188.211 50.879 161.594
34 7 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 188.208 50.880 173.231
35 15 Michael Waltrip Toyota 177.166 54.051 165.888
36 1 Jamie McMurray Chevy 176.757 54.176 165.815
37 35 Steve Park Chevy 176.318 54.311 180.828
38 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chevy 175.471 54.573 184.112
39 97 Kevin Conway Toyota 175.330 54.617 158.021
40 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 175.048 54.705 166.076
41 60 Mike Skinner Toyota 174.994 54.722 179.001
42 36 Dave Blaney Chevy 174.978 54.727 166.405
43 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 174.917 54.746 166.840
44 71 Andy Lally Ford 174.490 54.880 165.060
45 37 Tony Raines Ford 173.027 55.344 165.914
46 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 0.000 0.000 0.000

 

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NSCS Practice 1 Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average

Rank Car# Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 39 Ryan Newman 6 15 189.825
2 14 Tony Stewart 6 15 189.785
3 11 Denny Hamlin 13 22 189.736
4 20 Joey Logano 13 22 189.694
5 29 Kevin Harvick 14 23 188.732
6 27 Paul Menard 5 14 188.688
7 00 David Reutimann 13 22 188.607
8 78 Regan Smith 9 18 188.607
9 5 Mark Martin 2 11 188.591
10 24 Jeff Gordon 2 11 188.492
11 48 Jimmie Johnson 13 22 188.167
12 18 Kyle Busch 12 21 188.126
13 21 Trevor Bayne 9 18 187.296
14 99 Carl Edwards 4 13 187.294
15 34 David Gilliland 8 17 186.493
16 09 Landon Cassill 6 15 186.449
17 16 Greg Biffle 2 11 186.185
18 83 Brian Vickers 23 32 185.571
19 17 Matt Kenseth 7 16 183.764
20 31 Jeff Burton 3 12 175.143


Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above chart

 

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Happy Hour practice:

Happy Hour practice: for the Aaron's 499 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is over. Rain started just minutes after the session started. Only 8 drivers made it on track:
#24-Gordon 190.412
#5-Martin 190.412
#38-Kvapil 175.012
#11-Hamlin 158.344
#20-Logano 156.786
#66-McDowell 156.215
#2-Keselowski 153.649
#17-Kenseth 126.201

 

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First Friday practice

First Friday practice: for the Aaron's 499 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is over after 55 minutes, the top 5, slowest and notes:
#14-Stewart 194.239
#39-Newman 194.235
#48-Johnson 193.713
#18-Busch 193.713
#43-Allmendinger 193.080
slowest: #71-Lally 174.490 & #37-Raines 173.027. no speed: #66-McDowell.
notes: There was a brief caution 15 minutes in because of some rain showers. The session was extended for 10 minutes becuase of the threat of rain in the area.

 

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pit Stall Selections

 

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Some Chassis Selections by Teams for this race

Chassis selections for Talladega:
#1-Jamie McMurray: Crew Chief Kevin "Bono" Manion has elected to bring Chassis #1009. This chassis raced in both races at Talladega last season where it finished second and 36th. This chassis also ran in this year's Daytona 500 where it came home 18th.
#2-Brad Keselowski: The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team will use chassis PRS-634 during Sunday's Aaron 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. This is a brand-new chassis to the #2 fleet.
#6-David Ragan: Primary: RK-723 Last ran Daytona - finished 14th; Backup: RK-717 Brand new chassis
#9-Marcos Ambrose: The #9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 715 for the 500-mile event at Talladega Superspeedway. This DEWALT Ford Fusion was run previously this season at Daytona International Speedway.
#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-634: This car debuted during Daytona Speedweeks. It set the 10th fastest time in Daytona 500 qualifying, which slotted it fifth for the Gatorade Duel. In that race, Stewart drove Chassis No. 14-634 to a 12th-place finish, which gave him a 25th-place starting spot for the Daytona 500. While he never led a lap in the season-opening race, Stewart was a top-10 mainstay  that is until the final lap, when he was shuffled out of the draft en route to a 13thplace finish. It has had numerous sessions in the wind tunnel since its return from Daytona, and the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway will mark Chassis No. 14-634's third career start.
#17-Matt Kenseth: Primary: RK-713 (Last run at Daytona)
#18-Kyle Busch: Chassis No. 292: This chassis will make its second career start in Sunday's Aaron's 499 at Talladega. No. 292 made its debut this past February in the season-opening Daytona 500, where Busch started 10th and finished a solid eighth.
#20-Joey Logano: The #0 Home Depot Team is taking chassis #293 to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend for the restrictor-plate race. Logano drove this chassis in the season-opening Daytona 500 where the No. 2 car spun late in the race and clipped the right rear of the No. 20 Camry causing extensive damage. Logano came into the pits for repairs and was able to finish in the 23rd position. The back-up chassis is chassis #212 which Logano drove in the 2010 Daytona 500.
#22-Kurt Busch and his Steve Addington-led Penske Racing "Double-Deuce" team will be racing their "PRS-640" Shell-Pennzoil/AAA Dodge Charger this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. The "PRS-641" will serve as the backup car for this weekend. Busch has also yet to race this car.
#27-Paul Menard will pilot chassis No. 338 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This #27 Chevrolet Impala was a brand new addition to the RCR fleet for the 2011 season. Menard recorded the fourth-quickest lap during the Daytona 500 time trials in February and went on to finish ninth in both the Duel 150 qualifying race and Daytona 500.
#29-Kevin Harvick: The #29 Budweiser Chevy team will utilize chassis No. 343 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. Harvick led twice for a total of five laps with this car at Daytona International Speedway in February's Daytona 500 before the #29 Budweiser Chevrolet's engine expired on lap 22.
#31-Jeff Burton will race Chassis No. 331 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in this weekend's Aaron's 499. Built new for the 2011 season, this No. 31 racer first competed in the second Duel 150 qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway where Burton drove it to victory. He then raced this Caterpillar Chevrolet in the 53rd running of the Daytona 500 that ended eight laps shy of the halfway mark for the Todd Berrier-led team when the engine suddenly expired, crediting them with a 36th-place finish.
#33-Clint Bowyer: will pilot chassis No. 294 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This No. 33 Chevrolet Impala has significant restrictor-plate track success, including a top-five finish (fourth) in the 2010 Daytona 500 and a trip to Victory Lane in last October's Talladega 500 after starting from the front row.
#36-Dave Blaney:TBR will run chassis No. 27 this weekend at TSS. The team ran the chassis in this year's Daytona 500, where the #36 Golden Corral Chevrolet was poised for a top-10 finish before a late-race incident ended the team's day early.
#39-Ryan Newman: Chassis No. 39-606 makes a return trip to Talladega Superspeedway this spring after making its first start at the 2.66-mile superspeedway last fall. Last October, Newman qualified eighth at Talladega and attempted to make a late-race charge, but finished the afternoon in 23rd. Although it wasn't the finish the team had hoped for, it marked the first superspeedway finish for the driver and team in more than a year. After taking a trip to Daytona International Speedway in February as the team's backup car, Chassis No. 39-606 will return to action for the first time in the 2011 season this weekend in Alabama.
#42-Juan Pablo Montoya: Crew Chief Brian Pattie and team will bring Chassis #1101 to Talladega Superspeedway. This is the same chassis the No. 42 used at Daytona International Speedway during the season-opening Daytona 500 where Montoya finished sixth.
#43-A.J. Allmendinger: The #43 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 722 for this weekend's event at Talladega Superspeedway. This Best Buy Ford has been run previously this season at Daytona International Speedway.
#48-Jimmie Johnson: will pilot chassis No. 628 in Sunday's restrictor-plate event. He crossed the finish line 27th with that chassis at the Daytona 500 in February. Johnson finished fourth in backup chassis No. 618 during February's Budweiser Shootout.
#99-Carl Edwards: RK-677, Last raced at Budweiser Shootout, Feb. '11

 

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Goodyear Tires Notes / Fast Facts

Tire: Goodyear Eagle Superspeedway Radials

Number of Tires:
Sprint Cup: Left-side -- 975, Right-side -- 975;
Nationwide: Left-side -- 475, Right-side -- 475

Set limits:
Sprint Cup: 5 sets for practice/qualifying, 6 sets for race;
Nationwide: 5 sets for weekend

Tire Codes: Left-side -- D-4138; Right-side -- D-4412

Tire Circumference: Left-side -- 87.9 in.; Right-side -- 88.4 in.

Technical Inspection Inflation:
Left Front -- 30 psi; Left Rear -- 30 psi;
Right Front -- 55 psi; Right Rear -- 50 psi

Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front -- 27 psi; Left Rear -- 27 psi;
Right Front -- 50 psi; Right Rear -- 50 psi

Estimated Pit Window: Every 34-36 laps, based on fuel mileage (Sprint Cup).

Notes: Teams in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will run the same tire codes at Talladega this weekend . . . NASCAR teams have run this left-side tire code (D-4138) at Talladega since 2009, but it is paired with a relatively new right-side code . . . teams ran this exact combination of left- and right-side tires at Daytona earlier this season . . . they also ran this right-side tire code (D-4412) at Las Vegas a couple weeks later . . . this tire set-up was tested extensively in preparation for the 2011 season, beginning at Talladega (August 2010) and twice at Daytona (December 2010 and January 2011) . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Talladega . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.

 

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opening odds

6201 kyle busch 6/1
6202 kevin harvick 8/1
6203 tony stewart 9/1
6204 jimmie johnson 10/1
6205 denny hamlin 10/1
6206 jeff gordon 12/1
6207 carl edwards 12/1
6208 dale earnhardt jr 12/1
6209 jeff burton 14/1
6210 kurt busch 14/1
6211 clint bowyer 15/1
6212 jamie mcmurray 16/1
6213 matt kenseth 20/1
6214 joey logano 20/1
6215 mark martin 20/1
6216 juan montoya 25/1
6217 greg biffle 25/1
6218 kasey kahne 28/1
6219 ryan newman 30/1
6220 david reutimann 40/1
6221 brian vickers 40/1
6222 martin truex jr 40/1
6223 david ragan 40/1
6224 aj allmendinger 50/1
6225 brad keselowski 50/1
6226 regan smith 60/1
6227 paul menard 60/1
6228 marcos ambrose 75/1
6229 bobby labonte 100/1
6230 field - all others 25/1