Geico 500 Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Numerologists doubtless will have a field day with the front row for Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (on FOX at 1 p.m. ET). Touring the 2.66-mile race track in 49.704 seconds (192.661 mph) during Saturday’s time trials, Chase Elliott put the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on the pole, making the 20-year-old rookie driver two-for-two at restrictor-plate superspeedways. In his first qualifying run as a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, Elliott won the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500.Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor On most weeks in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, only the super teams (such as Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing and a few others) should really expect to end their day in victory lane. In order to win at intermediate 1.5-mile speedways it takes teams of engineers, and millions of dollars just to finish inside the top-10. Talladega though, is a different animal. Instead of gobs of resources, it just takes an unrelenting will to win and incredible intestinal fortitude to conquer the day atRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service Carl Edwards has long advocated for NASCAR implementing a lower downforce aerodynamics package for it race cars. Lowering the downforce on a car makes it harder to control, which causes more passing and emphasizes driver skill over engineering expertise. His wish was granted this year. Unsurprisingly, Edwards has excelled under NASCAR’s new lower downforce aerodynamics package. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver tops the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings on the strength of two wins, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes. He’s finished lowerRead More

When safety is at the forefront of conversation in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Carl Edwards stirred the pot with how drivers navigate through accidents, speeding by cars at full speed on restrictor plate tracks. On the final lap of the Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday Edwards was spun out running in the top 10, sliding sideways for what seemed like an eternity while the field sped by to race for the finish with NASCAR officials deciding not to throw a caution. The JGRRead More

Martin Truex Jr. continued his career best start to the season with another top 10 finish, this time with a fifth place in the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The Furniture Row Racing driver started 36th, hanging among the front of the field until pushing towards the front on the last lap. His fifth place finish tied his career best finish in 21 starts at the 2.66-mile tri-oval. “Talladega is a wild card, and any time you can come out of here with a fifth place finish that’s a goodRead More

TALLADEGA, Ala. – It’s a toss-up which is greater, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s passion for Talladega Superspeedway or the Talladega fan base’s passion for Dale Earnhardt Jr. On a glorious afternoon, Earnhardt offered a one-word order to his team over the radio, a message that could be shared with the thousands of his devotees in the stands: “Celebrate!” he proclaimed. Earnhardt, his team and Junior Nation could celebrate his 0.159-second victory over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series GEICO 500 Sunday afternoon, his sixth Sprint CupRead More

TALLADEGA, Ala.—Change the rules, change the format – but they can’t change history. Jeff Gordon, who has won more Talladega Superspeedway poles than any active driver, put together a lap of more than one mile per hour faster than the next-quickest to earn the Coors Light Pole for Sunday’s GEICO 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race (1 p.m. ET on FOX) at the 2.66-mile trioval. Gordon posted a time of 49.160 seconds (194.793 mph), bettering his time of 49.171 that won him the top spot in the first round ofRead More