By the Numbers: Talladega

Have your facts straight for a free TrackPass weekend

By NASCAR.COM
April 26, 2007
11:32 AM EDT


By the Numbers teams with TrackPass this week to bring the fans closer to the action at Talladega. NASCAR.COM is offering a free TrackPass weekend and exclusive access to a wide variety of live features that get you on the track and in the race.

If you have never taken advantage of TrackPass, here's your chance. In case you don't know what you're missing, here's a BTN sample.


Interesting Fact

4 Number of applications available with TrackPass: PitCommand, RaceView, Scanner and Radio Broadcast.

Fun Fact
2x Sign up by May 5 and earn double RacePoints.

TrackPass Facts

3 Virtual camera angles available with RaceView: Lead View, Flyover View and Draft View.
3 Monitor LIVE timing, scoring and telemetry with PitCommand.
4 Number of events that can be heard this week on MRN's Radio Broadcast. Listen to Cup qualifying, as well as all three series races.
14 Enjoy a two-week free time trial.
43 Listen to in-car audio for every driver with Scanner.

To get you ready for the weekend, By the Numbers takes a look at all 52 drivers on the Entry List for the Aaron's 499. Going by car number, BTN offers a fact about that driver at Talladega, and follows with another about his season to date.

Driver Facts

00 David Reutimann has only one career start at Talladega, finishing sixth last year in a Craftsman Truck Series race. He crashed and finished 40th this season at Daytona, his only superspeedway start in a Cup car.
01 Regan Smith has only one career start at Talladega, finishing 37th last year in a Busch Series race. Smith will be making just his third Cup Series start of his career.
1 Martin Truex Jr. finished fifth this past October after DNFs in each of his first three Talladega starts. Truex has two top-10s this season.
2 Kurt Busch has five consecutive top-10 finishes at Talladega, including seventh and third in two races last year, his first with Penske. Busch has only one top-10 this season.
4 Ward Burton finished fourth in October, his best result in 19 starts at Talladega. Burton has qualified for only three races this season.
5 Kyle Busch has made four starts at Talladega, his second-most of any track without a top-10. Busch has five top-10s this season and is sixth in points.
6 David Ragan has only one career start at Talladega, finishing seventh last year in a Craftsman Truck Series race. Smith opened the season with a fifth-place run at Daytona, his first Cup start at a superspeedway.
07 Clint Bowyer crashed in both Talladega races last year, his first at the track. Bowyer has three top-10s this season and is ninth in points.
7 Robby Gordon went seven years between his first Talladega start in 1993 and next one. Gordon finished 15th at Daytona, his best result of the season.
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. has eight top-10s at Talladega, all of which came consecutively from the October 2001 through October 2004. Junior's only two top-10s this season have come on the short tracks of Bristol and Martinsville.
09 Mike Wallace finished ninth in April 2001, his best result in 15 Talladega starts. Wallace finished fourth at Daytona, his only start this season.
9 Kasey Kahne finished second this past October, but has a 22.5 average in six starts at Talladega. Kahne finished seventh in the season-opener at Daytona, but hasn't been better than 19th since.
10 Scott Riggs finished sixth last April at Talladega, his only top-10 in six starts. Riggs has only one top-10 this season and a 31.5 average finish.
11 Denny Hamlin finished 22nd and 21st in his first two Talladega starts, leading one lap in each race last year. Hamlin is riding three consecutive top-10s and is fifth in points.
12 Ryan Newman made only three laps before crashing in April 2003, the shortest race of his career. Newman has a 25.5 average finish this season.
13 Joe Nemechek has three poles at Talladega, more than any other track. Nemechek opened the year with a ninth-place run at Daytona, his only top-10 this season.
14 Sterling Marlin has two wins and 17 top-10s at Talladega, third-highest of any track. Marlin has a career-best 21 top-10s at Daytona. Marlin finished 17th at Daytona this year, his only top-20 run of the season.
15 Paul Menard was 15 laps from the finish in his Talladega debut this past October when a crash sent him to the garage and a 34th-place finish. Menard has completed all but 10 laps this season.
16 Greg Biffle failed to finish in either of his two Talladega starts last year. Biffle has led only two laps this season.
17 Matt Kenseth has three consecutive top-10 runs at Talladega, his worst finish during that span sixth last April. Kenseth is third in points, with a win, five top-fives and six top-10s this season.
18 J.J. Yeley led one lap in each of his first two Talladega starts, but crashed his last time out in his third appearance this past October. Yeley finished a season-best 12th at Daytona.
19 Elliott Sadler finished 29th in his first Talladega start in the 19 car. Sadler has one top-10 this season, a sixth-place finish at Daytona.
20 Tony Stewart has finished second at Talladega six times. Stewart has finished second twice this season, at Atlanta and Phoenix.
21 Ken Schrader won his first career race at Talladega in 1988, driving for Rick Hendrick. Schrader has finished better than 28th just once in seven starts this season.
22 Dave Blaney has led one lap in 13 career starts at Talladega. Blaney has led one lap this season.
24 Jeff Gordon has four victories, and has finished in the top-10 in half of his 28 Talladega starts. Gordon leads the points this season with an average finish of 4.5 in eight starts.
25 Casey Mears finished eighth in both 2004 races at Talladega. Mears has only one top-10 in his first season with Hendrick.
26 Jamie McMurray has finished fifth in the past two April races at Talladega. McMurray finished a season-best fifth at Texas, but has top-10s in half of his eight starts this year.
29 Kevin Harvick has six top-10s in his past eight starts at Talladega. Harvick posted his first superspeedway victory this year at Daytona.
31 Jeff Burton finished fourth last April at Talladega, his best result there since a third-place run in October 2001. Burton is second in points this season, with a victory, five top-fives and six top-10s.
34 Kevin Lepage has one top-10 in 10 starts at Talladega. Lepage doesn’t have a Cup start in 2007.
36 Jeremy Mayfield finished fourth in April 2005, his best result in 24 Talladega starts. Mayfield has qualified for only two starts this season, both on the short tracks of Bristol and Martinsville.
37 John Andretti has scored four of his 37 career top-10s at Talladega, including his first in 1996 driving the 37 car. Andretti has made only one start this season.
38 David Gilliland earned his first career pole at Talladega this past October and finished 15th in his first start there. Gilliland started from the pole this year at Daytona and finished eighth on the superspeedway.
40 David Stremme finished 34th and 33rd with a crash in his two Talladega starts as a rookie last year. Stremme opened the season with an 11th-place run at Daytona and posted his first career top-10 with a 10th-place showing at Texas.
41 Reed Sorenson failed to finish in either of his first two Talladega starts with a crash and engine failure hampering his rookie efforts last year. Sorenson opened the year by finishing 13th at Daytona and has a season-best ninth at Atlanta.
42 Juan Montoya finish third this past October in an ARCA race at Talladega, his first in a stock car. Montoya has one top-five and two top-10s in his rookie season in Cup.
43 Bobby Labonte won his only Talladega race from the pole in April 1998, and is the last driver to win from the inside of front row. Labonte finished eighth at Phoenix, his best of the season.
44 Dale Jarrett is the last driver to win at Talladega in something other than a Chevrolet. Jarrett won in October 1998 and again in October 2005, his last Cup victory. Jarrett is the only Toyota to compete in all eight races this season, but has needed the past champion's provisional five times.
45 Kyle Petty has 19 top-10s at Talladega, more than any other track. Petty has only one top-20 finish this season.48Jimmie Johnson has five DNFs in 10 Talladega starts, but won there last April. Johnson has three victories this season and is fourth in points.
49 Mike Bliss has one top-10 in five career starts at Talladega. Bliss has made four starts this year, with a season-best 17th at Bristol.
55 Michael Waltrip has one win at Talladega, and in 42 starts has a near identical 19.4 average start and 19.3 average finish. Waltrip has failed to qualify in seven consecutive races this season.
60 Boris Said started 12th but crashed in his only Talladega start, in April 2005. Said finished 14th at Daytona, his only start this year.
66 Jeff Green finished 14th and seventh in his two starts at Talladega last year, his first in the No. 66. Green has two sixth-place finishes this season, at Bristol and Phoenix.
70 Johnny Sauter has finished 14th and 16th in his only two Talladega starts, in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Sauter finished ninth at Phoenix, his first top-10 of the season and second of his career.
78 Kenny Wallace finished second at Talladega in October 2000, his only top-10 that season in 34 starts. Wallace has made four starts this season, with two DNFs.
83 Brian Vickers won his first career race at Talladega this past October, which also was his second consecutive top-five and third consecutive top-10. Vickers gave Toyota its only top-10 finish of the season with a 10th at California, but he has qualified for only four races.
84 A.J. Allmendinger has only one career start at Talladega, finishing fifth last year in a Craftsman Truck Series race. Allmendinger has qualified for just two races this season on the short tracks of Bristol and Martinsville.
88 Ricky Rudd has made 58 starts at Talladega, more than any current driver. Rudd’s best finish this season is 13th at Martinsville. He hasn’t finished better than 26 in any other race.
96 Tony Raines has a 21.2 average finish in five starts at Talladega. Raines is 21st in driver points this season.
99 Carl Edwards has three consecutive top-10 finishes at Talladega. Edwards have finished 12th or better in five of the past six races this season.