NASCAR Cup Series | |
---|---|
Venue | Talladega Superspeedway |
Location | Talladega, Alabama, United States |
Corporate sponsor | YellaWood [1] |
First race | 1969 |
Distance | 500.08 miles (804.801 km) |
Laps | 188 Stages 1/2: 60 each Final stage: 68 |
Previous names | Talladega 500 (1969–1987) Talladega DieHard 500 (1988–1989) DieHard 500 (1990–1997) Winston 500 (1998–2000) EA Sports 500 (2001–2004) UAW-Ford 500 (2005–2007) AMP Energy 500 (2008–2009) AMP Energy Juice 500 (2010) Good Sam Club 500 (2011) Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 (2012) Camping World RV Sales 500 (2013) GEICO 500 (2014) [2] CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega (2015) Hellmann's 500 (2016) Alabama 500 (2017) 1000Bulbs.com 500 (2018–2019) |
Most wins (driver) | Dale Earnhardt (7) |
Most wins (team) | Richard Childress Racing (8) |
Most wins (manufacturer) | Chevrolet (22) |
Circuit information | |
Surface | Asphalt |
Length | 2.66 mi (4.28 km) |
Turns | 4 |
The YellaWood 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, hosting an event in the NASCAR playoffs. The race is one of four NASCAR Cup Series races currently run with tapered spacers, the others being the GEICO 500 in May, the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and the Daytona 500. Through 1996, this race was normally held in early August or late July. In 1997, it was moved to early October due to the uncomfortably hot summer temperatures, and sometimes unpredictable summertime thunderstorms in the Alabama area. In 2009, the race moved again, this time to November 1 as part of a realignment agreement with Atlanta and Fontana (where Fontana earned a race in the Chase and Atlanta gained the Labor Day weekend race).
In 1998, the name of the race was swapped with that of the Talladega spring race. The fall race became known as the Winston 500 for three years to promote the Winston No Bull 5 program.
This race has been on average the most consistently competitive in NASCAR history. The race has broken 40 official lead changes in 1971, 1973, 1975–1978, 1983–1984, 1989, 2000, every year in the period spanning 2003–2013, and once again in 2019-20. In 13 of these, the race exceeded 60 lead changes, most recently in 2012 with 65, and in 2010 the race reached 87 lead changes, one short of the motorsports record set in April. Additionally, the 2000 running of the race is especially notable for being the final career victory for Dale Earnhardt, charging from 18th to the lead in the final 6 laps of the race.
# of wins | Driver | Years won |
---|---|---|
7 | Dale Earnhardt | 1983–1984, 1990–1991, 1993, 1999–2000 |
3 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 2001–2002, 2004 |
2 | Darrell Waltrip | 1979, 1982 |
Terry Labonte | 1989, 1997 | |
Jeff Gordon | 1996, 2007 | |
Dale Jarrett | 1998, 2005 | |
Jamie McMurray | 2009, 2013 | |
Clint Bowyer | 2010–2011 | |
Brad Keselowski | 2014, 2017 | |
Joey Logano | 2015–2016 | |
Ryan Blaney | 2019, 2023 |
# of wins | Team | Years won |
---|---|---|
8 | Richard Childress Racing | 1984, 1990–1991, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2010–2011 |
6 | Hendrick Motorsports | 1988, 1996–1997, 2006–2007, 2022 |
Team Penske | 2014–2017, 2019, 2023 | |
4 | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | 2001–2004 |
3 | Junior Johnson & Associates | 1982, 1989, 1994 |
2 | Petty Enterprises | 1970, 1974 |
Bud Moore Engineering | 1975, 1983 | |
Ranier-Lundy | 1978, 1985 | |
Morgan-McClure Motorsports | 1992, 1995 | |
Robert Yates Racing | 1998, 2005 | |
Roush Fenway Racing | 2009, 2012 | |
Joe Gibbs Racing | 2008, 2020 |
# of wins | Manufacturer | Years won |
---|---|---|
22 | Chevrolet | 1977, 1984, 1988, 1990–1993, 1995–1997, 1999–2004, 2006–2007, 2010–2011, 2013, 2022 |
17 | Ford | 1975, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1998, 2005, 2009, 2012, 2014–2019, 2023 |
3 | Dodge | 1969, 1974, 1976 |
Mercury | 1971–1972, 1980 | |
Buick | 1981–1982, 1986 | |
Toyota | 2008, 2020–2021 | |
2 | Plymouth | 1970, 1973 |
Oldsmobile | 1978–1979 |
The race is famous for the high number of dark horses and first-time winners in its history — in the race's first 40 years seven drivers posted their first career win; notable dark horses to win include James Hylton, Dave Marcis, Jimmy Spencer, Jamie McMurray and Bubba Wallace.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt was an American professional stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series, most notably driving the No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. His aggressive driving style earned him the nicknames "the Intimidator", "the Man in Black" and "Ironhead"; after his son Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined the Cup Series circuit in 1999, Earnhardt was generally known by the retronyms Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Sr. He is regarded as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history and named as one of the NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers class in 1998.
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