NASCAR Xfinity Series | |
---|---|
Venue | Talladega Superspeedway |
Location | Talladega, Alabama, United States |
Corporate sponsor | Ag-Pro [1] |
First race | 1992 |
Distance | 300.58 miles (483.74 km) |
Laps | 113 Stages 1/2: 25 each Final stage: 63 |
Previous names | Fram Filter 500K (1992–1994) Humminbird Fishfinder 500K (1995–1996) Birmingham Auto Dealers 500K (1997) Touchstone Energy 300 (1998–2000) Subway 300 (2001) Aaron's 312 at Talladega (2002) Aaron's 312 (2003–2014) Winn-Dixie 300 (2015) Sparks Energy 300 (2016–2018) MoneyLion 300 (2019) [2] Unhinged 300 (2020) [3] |
Most wins (driver) | Martin Truex Jr. (3) |
Most wins (team) | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Joe Gibbs Racing (5) |
Most wins (manufacturer) | Chevrolet (20) |
Circuit information | |
Surface | Asphalt |
Length | 2.66 mi (4.28 km) |
Turns | 4 |
The Ag-Pro 300 is a NASCAR Xfinity Series race held at Talladega Superspeedway, a 300-mile race. It is held annually before the NASCAR Cup Series race, the GEICO 500.
From its inception in 1992 through 1996, the race was held in the summer, as a support race to the Alabama 500. When that race moved to the fall, this race moved to the spring as a support race to the corresponding Cup race.
Large wrecks involving 20 or more cars have occurred a number of times in the history of the event, most notably in 2002, when 31 cars were involved in an accident on the backstretch on lap 14, with 19 of them knocked out at that point. The remainder of the race, following a long red-flag period, had little resemblance to typical restrictor plate racing as only two cars were within short distance at the checkered flag and only three finished on the lead lap.
At its inception, the event debuted as a 117-lap, 500.86-kilometer (311.22 mi) event, the longest race on the Busch Series schedule. Automobile races in the United States measured in kilometers, especially those in NASCAR, are few. Through their history, ARCA races held at the track carried the more attractive and marketable "500" distance, even if it meant "500 kilometers" instead of miles (a custom also used at Riverside and Phoenix). The Busch Series race mimicked that precedent.
In 1998, fans complained about the use of kilometers, which was seen as a European custom. They argued that kilometers are rarely used in the United States, noting that the track measurement itself was still advertised in miles. Management changed the race to a 300-mile (480 km) event from 1998 to 2001. The change shortened the race distance by just four laps.
In 2002, Aaron's assumed title sponsorship and returned the race to a 312-mile (≈500 kilometer) event. The race distance is only coincidental to that of 1992–1997. The distance, advertised unequivocally in miles this time, was set to reflect the sponsor's slogan ("3 ways to buy, 12 reasons to shop at Aaron's"). In 2015, the race returned to 300 miles.
Year | Date | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Race distance | Race time | Average speed (mph) | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laps | Miles (km) | |||||||||
1992 | July 25 | 4 | Ernie Irvan | Ernie Irvan | Chevrolet | 117 | 311.22 (500.86) | 1:57:55 | 158.359 | [8] |
1993 | July 24 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 117 | 311.22 (500.86) | 2:07:12 | 146.801 | [9] |
1994 | July 23 | 52 | Ken Schrader | Ken Schrader | Chevrolet | 117 | 311.22 (500.86) | 1:51:30 | 167.473 | [10] |
1995 | July 22 | 23 | Chad Little | Mark Rypien Motorsports | Ford | 117 | 311.22 (500.86) | 2:31:56 | 122.904 | [11] |
1996 | July 27 | 29 | Greg Sacks | Diamond Ridge Motorsports | Chevrolet | 117 | 311.22 (500.86) | 2:13:55 | 139.438 | [12] |
1997 | April 26 | 60 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 117 | 311.22 (500.86) | 1:50:32 | 168.937 | [13] |
1998 | April 25 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 113 | 300.58 (483.736) | 2:32:35 | 118.196 | [14] |
1999 | April 24 | 33 | Terry Labonte | Labonte Motorsports | Chevrolet | 113 | 300.58 (483.736) | 1:59:36 | 150.793 | [15] |
2000 | April 15 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 113 | 300.58 (483.736) | 1:57:13 | 153.859 | [16] |
2001 | April 21 | 20 | Mike McLaughlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Pontiac | 113 | 300.58 (483.736) | 2:17:24 | 131.258 | [17] |
2002 | April 20 | 57 | Jason Keller | ppc Racing | Ford | 117 | 311.22 (500.86) | 1:58:25 | 157.691 | [18] |
2003 | April 5 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chance 2 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 117 | 311.22 (500.86) | 2:11:43 | 114.768 | [19] |
2004 | April 24 | 8 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chance 2 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 117 | 311.22 (500.86) | 2:16:31 | 136.783 | [20] |
2005 | April 30 | 8 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chance 2 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 120* | 319.2 (513.702) | 2:36:50 | 122.117 | [21] |
2006 | April 29 | 8 | Martin Truex Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 117 | 311.22 (500.86) | 2:04:40 | 149.785 | [22] |
2007 | April 28 | 77 | Bobby Labonte | Kevin Harvick Inc. | Chevrolet | 120* | 319.2 (513.702) | 2:23:46 | 133.216 | [23] |
2008 | April 26 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 117 | 311.22 (500.86) | 2:20:17 | 133.111 | [24] |
2009 | April 25 | 6 | David Ragan | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 120* | 319.2 (513.702) | 2:08:32 | 149.004 | [25] |
2010 | April 25* | 22 | Brad Keselowski | Penske Racing | Dodge | 120* | 319.2 (513.702) | 2:01:30 | 157.63 | [26] |
2011 | April 16 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 124* | 329.84 (530.826) | 2:36:18 | 126.618 | [27] |
2012 | May 5 | 18 | Joey Logano | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 122* | 324.52 (522.264) | 2:22:54 | 136.258 | [28] |
2013 | May 4 | 7 | Regan Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 110* | 292.6 (470.894) | 2:11:44 | 133.269 | [29] |
2014 | May 3 | 11 | Elliott Sadler | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 117 | 311.22 (500.86) | 2:22:18 | 131.224 | [30] |
2015 | May 2 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 113 | 300.58 (483.736) | 2:22:07 | 126.901 | [31] |
2016 | April 30 | 1 | Elliott Sadler* | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 116* | 308.56 (496.579) | 2:19:45 | 132.477 | [32] |
2017 | May 6 | 98 | Aric Almirola | Biagi-DenBeste Racing | Ford | 113 | 300.58 (483.736) | 2:09:41 | 139.068 | [33] |
2018 | April 28 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 115* | 305.9 (492.298) | 2:17:44 | 133.258 | [34] |
2019 | April 27 | 2 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 300.58 (483.736) | 2:22:02 | 126.976 | [35] |
2020 | June 20* | 11 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 300.58 (483.736) | 2:12:22 | 136.249 | [36] |
2021 | April 24 | 10 | Jeb Burton | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 90* | 239.4 (385.276) | 1:43:13 | 139.164 | [37] |
2022 | April 23 | 9 | Noah Gragson | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 124* | 329.84 (530.825) | 2:40:52 | 123.024 | [38] |
2023 | April 22 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 121* | 321.86 (517.982) | 3:00:33 | 106.96 | [39] |
# Wins | Driver | Years won |
---|---|---|
3 | Martin Truex Jr. | 2004-2006 |
2 | Joe Nemechek | 1998, 2000 |
Joey Logano | 2012, 2015 | |
Elliott Sadler | 2014, 2016 | |
Jeb Burton | 2021, 2023 |
# Wins | Team | Years won |
---|---|---|
5 | Dale Earnhardt, Inc./Chance 2 | 1993, 2003-2006 |
Joe Gibbs Racing | 2001, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014 | |
3 | JR Motorsports | 2013, 2016, 2022 |
2 | Roush Fenway Racing | 1997, 2009 |
NEMCO Motorsports | 1998, 2000 | |
Team Penske | 2010, 2015 | |
Kaulig Racing | 2020, 2021 |
# Wins | Make | Years won |
---|---|---|
20 | Chevrolet | 1992–1994, 1996, 1998–2000, 2003–2007, 2013, 2016, 2018–2023 |
6 | Ford | 1995, 1997, 2002, 2009, 2015, 2017 |
4 | Toyota | 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014 |
1 | Pontiac | 2001 |
Dodge | 2010 |
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