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 Jack Link's 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, 2019-20, and once again from 2022-2024. In 13 of these, the race exceeded 60 lead changes, most recently in 2024 with 66, 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 |
---|---|---|
23 | Chevrolet | 1977, 1984, 1988, 1990–1993, 1995–1997, 1999–2004, 2006–2007, 2010–2011, 2013, 2022, 2024 |
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.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and broadcaster. A third-generation driver, he is the son of the late 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative to many former and current drivers in the NASCAR ranks. Since retiring from full-time competition after the 2017 season, he has competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro for his team, JR Motorsports.
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Terrance Lee Labonte, nicknamed "Texas Terry" or "the Iceman", is an American former stock car driver. He raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series. A two-time Cup Series champion in 1984 and 1996 and the 1989 IROC champion, he is the older brother of 2000 Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte, and the father of former Nationwide Series driver Justin Labonte. He also co-owns a Chevrolet dealership in Greensboro, North Carolina with Rick Hendrick. He appeared on the CBS series The Dukes of Hazzard in 1984, where he played an unnamed pit crew member.
Michael Curtis Waltrip is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, racing team owner, amateur ballroom dancing competitor and published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASCAR champion and racing commentator Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip is a two-time winner of the Daytona 500, having won the race in 2001 and 2003. He is also a pre-race analyst for the NASCAR Cup Series and color commentator for the Xfinity Series and the Craftsman Truck Series broadcasts for Fox Sports. He last raced in the 2017 Daytona 500, driving the No. 15 Toyota Camry for Premium Motorsports. All four of his NASCAR Cup Series wins came on superspeedways driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc.
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The Jack Link's 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The race is usually held in April or May. The 1997 event stands as the fastest NASCAR race to date ever run with an average speed of 188.354 miles per hour (303.126 km/h) and was the first race at Talladega Superspeedway that was not interrupted by a caution period.
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The 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 53rd season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 30th modern-era Cup series. It began on February 11, 2001, at Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 23, 2001, at New Hampshire International Speedway. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports was declared as the series champion for the fourth time in seven years.
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, 400-mile (640 km), and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series circuit, the other being the Daytona 500. From its inception in 1959 through 2019, it was traditionally held on or around the United States' Independence Day. In 1998, it became the first stock car race at Daytona to be held at night under-the-lights. In 2020, the race was moved to late August.
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The Big One is a phrase describing any crash usually involving five or more cars in NASCAR, ARCA, and IndyCar racing. It is most commonly used at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, although occasionally seen at other tracks as well, such as Dover Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International.
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The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. It is one of two NASCAR Cup Series races held at Bristol, the other being the Food City 500. From 1978 to 2019, the race has been held in late August, typically on the last weekend of the month, on a Saturday night.
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) is a museum in Mooresville, North Carolina. Formerly a race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and his wife, Teresa Earnhardt, it competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, the highest level of competition for professional stock car racing in the United States, from 1998 to 2009. Earnhardt was a seven-time Winston Cup champion who died in a crash on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Despite his ownership of the DEI racing team, Earnhardt never drove for his team in the Winston Cup; instead, he raced for his long-time mentor and backer Richard Childress at RCR. In the late-2000s, DEI suffered critical financial difficulties after drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip, and sponsors Anheuser-Busch, National Automotive Parts Association and United States Army left the team; DEI consequently merged with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2009, moving their equipment into the latter's shop, while the former's closed down. Chip Ganassi Racing's NASCAR operations was subsequently purchased by Trackhouse Racing Team in 2021.