Tickets Still Available to See Six-Time Talladega Superspeedway Winner on Sunday
TALLADEGA, AL – Sunday’s GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway will be an emotional one for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his loyal race fans.
Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, will be making his final start in the classic spring event when the cars roll of the grid at 1 p.m. CDT on Sunday.
With only the Sunday’s GEICO 500 and October’s Alabama 500 remaining, Earnhardt Jr. knows his time is running out to collect his seventh career win at the 2.66-mile facility, which would place him in sole possession of second-place on the all-time wins list at NASCAR’s Most Competitive Track.
“I’ve always loved racing at Talladega,” Earnhardt Jr. said on Friday. “We have a ton of fans in this area. My dad won a lot of races here. We’ve won some races here, including four-in-a-row at one point, which was exciting. It’s a unique racing experience you can’t get anywhere else.”
One of the most successful drivers in Talladega Superspeedway history, his six Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victories at NASCAR’s Biggest and Baddest track tie him for second all-time, matching former teammate Jeff Gordon and trailing only his dad, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Sr., who posted 10 career wins at the famed track. Earnhardt Jr. is the winningest active driver in the garage at Talladega. He says that’s what makes Talladega different from anywhere else NASCAR competes is the fans, and why they love the 2.66-mile venue.
“They come out here to have fun,” said Earnhardt Jr., who recently announced he will retire at the end of the 2017 season. “I think watching a race at Talladega is so different than anywhere else because at Talladega when you come to watch a race just imagine all you guys in here (in the media center) that you have a favorite driver, right. If you go to a race at Talladega your driver can literally, possibly take the lead at any moment in the race. You can’t say that anywhere else. So, with that comes a responsibility, I think, as a driver to try to make that happen because when you come off Turn 4 you can see a big difference in arms in the air and people excited about what just happened when you take the lead.
“That really… you can’t create that anywhere else. And they want you to keep doing that all day long because they just want to celebrate all day. They want to have fun. When you get up there and mix it up it gives them what they want. So, I think that is why I like running here and definitely makes it a unique experience as opposed to any other track we go to.”
Giving the fans what they want has been something Earnhardt Jr. has been good at accomplishing. He actually won four races in a row at Talladega from the fall of 2001 through the spring 2003 event. His last win came in the 2015 edition of the GEICO 500.
One career accomplishment at Talladega he hasn’t been able to conquer is capturing a pole position, or for that matter, a spot on the front row of any Cup race. His best start at TSS is third on three occasions (including last spring). Earnhardt Jr. was 17th in Friday’s GEICO 500 practice, which was rain shortened. MENCS qualifying will take place on Saturday at 3 p.m. CDT.
Tickets are still available to watch Earnhardt Jr. in his final GEICO 500 start by visiting www.
OTHER STORYLINES FROM FRIDAY
- The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards General Tire 200 was postponed due to inclement weather on Friday. The race will take place on Saturday at 5 p.m. CDT (live on FS2). Anyone who had a Friday General Tire 200 ticket will gain admission to the lower grandstands for Saturday’s tripleheader, which will include the start of the Sparks Energy 300, qualifying for Sunday’s GEICO 500 and the drop of the green flag for the General Tire 200.
- Because all seating is reserved for Saturday’s activities, fans, who had already purchased reserved Saturday tickets to the Sparks Energy 300, will still have the right to those seats. Friday ticket holders will be asked to find other open seating opportunities.
- Clint Bowyer was fastest in the only GEICO 500 practice session with a speed of 196.822 mph. Kevin Harvick was second fastest (196.439 mph), followed by Brad Keselowski (195.808 mph).
- Blake Koch was fastest in the Sparks Energy 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series first practice on Friday with a speed of 192.591 mph. Brendan Gaughan was second at 192.552 mph with Ben Kennedy third (192.351 mph) in the limited session.
About Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway is NASCAR’s Most Competitive Track (record 88 lead changes in 188 laps), most banked (33 degrees), and longest (2.66 miles), as well as the most fun and fan-friendly, offering up hundreds of acres of free camping, amazing kids ticket prices and special offers for military members and college students. The historic venue, built in 1969, is NASCAR’s “Party Capital” thanks to the track’s infamous infield, which features the traditional Saturday Night Concert and the world-renowned Talladega Blvd, home of the “Big One on the Blvd” party. It is the site of the most comfortable seats in motorsports, large video viewing boards lining the frontstretch and endless activities for fans throughout its event weekends. Talladega Superspeedway’s next NASCAR weekend is set for May 5-7 with the Sparks Energy 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race and the GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event, in addition to the General Tire 200 for the ARCA Racing Series. Log on to www.talladegasuperspeedway.
