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Busch Series Notebook
Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, AL (2.66-mile tri-oval)

  • Bud Pole Qualifying: Friday, April 28 (SPEED at 6 p.m. AT)
  • Race: Saturday, April 29 (FOX at 4 p.m. AT)

    Event #: Race #10 of 35. 15th NASCAR Busch Series race at Talladega Superspeedway
    Race Distance: 312 miles, 117 laps
    Track Banking: Corners - 33 degrees Tri-oval - 18 degrees Straights - 2 degrees
    Straights: Backstretch - 4,000 ft. Frontstretch - 4,300 ft.
    2005 Talladega Winner: Martin Truex Jr. (second consecutive Talladega win)

  • 1st Practice Results - click here
  • 2nd Practice Results - click here
  • Final Practice Results - click here
  • Qualifying Order - click here
  • Qualifying Results - click here
  • Point Standings (post-race, unofficial) - click here
  • Race Results (unofficial) - click here

    Truex Makes It Three in a Row at Talladega
    TALLADEGA, AL (2006 April 29) - Martin Truex Jr. showed his championship mettle by holding off a pack of challengers with three laps to go to capture his third consecutive Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway. The two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion – whose No. 8 Chevrolet carried the familiar black paint scheme of Dale Earnhardt on Dale Earnhardt Day – recorded his 13th career victory while becoming the only series driver to win in his first three starts at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Click here for the rest of the story.

    Event Notes
    • 15 NEXTEL CUP SERIES DRIVERS PULL DOUBLE DUTY - In addition to Martin Truex, Jr., 14 other NASCAR NEXTEL CUP Series drivers will pull double duty this weekend by attempting to make the field for the Aaron's 312 NASCAR Busch Series race on Saturday and the Aaron's 499 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race on Sunday, including: Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray, Michael Waltrip, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, Ken Schrader, Scott Riggs, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, J.J. Yeley, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Reed Sorenson and Kyle Busch.
    • IN HONOR OF EARNHARDT - In recognition of Dale Earnhardt Day on Saturday, April 29 and Earnhardt's induction into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on Thursday, April 27 and the seven-time NASCAR champion's unparalleled resume of accomplishments at Talladega, all of the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. cars entered in the Aaron's 312 and Aaron's 499 this weekend will carry special black paint schemes, including the No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet driven by Martin Truex, Jr. in the Aaron's 312. In addition, all Busch Series teams are being asked to carry a Dale Earnhardt Legacy Logo on their cars. Fans are asked to participate from the grandstands, or wherever they are watching the race, by raising three fingers in the air on Lap 3 of Saturday's Aaron's 312 Busch Series race.
    • CHAMP BACK TO DEFEND WIN - Two-time NASCAR Busch Series Champion Truex, Jr. will make his first NASCAR Busch Series start this year since moving full-time to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series to drive the No. 1 car for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Truex, Jr. won in his first Talladega Superspeedway start here in spring 2004, and it followed it up with another win in last year's Aaron's 312, becoming the only NASCAR Busch Series driver to have consecutive wins at Talladega Superspeedway.
    • VARIETY IN VICTORIES - Of the 14 Aaron's 312 NASCAR Busch Series races at Talladega Superspeedway, there have been 12 different winners, with Joe Nemechek and Martin Truex, Jr. as the only repeat winners. Other winners are Ernie Irvan, Dale Earnhardt, Ken Schrader, Chad Little, Greg Sacks, Mark Martin, Terry Labonte, Mike McLaughlin, Jason Keller, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
    • THE FIRST AARON'S 312 - Dale Earnhardt won the pole for the first NASCAR Busch Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, held July 25, 1992, and Ernie Irvan won the event. Eighteen of the 36 drivers who started that race had competed at Talladega Superspeedway prior to that event, including seven prior race winners. Earnhardt, Harry Gant, Darrell Waltrip, Ken Schrader and Bill Elliott had Talladega NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series victories to their credit at that point, and ARCA RE/MAX Series Talladega race winners Tracy Leslie and Red Farmer were also in the field. Irvan posted his first Talladega NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series win the very next day, completing a winning weekend sweep.
    • RAYBESTOS(r) ROOKIE REPORT - A Raybestos(r) Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in the last six Aaron's 312 NASCAR Busch Series races at Talladega. They include Mike Borowski (10th in 2000), Greg Biffle (6th in 2001), Casey Mears (5th in 2002), Coy Gibbs (10th in 2003), Kyle Busch (4th in 2004) and Jon Wood (2nd in 2005). When Wood finished second last year, he matched the best finish for a Raybestos(r) Rookie in the NASCAR Busch Series at Talladega, a mark set by Steve Park in 1997. Park, Busch and now Wood are the only three rookies in the 14 Busch Series races held here that have finished in the top five. The 2005 Aaron's 312 was similar to the 1997 event in another way: Previously, the most to finish inside the top 10 in one race was three in that same 1997 Aaron's 312, including Park, Tim Steele (6th) and Matt Kenseth (7th). In 2005, rookies Wood, Brent Sherman and Kertus Davis posted finishes of second, ninth and tenth, respectively. Clint Bowyer in 2004 and Johnny Sauter in 2002 are the only Raybestos(r) Rookies to win pole positions at Talladega in series history. Both took these Bud Pole Awards from behind the wheel of a Richard Childress Racing car.
    • SPECIAL WIN - Of all the Aaron's 312 champions, 1996 winner Greg Sacks is the only driver to count it as his lone NASCAR Busch Series victory. Ernie Irvan has 3; Dale Earnhardt has 21; Ken Schrader has 2; Chad Little has 6; Mark Martin has 47; Joe Nemechek has 16; Terry Labonte has 11; Mike McLaughlin has 6; Jason Keller has 10; Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has 20 and Martin Truex, Jr. has 12.
    • WALTRIP'S DREAM MACHINE DESIGNED BY CHILD - Six-year old Benee Calderon of Buena Park, California has won the nationwide Aaron's Color your Way to Talladega Sweepstakes. Benee and three of his family members will enjoy an all-expense paid trip to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend to watch as Michael Waltrip takes the wheel of the No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine in the paint scheme designed by the young boy.
    • ALL-TIME CLOSEST MARGIN OF VICTORY - The closest margin of victory that has occurred in any of the four major racing series at Talladega Superspeedway was during the April 24, 1999 Aaron's 312 NASCAR Busch Series race, when Terry Labonte claimed victory over Joe Nemechek by .002 seconds. Speaking of that race, Terry Labonte has never run a full NASCAR Busch Series schedule, but has run partial schedules in the series 11 different seasons and racking up 11 wins in the process. That spectacular finish marked his most recent Busch Series win. He competed in four events the next year (including Talladega where he finished 8th) but has not competed in the series since those four starts in 2000.
    • FRONT ROW JOE - Joe Nemechek is the only driver to have competed in all 14 NASCAR Busch Series events at Talladega Superspeedway, and has set several records here in doing so. They include: Qualifying Record (193.517 mph in 1997), Most Wins (2), Most Top 5's (6), Most Top 10's (7), Most Starts and Most Consecutive Starts (14) and Most Bud Pole Awards (5).
    • GRAND MARSHAL & HONORARY STARTER - Ron "Tater Salad" White from the "Blue Collar Comedy" phenomenon will serve as Grand Marshal for the Aaron's 312. Forty-one-year-old Jim Dibona of Hartville, Ohio will be Saturday's Honorary Starter at the Aaron's 312 Busch Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. Dibona entered Aaron's Win the Weekend of Your Dreams Contest while attending a Hooters Pro Cup race in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.


    Pre-Race Notes & Quotes

    Kyle Busch, No. 5 Lowe's/Spectracide Chevrolet In his young career, Kyle Busch has made two NASCAR Busch Series starts at Talladega Superspeedway, with two very different results. In April of his 2004 rookie season, Busch started 13th and worked his way into a top-five performance, finishing fourth at the 2.66-mile high-banked tri-oval. The tables were turned last season, as he qualified eighth, but posted a disappointing 40th-place run due to a Lap 16 accident.

    Scott Riggs, No. 9 Ragu/Ultimate Chargers Dodge Saturday’s race marks Riggs’ third NASCAR Busch Series start at Talladega Superspeedway. In two races at the track he has an average starting position of 6.5 and an average finish of 21.5. Riggs drove the Ragu/Ultimate Chargers Dodge to a 37th-place finish last weekend at Phoenix after starting 29th and running as high as 11th position. The No. 9 Ragu/Ultimate Chargers Dodge Charger will be pitted by the crew of Riggs’ No. 10 Stanley Tools/Valvoline Dodge Charger this weekend. In Nextel Cup competition Riggs has never qualified outside of the top 10 at Talladega in four starts.

    Clint Bowyer, No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet Bowyer has raced two times at Talladega Superspeedway. In his third start of his NASCAR Busch Series career in 2004, he grabbed the pole, but finished 22nd after he was wrecked by Bobby Hamilton, Jr. with two laps to go. He then started in fifth for the April 2005 event and came home in the 19th spot due to his involvement in three accidents.

    Aaron Fike, No. 43 Curb Records Dodge Hoping to re-create the magic of his season-opening front-row qualifying run at Daytona, and then finishing the job with an uninterrupted run to the checkered flag this time on race day, Aaron Fike and the #43 Curb Records Dodge of the Curb Agajanian Performance Group come to the Talladega Superspeedway 2.66-mile tri-oval for Saturday’s NASCAR Busch Series Aaron’s 312. “The memories of Daytona are fresh on our minds this weekend every way you look at it. We were really strong in qualifying and started on the front row. That was something really special … that kind of result at that place. It was very disappointing what happened to us in the race because we never even got the chance to make it to our first pit stop. It was just a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s what happens in these restrictor-plate races. Hopefully, we can qualify well and then get the job done on Saturday. You really never know what’s going to happen in these races. All we can do is bring our A-game and do everything we can to stay out of trouble. We know we can be as fast as anybody on these big tracks.”

    Todd Kluever, No. 06 "I've never raced at Talladega before, but I've heard a lot about it. I tested a truck there in December of 2004, and tested one of Matt Kenseth's Busch cars in January of 2005. I've had a lot of time on the track, but not with 42 other cars around me. We're taking the same car we raced at Daytona. It finished seventh there so with a little luck we can get out of another restrictor-plate race with a top-10 finish at Talladega. The car will be really good. I was pleased with how it ran at Daytona. We just need to stay out of trouble and finish the race in one piece. We haven't been real lucky the last two weeks with getting caught up in wrecks, so maybe we're due to make it through Talladega without any incidents. A good run at Talladega would really help the 3M team gain some momentum again which we certainly need right now." Kluever is currently 22nd in the Busch Series point standings. The No. 06 team will be taking chassis #RK-331 to Talladega. This is the same car that finished seventh at Daytona in February. This will be Kluever's first start at Talladega, however he tested a truck there in 2004 and a Busch car in 2005.

    IMPORTANT: All information, schedules and/or scheduled events is/are subject to change without notice. Please check with the source to confirm.

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