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

Bud Pole Qualifying: Saturday, April 29 (FX at 1:00 p.m. AT)

Race: Sunday. April 29 - postponed to Monday May 1 due to rain

Race: Monday, May 1 (FX, some FOX stations at 1:00 p.m. AT)

Race #: 9 of 36
Race Distance: 500.08 miles, 188 laps
Length of Front Stretch: 4,300 Feet
Length of Back Stretch: 4,000 Feet
Degree of Banking in Corners: 33 degrees
Degree of Banking on Straights: Tri-Oval 18 degrees; Back Stretch 2 degrees
Last year’s event pole winner: Kevin Harvick 189.804 mph 4-29-05 50.452 seconds
Last year’s event winner: Jeff Gordon 146.904 mph 5-01-05 3 hrs, 30 min, 46 sec
Restrictor Plate qualifying record: Bill Elliott 199.388 mph 5-4-90 48.128 seconds
Restrictor Plate race record: Mark Martin 188.354 mph** 5-10-97 2hrs, 39min, 18sec
Track qualifying record: Bill Elliott 212.809 mph* 4-30-87 44.998 seconds
Track record: Mark Martin 188.354 mph** 5-10-97 2hrs, 39min, 18sec

Event Advance/Track Stats here

Talladega Nuggets here

Leaderboard, Manufacturer & Rookie Standings Through 8 of 36 Races here

1st Practice Results - click here

Final Practice Results - click here

Qualifying Order - click here

Qualifying Results - click here

Starting Lineup - click here

Race Results (unofficial) here

Point Standings (post-race, unofficial) here Johnson Wins Second Plate Race of the 2006 Season
TALLADEGA, ALA. (2006 May 1) -- It was a typical Talladega shootout. And Jimmie Johnson won the Aarons 499 in a nine-lap dash that treated a huge Monday crowd to what NASCAR fans have come to expect at the fast, 2.66-mile super speedway. Click here for the rest of the story.

Visit Victory Lane - click here

Qualifying Notes - April 29, 2006

• Elliott Sadler won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Bud Pole for the Aaron’s 499, lapping Talladega Superspeedway in 50.798 seconds at 188.511 mph. Bill Elliott holds the track-qualifying record of 44.998 seconds, 212.809 mph, set April 30, 1987 – prior to the advent of restrictor-plate racing. Elliott also holds the Talladega restrictor-plate record of 48.128 seconds, 199.388 mph, set May 4, 1990.
• This is Sadler’s seventh career Bud Pole in 258 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races.
• This is his first Bud Pole and third top-10 start in 2006. He became the seventh different Bud Pole winner this season.
• This is Sadler’s third Bud Pole and sixth top-10 start in 14 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, all in the past seven races here.
• Tony Stewart posted the second-quickest qualifying lap of 51.029 seconds, 187.658 mph – and will join Sadler on the front row for the Aaron’s 499. It is his fifth top-10 start in 2006, all third or better. Stewart’s career-best Talladega start is his seventh top-10 start in 15 races here.
• This is the second Bud Pole for Ford in 2006. Chevrolet and Dodge each have three Bud Poles this season. Qualifying was canceled at Bristol.
• Carl Edwards (third) posted his fourth top-10 start in 2006 – all top-fives. He has qualified in the top-10 in two of his four Talladega races.
• Dale Jarrett (fourth) posted his first start better than 15th this season. Jarrett scored his 17th top-10 start in 39 races at Talladega, including five of the past six.
• Kurt Busch (fifth) posted his eighth straight top-10 start of 2006. His only non-top 10 start came in the Daytona 500, when he started 13th. Busch posted his third top- 10 start in 11 races at Talladega.
• Kirk Shelmerdine (22nd), who posted his career-best finish in the Daytona 500 this past February, posted his career-best start. His best start in his previous 24 races was 32nd in his career-first start set at Texas World Speedway in June 1981.
• Hermie Sadler (24th) posted his best start since he started 21st in the 2005 Pepsi 500 at Daytona. This will be his 55th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race.
• Six drivers failed to qualify for the Aaron’s 499: Morgan Shepherd, Stanton Barrett, Mike Wallace, Chad Blount, Brent Sherman, and Kenny Wallace.

Who's Hot

• Matt Kenseth took over the point lead after Phoenix. After eight races one year ago, he ranked 28th in the point standings.
• Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne have each won two races in 2006, the most among all drivers.
• Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne are the only drivers to score six top-10 finishes in the first eight races in 2006.
• Mark Martin is the only driver to score top-15 finishes in each of the eight races in 2006.
• Mark Martin has scored 12 straight top-15 finishes; extending a streak that began at Atlanta last October.
• Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne have each scored top-15 finishes in seven of the eight races in 2006.
• Tony Stewart is the only driver to lead at least one lap in all eight races this season.
• Tony Stewart has moved from 22nd to fifth in the point standings since California.
• Kevin Harvick has moved from 23rd to eighth in the point standings in the last four races. Harvick has scored top-10 finishes in his last four races.

Pre-Race Notes & Quotes

Scott Riggs, Stanley Tools/Valvoline Dodge The No. 10 will feature a special Stanley FatMax Xtreme Tools paint scheme for the Talladega race to highlight Stanley’s new line of 20 FatMax Xtreme Tools that debuts this month. In four starts in Nextel Cup competition Riggs has never qualified outside of the top 10 at Talladega. Riggs will also compete in Saturday’s NBS race at Talladega, driving the No. 9 Ragu Dodge Charger which will be pitted by the crew of Riggs’ No. 10 Stanley Tools/Valvoline Dodge. Sunday’s race marks Riggs’ fifth Cup Series start at Talladega Superspeedway. In two races at the track he has an average starting position of 5.0 and an average finish of 27th.

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet In an effort to eliminate the dangerous but common tactic of bump drafting at restrictor- plate tracks, NASCAR is requiring each team to use “softer bumpers” during this weekend’s event. Gordon, the two-time defending champion of the Spring event at Talladega, believes drafting techniques he learned early in his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup career will prove beneficial. "I like this rule because it’s going to take a lot of the bump drafting out of play,” Gordon said. “I think there is still going to be some bump drafting – especially late in the race. But I think it will make guys have to think a little bit more about how they pass. “That goes back to the type of drafting I learned early on. We used the air to push the cars around instead of the bumpers. I like that type of drafting, and I’m curious to see how we’ll manage it.” Gordon has won four of the past eight restrictor-plate races, including the 2005 Daytona 500. He now has 10 career wins, and can tie the elder Earnhardt for most restrictor-plate victories if his specially painted No. 24 DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet is the first to cross the finish line on Sunday. “Earnhardt Senior was the man when it came to these types of races,” Gordon said. “I got ‘schooled’ by him many times in the draft, but so did a lot of drivers. Some of the moves he made were incredible. “While it was frustrating at times, I learned a lot just by watching him.” Lessons that could lead to Gordon’s first victory of the 2006 campaign.

Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet The Aaron's 499 will mark Stewart's 257th career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start and his 15th career Nextel Cup start at Talladega. Stewart has finished second at Talladega five times (Fall 2005, Spring 2005, Fall 2002, Spring 2001 and Fall 2001). Of the 521 laps Stewart has led in the 29 point-paying restrictor plate races he has run, 126 have been at Talladega (24 percent). In his Nextel Cup career, Stewart has one point-paying victory in a restrictor plate event - last year's race at Daytona in July where Stewart won the pole and led all but nine of the race's 160 laps. Stewart has three other Nextel Cup wins in non-point restrictor plate races. All have been at Daytona, with the most recent non-point victory coming in last year's Gatorade Duel. His two other wins were back-to-back triumphs in the Budweiser Shootout (2001 and 2002).

Dave Blaney, No. 22 Caterpillar Chevrolet “This is a race we need to finish. Whatever else happens, we need to finish this race and stay in the top 35 in points and hopefully work to get ourselves in a more comfortable position points-wise. Last week was a good week for us; we didn’t finish as high as we should have based on how well we ran for a while, but we left there upbeat and definitely feeling better about what we’re capable of then we had in a while. Of course, this being a restrictor plate race means it’s a whole different ball game than last weekend. We ran pretty well in Daytona, and we feel good about this race. It’s just a matter of staying out of the big wreck and finishing the race. Usually, if you can do that, then you’ll have a decent day. It’s a lot easier said than done at Talladega, but obviously that’s our goal.”

Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet

Other than the fact that both are restrictor plate tracks, are there any similarities between Talladega and Daytona? “To me, I think that’s about it. It seems like if your car handles good at Daytona, you can drive your way back up through there, whether it be three-wide on the outside or down on the bottom. At Talladega, it isn’t quite so much. If you’re three-wide, up on the outside, you better have a pretty good train of cars with you to make it work up there. However it stacks up, it’s still drafting so, for me, restrictor plate racing is a lot of fun.”

As a young guy without a lot of experience at restrictor plate races, do you really go to school while you’re driving, watching what other guys are doing in certain situations? “Absolutely. That’s what I did at Daytona. I watched a lot of them, but set-up and handling goes a lot further at Daytona. I watched Tony Stewart drive right back up through them – it didn’t matter if it was on the top or the bottom, and you fight tight off of turns 2 and 4. That tightness off the corners isn’t so much of a factor at Talladega so it’s going to be a lot different. I’m definitely going to have to go to school and learn from some of the veterans to be there at the end.”

What are your thoughts about NASCAR’s mandate, essentially softening the front bumpers on the Cup cars at restrictor plate tracks? “I’m glad that they are trying something. I think it’s a step in the right direction but you’re probably just going to see bashed up bumpers now. I think it will make for a better race and the wrecks that you see where they just hit them so hard it wrecks them, I don’t think you’ll see that so much anymore. If they don’t [back off], they’re going to be wishing that they would have at the end of the race. As I learned in Daytona, you’ve got to be there at the end with all the fenders on it to be able to race for a win. We were there at the end and had all the fenders on it and were able to get up to sixth place. That was a big part of it and it’s going to be a bigger part of it now.”

Michael Waltrip, No. 55 Napa Dodge Since only the top-35 owners are guaranteed starting spots, Waltrip will have to qualify his way into the field. “The reality is, this year has been tougher than I thought it would be,” said Waltrip. ”I never dreamed we would be outside the top-35 but we are, so we need to really focus on fixing that. We understood that this year would be a bit of a challenge without factory support. We thought we could survive that and build and be ready for our Toyota venture in 2007. Talladega is a big part of that. If we can make the race, then we can start patching up what’s been going wrong and hopefully get better going forward.” Michael Waltrip will attempt to make his 41st start at Talladega Superspeedway. That places him fourth among full-time active drivers with starts at the 2.66-mile track. Kyle Petty leads all full-time active drivers with 48 starts. Waltrip will celebrate his 43rd birthday on Sunday. Waltrip’s birthday wish – a starting spot for the Aaron’s 499. “The race is on my birthday, man,” said Waltrip. “I can’t miss the race.” The last time Waltrip missed a NASCAR Cup race was in1998 at Phoenix International Raceway. He has missed only that one race in his last 571 starts.

Jeff Green, No. 66 Best Buy Haas CNC Racing Cup Chevrolet In nine Nextel Cup Series races at Talladega Superspeedway, Jeff Green’s best starting spot is a 13th-place qualifying effort that came in the Sept., 2003, event, when Green drove for Petty Enterprises. Green’s best finish in a Cup race at Talladega was a fifth-place finish in Oct., 2002, while driving for Richard Childress Racing.

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Reese's Caramel Cup Chevrolet "I have always really liked the bigger tracks. It's way more mental than physical. You're worn out by the end of the race. You spend a lot of time looking in the mirrors anticipating the other guy's next move. You have to make sure you are in the right spot, but it's hard to know when that is and when not to make the move. There is so much shuffling around that goes on, just like Daytona, but probably even more at Talladega." Harvick has five top-10 finishes in the last six races at Talladega Superspeedway including starting from the pole position in last year's Aaron's 499.

Scott Wimmer, No. 4 Aero Exhaust Chevrolet Scott Wimmer will be attempting to qualify for his 89th NASCAR Nextel Cup race on April 30, 2006 at Talladega Superspeedway. Wimmer will be attempting to start in his sixth (6) NASCAR Nextel Cup event Talladega. His career-best start at the 2.66-mile tri-oval speedway is 17th (Oct. 2005) and his best finish is 17th (2 times; Oct. 2005, Oct. 2002). Wimmer will have to qualify based on time for the Aaron's 499, as Morgan-McClure Motorsports is 38th in owner's points.

Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger Sunday’s race will be Mayfield’s 24th at Talladega. Last spring he started 22nd and finished fourth. In 23 races at Talladega, Mayfield has two top-five and two top-10 finishes. He has led 44 laps and collected $1,229,498. Mayfield’s best finish at the 2.66-mile track came in last year’s spring race – 4th. Mayfield, Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek lead all active drivers in starts from the Bud Pole at Talladega with three each. Mayfield has led eight Talladega events for a total of 44 laps.

Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger Sunday’s race marks Kasey Kahne’s fifth start at Talladega Superspeedway. Last spring, he started 19th and finished 24th at the 2.66-mile track. His best start at Talladega – 19th -- came in the spring race last year. He finished 13th in the fall, his best Talladega finish. He has competed in nine restrictor-plate races in his career and has yet to post a top-10 finish. “Last year going into Talladega, we had two top-five and two top-10 finishes and were outside the top 20 in the point standings. This is a much better start, but there’s plenty of work ahead. This weekend is a big test for the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger team. Our restrictor-plate program continues to improve. We’re confident we have the equipment to be competitive. At Talladega, it’s all about getting hooked up with the right drafting partners. That’s been a problem for me. For some reason, when I pull out of line to pass, I don’t have a lot of cars following to provide that push you have to have to move up.”

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet Dale Jr. has compiled quite a track record at Talladega Superspeedway, including five victories and two second-place finishes in only 12 starts. A few more notes on Junior’s success at the 2.66-mile Alabama superspeedway:

His five victories at Talladega are the most of any active driver. He ranks second on the track’s all-time wins chart behind his father, Dale Earnhardt, who won 10 times in 44 starts.

One of only four drivers with six or more starts who have posted top-five finishes in at least half of their races (Dale Jr. has 7 top-fives in 12 starts). The others are Dale Earnhardt (23/44), Tony Stewart (7/14) and Bobby Isaac (4/8).

Dale Jr.’s four consecutive victories from Oct. 21, 2001 to April 6, 2003, is the most by any driver at Talladega.

Finished in the top-10 in eight of his last 10 races.

Has led laps in 10 of his 12 career races for 492 laps.

One of only five drivers to post a season-sweep at Talladega: Dale Jr. (2002), Dale Earnhardt (1990, 1999), Darrell Waltrip (1982), Buddy Baker (1975) and Pete Hamilton (1970).

Has an average finish of 10.66 in 12 races at Talladega, best among all active drivers.

Has helped Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) score victories in six of the last nine races at Talladega (five by Dale Jr. and two by Michael Waltrip).

Jamie McMurray, No. 26 IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford "I'm looking forward to heading to Talladega this weekend. We are taking our Daytona car which was just awesome during the 500 weekend. We qualified sixth and were able to run in the top-five and top-ten for much of the race. We were running eighth with just four laps to go when we were caught up in a crash that ended our day, but the car was really good up until then." In his seven Cup starts at the Talladega Superspeedway, Jamie McMurray has one top-five and two top-ten finishes. McMurray will be racing chassis number RK-192 this weekend, which raced in Daytona earlier this year. McMurray will be back in the blue and yellow colors of the No. 26 IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford Fusion at Talladega.

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