85°
Date: Saturday, May 4
Start Time: 3 p.m. ET
Site: Talladega Superspeedway -- Talladega, Ala.
Track: 2.66-mile oval
Laps: 117
Miles: 311.22
Capacity: 108,000 (Grandstand Seating)
Total purse:
Payouts:
Year: 22nd
On TV: ESPN
Announcers:
On Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio
Race record: Mark Martin, 1997 (168.937 mph)
Qualifying record: Joe Nemechek, 1997 (193.517 mph)
2012 Finish
Defending champion: Joey Logano
Runner up: Kyle Busch
Pole winner: None due to inclement weather (Elliott Sadler awarded pole)
Top 10:
1. Joey Logano (Start: 4)
2. Kyle Busch (12)
3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2)
4. Cole Whitt (11)
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (33)
6. Kurt Busch (31)
7. James Buescher (7)
8. Justin Allgaier (13)
9. Kenny Wallace (20)
10. Elliott Sadler (1)
Average speed: 136.258 mph
Time of race: 2 hrs., 22 mins., 54 secs.
Margin of victory: 0.034 secs.
Caution flags: 7 for 27 laps
Lead changes: 37 among 18 drivers
Past winners
2012 Joey Logano, Toyota, 136.258 mph
2011 Kyle Busch, Toyota, 126.618 mph
2010 Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 157.630 mph
2009 David Ragan, Ford, 149.004 mph
2008 Tony Stewart, Toyota, 133.111 mph
2007 Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 133.216 mph
2006 Martin Truex Jr, Chevrolet, 149.785 mph
2005 Martin Truex Jr, Chevrolet, 122.117 mph
2004 Martin Truex Jr, Chevrolet, 136.763 mph
2003 Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, 141.768 mph
2002 Jason Keller, Ford, 157.691 mph
2001 Mike McLaughlin, Pontiac, 131.258 mph
2000 Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 153.859 mph
1999 Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 150.793 mph
1998 Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 118.196 mph
1997 Mark Martin, Ford, 168.937 mph
1996 Greg Sacks, Chevrolet, 139.438 mph
1995 Chad Little, Ford, 122.904 mph
1994 Ken Schrader, Chevrolet, 167.473 mph
1993 Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 146.801 mph
1992 Ernie Irvan, Chevrolet, 158.359 mph
Last race
Race: ToyotaCare 250 (April 26)
Site: Richmond International Raceway -- Richmond, Va.
Miles: 187.5
Laps: 250
Finish line order: Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, Regan Smith
Time of Race: 2 hrs., 14 mins., 18 secs.
Average speed: 83.768 mph
Margin of victory: 0.718 secs.
Caution flags: 8 for 57 laps
Lead changes: 11 among 5 drivers
Lap leaders: B. Keselowski 1-2; K. Busch 3-4; S. Hornish Jr. 5-87; K. Harvick B. Keselowski 1-2; K. Busch 3-4; S. Hornish Jr. 5-87; K. Harvick 88; E. Sadler 89-106; K. Harvick 107-157; B. Keselowski 158-169; K. Harvick 170-209; B. Keselowski 210-220; K. Harvick 221-224; K. Busch 225-240; B. Keselowski 241-250.
Entry list
#00 David Green (Owensboro, KY) Toyota/TBA
#01 Mike Wallace (St. Louis, MO) Chevrolet/TBA
#1 Kurt Busch (Las Vegas, NV) Chevrolet/Phoenix Construction
#2 Brian Scott (Boise, ID) Chevrolet/Armour
#3 Austin Dillon (Welcome, NC) Chevrolet/AdvoCare
#4 Landon Cassill (Fairfax, IA) Chevrolet/Flexseal
#5 Kasey Kahne (Enumclaw, WA) Chevrolet/Great Clips
#6 Trevor Bayne (Knoxville, TN) Ford/Cargill/Blackwell Angus
#7 Regan Smith (Cato, NY) Chevrolet/taxslayer.com
#10 Jeff Green (Owensboro, KY) Toyota/TriStar Motorsports
#11 Elliott Sadler (Emporia, VA) Toyota/One Main Financial
#12 Sam Hornish Jr. (Defiance, OH) Ford/Wurth
#14 Eric McClure (Chilhowie, VA) Toyota/Hefty/Reynolds Wrap
#15 Stanton Barrett (Bishop, CA) Ford/Rick Ware Racing
#19 Mike Bliss (Milwaukie, OR) Toyota/TriStar Motorsports
#20 Brian Vickers (Thomasville, NC) Toyota/Dollar General
#22 * Joey Logano (Middletown, CT) Ford/Discount Tire
#23 Robert Richardson Jr. (McKinney, TX) Chevrolet/North Texas Pipe
#24 Jason White (Richmond, VA) Toyota/JW Demolition
#25 John Wes Townley (Watkinsville, GA) Toyota/Zaxby
#30 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Brasilia, Brazil) Chevrolet/Worx
#31 Justin Allgaier (Riverton, IL) Chevrolet/Brandt
#32 Kyle Larson (Elk Grove, CA) Chevrolet/Cessna
#33 Ty Dillon (Welcome, NC) Chevrolet/WESCO
#34 Danica Patrick (Roscoe, IL) Chevrolet/Accudoc Sol./GoDaddy
#40 Josh Wise (Riverside, CA) Chevrolet/Curtis Key Plumbing
#43 Reed Sorenson (Peachtree City, GA) Ford/Pilot Travel Centers/Flying J
#44 Hal Martin (Galliano, LA) Toyota/American Custom Yachts
#51 Jeremy Clements (Spartanburg, SC) Chevrolet/TBA
#52 Donnie Neuenberger (Brandywine, MD) Chevrolet/Eagle
#54 Joey Coulter (Miami Springs, FL) Toyota/Monster Energy
#55 Jamie Dick (Albuquerque, NM) Chevrolet/Viva Auto Group
#60 Travis Pastrana (Annapolis, MD) Ford/Roush Fenway Racing
#70 Johanna Long (Pensacola, FL) Chevrolet/Foretravel
#74 Mike Harmon (Birmingport, AL) Dodge/Stone Bridge Construction
#77 Parker Kligerman (Westport, CT) Toyota/Kyle Busch Motorsports
#79 Jeffrey Earnhardt (Mooresville, NC) Ford/Fast Wax
#85 Bobby Gerhart (Lebanon, PA) Chevrolet/Lucas Oil
#87 Joe Nemechek (Lakeland, FL) Toyota/AM FM Energy Wood & Pellet
#89 Morgan Shepherd (Ferguson, NC) Dodge/TBA
#92 Dexter Stacey (Kahnawake, Canada) Ford/Maddie's Place
#99 Alex Bowman (Tucson, AZ) Toyota/TBA
Leading contenders
| Name | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joey Logano | 3 | 2 | 2 | Won | |||||
| Kurt Busch | 6 | ||||||||
| Justin Allgaier | 32 | 15 | 7 | 8 | |||||
| Elliott Sadler | 5 | 10 | |||||||
| Sam Hornish Jr. | 13 | 12 | |||||||
| Austin Dillon | 17 | ||||||||
| Brian Scott | 10 | 11 | 36 | ||||||
| Kasey Kahne | 38 | 31 | 21 | ||||||
| Trevor Bayne | 13 | 6 | |||||||
| Brian Vickers | 4 | 20 | 9 | ||||||
| Regan Smith | 37 | 23 |
Notes
There have been 21 Nationwide races held at Talladega. The series has competed there once each year since 1992. Ernie Irvan won the inaugural race at this track in '92.
Martin Truex Jr. holds the record for most Nationwide wins at Talladega with three. Truex's victories there came consecutively from 2004-06. Joe Nemechek is the only other driver with multiple wins at this track. Nemechek won there in 1998 and 2000.
Joey Logano is the defending race winner. Logano edged Kyle Busch to the finish line by just 0.034 seconds. He made a sling-shot pass on Busch for the lead as they were approaching the line. The race, though, was marred by a vicious 10-car accident that occurred along the backstretch after the first of two green-white-checkered finish attempts. Eric McClure suffered a concussion and internal bruises when he slammed head on into the inside retaining wall at a high-rate of speed. The multi-car wreck occurred when Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski got turned around in a tight pack of cars.
Just two Nationwide races at Talladega have been won from the pole position: Nemechek (1998) and Tony Stewart (2008).
Since NASCAR began using electronic timing and scoring in 1993, the closest margin of victory in a Nationwide race at Talladega occurred on April 24, 1999 when Terry Labonte beat Nemechek to the finish line by only 0.002 seconds.
Greg Sacks and David Ragan are those drivers who scored their first career Nationwide wins at Talladega. Sacks' first victory in the series came there on July 27, 1996. Ragan posted his first win at this track on April 25, 2009.
The next race is the May 10 VFW Sports Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway. Joey Logano won last year's race there.
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