April 17, 2011
- Johnson wins at Talladega: #48-Jimmie Johnson won the Aaron’s 499 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway for his 1st win of 2011, and the 54th of his career.
Johnson, #33-Bowyer, and #24-Gordon came across the finish line 3 wide, with Johnson .002 seconds ahead of Bowyer and .039 second ahead of Gordon.
The finish ties Ricky Craven’s 2003 Darlington win as the closest finish since electronic timing was implemented.
#88-Earnhardt, Jr. finished 4th, #29-Harvick, #99-Edwards, #16-Biffle, #5-Martin, #34-Gilliland, and #20-Logano.
There were 88 lead changes among 26 drivers; 6 cautions for 24 yellow flag laps.
The attendance is listed as 115,000, down from last years 123,500.
Scheduled Race Re-Air: SPEED, Wednesday, April 20 at 12:00pm/et
See race results, awards, laps led and more on Jayski’s Talladega Race Results/Awards page.
(4-17-2011) - Race Fast Facts – Talladega:
Jimmie Johnson won the 42nd Annual Aaron’s 499 , his 54th victory in 335 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2011.
This is his second victory and ninth top-10 finish in 19 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Clint Bowyer (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in 11 races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2011.
Jeff Gordon (third) posted his 18th top-10 finish in 37 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Andy Lally (19th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Carl Edwards leads the point standings by 5 points over Jimmie Johnson.
The margin of victory of 0.002 ties the closest margin of victory (Darlington – 3/16/2003) since the advent of electronic scoring in 1993.
The 88 lead changes ties the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series all-time record of lead changes set at Talladega (4/25/2010).
(NASCAR Statistics)(4-17-2011) - 2011 Sprint Cup Driver Championship Points Standings:
[after Talladega, race 8 of 36]:
rank, car#, driver, points, behind
1) #99-Carl Edwards [1 win], 295
2) #48-Jimmie Johnson [1 win], 290, -5
3) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr., 276, -19
4) #29-Kevin Harvick [2 wins], 268, -27
5) #22-Kurt Busch, 267, -28
6) #18-Kyle Busch [1 win], 257, -38
7) #39-Ryan Newman, 253, -42
8) #17-Matt Kenseth [1 win], 252, -43
9) #42-Juan Montoya, 246, -49
10) #33-Clint Bowyer, 245, -50
11) #27-Paul Menard, 242, -53
12) #14-Tony Stewart, 240, -55
See drivers championship points standings on Jayski’s Drivers Points Standings page.(4-17-2011) - Top-35 in Owner Points: going to Richmond (after 8 races):
There were no changes to the top 35, but the #13 team is now just 2 points ahead of #71.
31) #78-Smith/FRR, 142, +28
32) #21-Bayne/Wood Brothers, 140, +26
33) #7-RGordon/RGM, 128, +14
34) #32-Schrader/FAS Lane, 120, +6
35) #13-Mears/Germain, 116, 2 points ahead of 36th
these teams / drivers will need to qualify by speed:
36) #71-Lally/TRG, 114, -2 out of top 35
37) #36-Blaney/TBR, 105, -11
38) #37-Raines/Front Row, 87, -19
39) #38-Kvapil/Front Row, 77, -29
For the owner points standings, see my Owners Points Standings page.(4-17-2011) - Gordon pole extends streak: #24-Jeff Gordon won the pole for the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, his 70th career pole, 3rd all time. It is the 19th straight season [every season he has been full time in Cup] that Gordon has won a pole, one behind the record of 20, held by David Pearson [1962-1981].
Gordon has also won 19 races from the pole, 6th all time, one behind Bobby Allison. Richard Petty holds that record at 61 followed by Pearson at 37. See more pole records, stats and all time pole list on the All-Time Poles page and for 2011, see the 2011 Pole Winners page.(4-17-2011) - Stenhouse on standby for Edwards: Babies don’t always wait for races to finish. #99-
Carl Edwards’ wife is pregnant with the couple’s second child and is due this month. Not wanting to miss the moment, Edwards has a plan in place so he could leave Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega at a moment’s notice.
Roush Fenway Racing has Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. on standby to take over in case the driver of the 99 car splits to be at his wife’s side.
(Fox Sports)(4-17-2011) - Biffle signs contract extension: UPDATES: #16-Greg Biffle has agreed to a contract extension with Roush Fenway Racing. An official announcement of Biffle’s extension could come as early as this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, sources said. As recently as April 1, Biffle said he was “90 percent sure” he would re-sign with Roush and hoped to have a new deal completed by midseason. A team spokesperson on Wednesday said she could not confirm Biffle had agreed to an extension.(Charlotte Observer)(4-13-2011)
UPDATE: 3M is set to extend its relationship with Roush Fenway Racing and driver Greg Biffle for another three years. 3M has backed Biffle’s Ford since 2005, and is currently in the final year of its existing contract. There has been no official announcement from either the company or the team, but sources speaking ont he condition of anaonymity say the deal will be announced in the near future. A cryptic message on the hood of Biffle’s #16 Sprint Cup Ford today at Talladega Superspeedway reads, “3 For Three More Years.”(Sirius Speedway)(4-15-2011)
UPDATE: Roush Fenway Racing announced that both 3M and Greg Biffle have renewed their contracts for three more years. The new contracts will take 3M, Biffle and Roush Fenway Racing through the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. 3M has been a Roush Fenway partner since 2005 and Biffle began his NASCAR career with the team in 1998. Terms of the contracts were not disclosed.
“I am thrilled with the prospect of continuing the relationship we have with 3M and what that, paired with the talent of Greg Biffle, means for the success of the #16 team at Roush Fenway Racing,” said team owner Jack Roush. “Our endeavors with 3M have been successful both on and off the track and will ideally culminate with a championship season for Greg and 3M in the near future.”
On February 27th, 2005 3M made its debut on Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 16 Ford with Post-it brand on the hood. That day Biffle led 46 laps on his way to victory lane at Auto Club Speedway.
(Roush Fenway)(4-17-2011) - Race Coverage of the Aaron’s 499 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled for Sunday, April 17, 2011.
Television (TV): FOX at 1:00 pm/et; pre-race show at 12:00 pm/et; green flag approx 1:19pm/et
Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio 128
Scheduled Race Re-Airs:
SPEED, Wednesday, April 20 at 12:00pm/et - Mike Dillon returns to track: This weekend has been the best medicine possible for Richard Childress Racing vice president of competition Mike Dillon, who’s officially back at a NASCAR race track for the first time since early March. Dillon was sidelined, and briefly hospitalized, when a blood clot was discovered in one of his lungs, between the NASCAR weekends at Las Vegas and Bristol. He was released from the hospital March 19 and since then, life as he had known it hasn’t existed. Dillon was hospitalized and had to go on blood thinners. In conjunction with that, doctors forbade him from traveling by air, due to sitting at length and the danger of clots forming at altitude. Talladega was Dillon’s first full-fledged race trip since Las Vegas, March 4-6. The interesting fact was he and Tina traveled by motorhome — something Dillon said he’ll do “to everything that’s within about eight hours” until he’s once again cleared to fly.(NASCAR.com)(4-17-2011)
- Where’s Robby? Robby Gordon was MIA at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, leaving Sam Hornish Jr. to qualify the #7 Fast Five/Speed Energy Dodge. Gordon was enjoying the scenery at the Long Beach Grand Prix in Southern California. Following qualifying, Hornish’s time was disallowed when the car did not pass the height sticks in inspection for being too low in front. What was Robby Gordon Motorsports’ penalty? The #7 Dodge will have to start from the back of the field. Not really a big deal. With Gordon not qualifying his own car, he was going to have to drop back at the start of the race regardless.(Fox Sports)(4-17-2011)
- Gordon moves to 3rd in career poles with record slow speed: #24-Jeff Gordon won his 70th career pole Saturday and led a Hendrick Motorsports sweep of the top four spots at Talladega Superspeedway — only the third team in NASCAR history to monopolize the first two rows for a Cup race. Gordon turned a two-lap qualifying average of 178.248 mph for the Aaron’s 499. He broke a tie for third place on the career list with Cale Yarborough and trails only Richard Petty (123) and David Pearson (113). But the four-time series champion wasn’t all that thrilled about another landmark: the slowest speed ever to claim the pole at Talladega. It wasn’t even close. Gordon was more than 6 mph slower than the previous mark, a pole-winning speed.(Associated Press/ESPN.com)(4-17-2011)
- Henrico County, Virginia Issues Proclamation for NASCAR Week The Henrico County Board of Supervisors issued a proclamation recognizing NASCAR Race Week April 24-30 in the county where Richmond International Raceway resides. Richmond International Raceway President Doug Fritz was on hand at the Board’s meeting to accept the proclamation from Frank J. Thornton, Chairman of the Henrico County Board of Supervisors and Fairfield District representative. “Now, therefore, be it proclaimed, that the Board of Supervisors of Henrico County, Virginia hereby recognizes April 24 – April 30, 2011 as NASCAR Race Week and calls this observance to the attention of all Henrico citizens,” the proclamation concludes. NASCAR Race Week in Henrico County features the start of the 2011 race season at Richmond International Raceway April 28-30 with four races in three nights.(RIR)(4-17-2011)
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