May 6, 2017
- Stenhouse Jr. wins Talladega pole: #17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Coors Light pole for the GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway with speed of 191.547mph for his 1st pole of 2017 and 2nd of his career. There have been seven different pole winners in 2017 after 10 races. Stenhouse’s other pole was at Atlanta in September 2013.
#88-Earnhardt Jr. will start 2nd followed by #2-Keselowski, #20-Kenseth, #6-Bayne, #4-Harvick, #19-Suarez, #24-Elliott, #27-Menard, #18-Busch, #11-Hamlin and #22-Logano.
#17-Stenhouse Jr. was fastest in the first round with a speed of 190.833mph, will start from the pole
#14-Bowyer, fastest in Fridays one practice will start 17th. 2016 Champ, #48-Johnson will start 30th
Driver(s) who will miss the race: #96-Kennington
See round-by-round qualifying results on the Talladega qualifying results page (pdf) and the complete starting lineup on the Talladega Starting Lineup page (pdf).(5-6-2017) - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. knocks Dale Earnhardt Jr. off Talladega poleQualifying for Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was shaping up to be a sentimental story-until #17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. said “No.” The last driver to make a run in Saturday’s final round of knockout qualifying, Stenhouse knocked #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. off the provisional pole for Earnhardt’s last spring race at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. The Coors Light Pole Award was Stenhouse’s first since he secured his only previous top starting spot in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series since 2013 in Atlanta. It was the first pole for a Ford driver at Talladega since Travis Kvapil won his only career pole in October 2008. And it was the first Talladega pole for Roush Fenway Racing since Mark Martin did the honors in both races in 1989.
“It will be nice to lead the field to green,” said Stenhouse. “The guys work really hard on these cars. Jimmy Fennig does a great job on the speedway cars. It’s just cool. Doug Yates (engine builder) builds some awesome horsepower. With his dad, Robert, not doing as well as we would like, I’d like to dedicate this one to him and all the hard work the engine shop does.” Stenhouse ran 191.547 mph on his money lap, picking up a quarter-second over his first-round effort.
With superspeedway qualifying consisting of one full-field round and a second round to decide the pole between the 12 fastest cars, Stenhouse topped the first round with a lap at 190.833 mph (50.180 seconds), .114 seconds ahead of second-place Earnhardt. Stenhouse’s .201-second margin over Earnhardt in the final round was substantial, but Earnhardt nevertheless was disappointed not to win the pole in what will be his final season in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing.
“We would have loved to have got the pole,” Earnhardt said. “Stenhouse and those guys had a really fast car, so congratulations to them and Roush / Yates Engines and all those guys-they had great power. Pretty happy with our car. The Hendrick guys have been doing a great job. We always kind of come down here and find ourselves with an opportunity for the pole. Hopefully, we’ll get one before the year is out at one of these plate tracks. I know the guys have been so close at Daytona and Talladega for so many years, so it would be great to do it this last season together. Just came up a little short today, but the car is fast and it will be good for Sunday.”
Earnhardt did allow, however that he would consider running the Daytona Clash, primarily for pole winners, should he qualify for next year’s season-opening exhibition race. “It’s not a points race,” said Earnhardt, making room for a possible exception to his retirement. #2-Brad Keselowski qualified third, followed by #20-Matt Kenseth and #6-Trevor Bayne, Stenhouse’s teammate at Roush Fenway Racing. Note: #96-D.J. Kennington failed to qualify for the 40-car field.(NASCAR Wire Service)(5-6-2017) - Talladega Superspeedway – Qualifying Fast Facts:
#17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 48th Annual GEICO 500 with a lap of 49.993 seconds, 191.547 mph.
This is his second pole in 158 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2017.
This is his first pole in eight races at Talladega Superspeedway.
#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2017 and his 16th in 34 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
#2-Brad Keselowski (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his ninth in ten races this season.
#19-Daniel Suarez (seventh) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR Statistics)(5-6-2017) - First Round of Qualifying for the GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is over, after each driver ran a lap.
#17-Stenhouse Jr. 190.833
#88-Earnhardt Jr. 190.400
#2-Keselowski 190.234
#24-Elliott 190.196
#6-Bayne 189.910
the rest of the top 12: 20 19 18 27 22 4 11
out of the top 12 and not advancing to the final round:
78 77 41 21 14 3 5 31 42 43 1 95 34 32 47 13 38 48 10 75 55 37 7 83 23 72 15 33
Drivers who will miss the race: #96-Kennington
(5-6-2017) - Polls Open for Monster Energy All-Star Race Fan Vote Polls are now open for fans to vote their favorite driver into the 2017 Monster Energy All-Star Race, which is scheduled for May 20 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The driver with the most votes will earn a coveted spot in the all-star main event. Fans can vote once per day at NASCAR.com/fanvote, and votes shared on Facebook or Twitter count double. To join the conversation on social media, use the hashtags #AllStarRace and #FanVote. Polls close on Friday, May 19 at 11:59pm/et.(NASCAR)[see more / list of drivers here](5-6-2017)
- Stenhouse Jr. & #17 Team Give Back on Fifth Third Day & new scheme: Before traveling to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #17 Fifth Third Ford, and members of his team helped pack 1,300 backpacks for hungry kids at Second Harvest Food Bank Metrolina. The two-time XFINITY champion will debut his new “Banking a Fifth Third Better” paint scheme this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Fifth Third Bank will also be aboard the #17 Ford Fusion machine at Michigan in June, Daytona and Kentucky in July.(RFR)[More](5-6-2017)
- Coverage of Qualifying for the GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled for Saturday, May 6, 2017 at 4:00pm/et.
Television (TV): FOX, 4:00pm/et
Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN) - Superspeedway Qualifying Format for Daytona/Talladega: The qualifying format at superspeedways consists of the following:
· Two rounds of qualifying, with the top-12 posted lap speeds advancing to the second round
· Race vehicles taking one, timed lap in each round of qualifying
· Each race vehicle will be released in a predetermined timed interval as determined by NASCAR
· Qualifying order for the first round was be determined by practice speeds, slowest to fastest
· Final round qualifying order is determined by slowest to fastest speeds from the first round
· A 10-minute break will occur between the first qualifying round and the final round
· Upon completion of the first qualifying round, the field will be set with positions 13 and beyond determined from first round qualifying speed
· The 12 fastest vehicles from the first round will have their speeds reset for the final round with starting positions 1-12 determined by the fastest laps in the final round
· NASCAR will impound race vehicles following each qualifying lap;
· Vehicles advancing to the final round will be allowed to adjust tape and utilize a cool-down unit during the 10-minute break only. - Qualifying Order for the GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is posted.
The qualifying order for the two restrictor plates races (Daytona/Talladega) is different.
The order for the 1st round is set by a practice speeds (both practices combined) from Friday, slowest to fastest.
The first driver scheduled to make an attempt is in round 1 is #96-Kennington (n speed/lowest in owners pts).
The final driver scheduled to make an attempt is in round 1 is #14-Bowyer.
For the 2nd round, the remaining 12 cars line up by speed, slowest to fastest. - Race Recap: Aric Almirola powers to NASCAR XFINITY Series win at Talladega Aric Almirola charged into the lead with four laps left in Saturday’s Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway and held off Elliott Sadler at the finish to win the third NASCAR XFINITY Series race of his career. With the Ford of Darrell Wallace Jr. plowing into the inside backstretch wall behind him on the final lap, Almirola held the top spot to the finish, beating Sadler, the series leader, to the finish line by .142 seconds.[More](5-6-2017)
Almirola wins Talladega XFINITY race: #98-Aric Almirola won the Spark Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his third XFINITY Series win and first of the year. #1-Elliott Sadler finished second, followed by #22-Joey Logano, #2-Ben Kennedy, #20-Erik Jones, #19-Matt Tifft, #5-Michael Annett, #7-Justin Allgaier, #18-Daniel Suarez, and #8-Jeff Green.
There were 5 cautions for 20 laps and 28 lead changes among 14 leaders. There were also two red flag periods for cleanup following multi-car wrecks.
The average speed was 139.068mph.
Complete results are on the Talladega race results page (pdf). (5-6-2017) - Race stage winners:
Stage 1 – lap 25 – Winner, #98-Aric Almirola
Stage 2 – lap 50 – Winner, #7-Justin Allgaier
Stage 3 – lap 113 – Race winner, #98-Aric Almirola - Talladega XFINITY Race Fast Facts:
Aric Almirola won the 26th Annual Sparks Energy 300, his third victory in 99 NASCAR XFINITY Series
races.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in 2017.
This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in five races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Elliott Sadler (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in nine races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his
eighth top-10 finish in 2017.
Joey Logano (third) posted his seventh top-10 finish in eight races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Matt Tifft (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie.
Elliott Sadler leads the point standings by 29 points over Justin Allgaier
(NASCAR Integrated Marketing)(5-6-2017) - XFINITY Driver standings following Talladega:
1) #1-Elliott Sadler, 330
2) #7-Justin Allgaier [1 win], 301, -29
3) #9-William Byron, 252, -78
4) #6-Darrell Wallace Jr., 235, -95
5) #21-Daniel Hemric, 229, -101
6) #5-Michael Annett, 224, -106
7) #19-Matt Tifft, 216, -114
8) #16-Ryan Reed [1 win], 206, -124
9) #11-Blake Koch, 202, -128
10) #48-Brennan Poole, 193, -137
See complete owner and driver standings on the driver standings(pdf) and owner standings page (pdf).(5-6-2017) - Free Pass – Who got a lap back on each caution at Talladega: (and their finish)
Caution 1: none
Caution 2: none
Caution 3: #6-Wallace, 13th
Caution 4: #18-Suarez, 9th
Caution 5: #19-Tifft, 6th
(5-6-2017) - Koch on XFINITY pole at Talladega: #11-Blake Koch won the Coors Light pole for the Spark Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway with a speed of 183.490mph. #88-Kasey Kahne will start second. The rest of the top 10: #21-Danel Hemric, #2-Ben Kennedy, #33-Brandon Jones, #7-Justin Allgaier, #3-Ty Dillon, #22-Joey Logano, #9-William Byron, and #20-Erik Jones.
Did Not Qualify: #78-BJ McLeod.
The starting lineup is posted on the Talladega starting lineup page (pdf).(5-6-2017) - Talladega XFINITY Qualifying Notes:
Blake Koch won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 26th Annual Sparks Energy 300 with a lap of
52.188 seconds, 183.490 mph.
This is his first pole in 190 NASCAR XFINITY Series races.
This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2017.
This is his first pole in seven races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Kasey Kahne (second) posted his second top-10 start of 2017 and his fourth in eight races at Talladega
Superspeedway.
Daniel Hemric (third) posted his first top-10 start at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his eighth in nine
races this season.
Daniel Hemric (third) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR Integrated Marketing)(5-6-2017) - New Hammer & Anvil Trophies debut at Talladega; Vulcan Trophy returns The winner of Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway will take home the incredible Vulcan Trophy, introduced last fall as the track’s depiction of the Roman god of fire and forge from the famous cast-iron statue that overlooks nearby Birmingham. And now, the Vulcan’s hammer & anvil that he used to make weapons and armor for all the gods as part of Ancient Roman myth, will be featured on a new trophy – the Hammer & Anvil Trophy – that will be awarded to the winner of both the General Tire 200 race Friday and Sparks Energy 300 Saturday.
While the Vulcan Trophy is given to all Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winners at the 2.66-mile venue, the Hammer & Anvil Trophy will be presented to the victors of all other companion events at the biggest and baddest race track on the planet. Vulcan’s hammer and anvil, which were used in his forge (shop where metal is heated and hammered into useful items), are part of the Vulcan, the colossal 56-foot statue that is the world’s largest, and looms tall over Birmingham, paying homage to the city’s roots in the iron and steel industry. For more information on this weekend’s action, visit talladegasuperspeedway.com or call 855-518-RACE (7223).[More](5-6-2017)
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