Modern Era Event Victories by Car Make (1972 - Present):
    Chevy   Ford    Olds    Pontiac Buick   Dodge   Mercury Plymouth   
Matador
    27  16  6   2   6   2   5   1   0

Track Milestones
•   Bobby Isaac won the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup pole at Talladega in 1969.
•   Richard Brickhouse, driving a Dodge, won the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
(Grand National) race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1969.

Track Update
    Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished 42nd in his first race at Talladega (April
2000). In the eight races since, he finished 14th or better, including four
consecutive victories (October 2001 through April 2003) and second-place finishes
in the last two races there. Buddy Baker (three - May 1975 through May 1976)
is the only other driver to win more than two consecutive races at Talladega.

Manufacturer Update
    A Chevrolet has won the last 11 straight races at Talladega. Ford has not
posted a Talladega victory since Dale Jarrett won the Winston 500 (October
1998). Dodge last won there with Dave Marcis in the Talladega 500 (August 1976).

Qualifying Update
    Jeremy Mayfield has scored three Bud Poles at Talladega. All three came
with different team owners: Cale Yarborough (July 1996), Penske-Kranefuss
(April 2000) and Ray Evernham (April 2003). His Bud Pole with Yarborough was the
first of two straight Bud Poles for the former NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion as a
car-owner. John Andretti won the Bud Pole for Yarborough the following April.

NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Active Drivers First and Last at this Track First Start
    Petty, Kyle 8-5-79
    McMurray, Jamie 10-6-02
First Pole
    Mayfield, Jeremy    7-26-96
First Win
    Schrader, Ken   7-31-88
Last Pole
    Schrader, Ken   4-23-99
    Nemechek, Joe   10-13-00
    Mayfield, Jeremy    4-4-03
    Sadler, Elliott 9-26-03
    Rudd, Ricky 4-23-04
Last Win
    Spencer, Jimmy  7-24-94
    Waltrip, Michael    9-28-03
Last Victory at This Track
    in a Chevrolet   Jeff Gordon     2004 Aaron’s 499  (Spring)
    in a Dodge   Dave Marcis     1976 Talladega 500 (Fall)
    in a Ford    Dale Jarrett    1998 Winston 500 (Fall)
    in a Pontiac     Bobby Labonte   1998 DieHard 500 (Spring)

Car Owner Victories at This Track
Richard Childress   9
Ranier Racing   6
Bud Moore   5
Wood Brothers   5
Junior Johnson  5
Dale Earnhardt Inc. 5
Rick Hendrick   5
Morgan-McClure  4
Petty Engineering   4
Robert Yates    3
DiGard Racing Co.   2
Jack Roush  2
Stavola Brothers    2
Melling Racing  2
Hoss Ellington  1
Nord Krauskopf  1
Crawford Brothers   1
James Hylton    1
Holman-Moody    1
Ray Nichels 1
Jack Beebe  1
Jackson Brothers    1
Leo Jackson 1
Joe Gibbs   1
Andy Petree 1
Total   70
Fuel/Tire Data
Goodyear Tire Codes: Left-side — D-6804; Right-side — 6806 Other Nextel Cup Tracks With This Same Tire Combination: None Estimated Pit Window: Every 32-36 laps, based on fuel mileage. Speed Limits: Pit Road – 55 mph; Caution Car – 70 mph

Would You Believe?
    Dale Earnhardt still leads all drivers with 23 top-five and 27 top-10
finishes in 44 career races at Talladega.

The Money
•   The posted awards for the EA Sports 500 are $5,199,159.
•   The NASCAR NEXTEL Leader Bonus is worth $90,000 for the EA Sports 500.
•   The MBNA Mid-Race Leader Bonus is worth $5,000 for the EA Sports 500.
Track Tidbits
•   There have been 70 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Talladega; two a year
except for 1969, the inaugural year, which had only one race.
•   Three hundred and eighty-seven different drivers have competed in at
least one NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Talladega since 1969.
•   The field at Talladega will consist of the fastest 38 cars plus five
provisional spots, based upon current NASCAR NEXTEL Cup owner points for a maximum
of 43 cars. The 43rd position is reserved for a past NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
champion, if needed. If unused, it will go to the next eligible owner.
•   Two qualifying laps will be used to determine the first 38 starting
positions with the five provisionals added afterwards as required.
•   Elliott Sadler is the defending Bud Pole winner for the EA Sports 500.
•   Bill Elliott leads all drivers with eight Bud Poles at Talladega.
•   Sterling Marlin and Jeremy Mayfield (three each) lead all other active
drivers in Bud Poles at Talladega.
•   Michael Waltrip is the defending champion of the EA Sports 500.
•   The late Dale Earnhardt leads all drivers with 10 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
victories at Talladega, including victories in both races there in 1990 and 1999.
No other driver has scored more than four victories at Talladega. His Talladega
victory in the fall of 2000 was his final NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory.
•   Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Darrell Waltrip have
each scored four victories there.
•   Dale Earnhardt Jr. (four) leads all active drivers in Talladega
victories. Jeff Gordon has three while Sterling Marlin, Terry Labonte and Mark Martin
all have two.
Notebook Items
•   In the 10 races between 1983 and 1987 there were only two Bud Pole
winners at Talladega. Cale Yarborough swept 1983 and 1984, while Bill Elliott posted
six straight Bud Poles between 1985 and 1987.
•   Stacy Compton won both Bud Poles at Talladega in 2001 – the most recent
driver to sweep both poles there.
•   Dale Earnhardt Jr., has finished first or second in six consecutive races
at Talladega. He led 350 of the 1,128 laps in those six races.
•   Bobby Labonte is the last driver to win from the Bud Pole at Talladega,
in May 1998, 13 races ago.
•   Nine of the last 11 races at Talladega have been won from a starting
position of 11th or worse.
•   Seven of the last 11 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Talladega have been won
by an Earnhardt: Dale Earnhardt Jr., (four) and Dale Earnhardt (three).
•   Bobby Hamilton won the caution-free 2001 Talladega 500 with an average
speed of 184.008 mph. His average speed for 188 laps was just 0.853 mph slower
than the Bud Pole speed for that race set by Stacy Compton.
•   Mark Martin’s pace in the 1997 Winston 500 set an all-time NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup record for the fastest race ever run. He won the caution-free race with an
average speed of 188.354 mph and covered the 500-mile distance in two hours,
39 minutes and 18 seconds.
•   In the 34 years of twice-a-year NASCAR NEXTEL Cup racing at Talladega, a
sweep has occurred six times: Pete Hamilton (1970), Buddy Baker (1975),
Darrell Waltrip (1982), Dale Earnhardt (1990 and 1999) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2002).
•   Forty of the 70 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Talladega have been won from
the first four starting positions (57 percent).
•   The furthest back a winner has started at Talladega was when Jeff Gordon
won the DieHard 500 (April 2000) from the 36th-place starting position. Selected Modern Era Performance at this Track (Minimum of three starts)
Category    All-time    Active  Last 10 Races
Starts  Dave Marcis - 61    Ricky Rudd – 55 14 drivers - 10
Poles   Bill Elliott – 8    Jeremy Mayfield – 3 Jeremy Mayfield - 2
            Sterling Marlin – 3 Stacy Compton – 2
                Joe Nemechek - 2
Wins    Dale Earnhardt – 10 Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 4  Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 4
Top Fives   Dale Earnhardt – 23 Terry Labonte – 14  Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 6
Top 10s Dale Earnhardt – 27 Terry Labonte – 23  Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 7
                Jeff Gordon – 7
Laps Led    Dale Earnhardt - 1,377  Jeff Gordon – 489   Dale Earnhardt Jr. -
411
DNFs (Races)    Darrell Waltrip – 23 (55)   Ricky Rudd – 17 (55)    Johnny
Benson – 7
            Terry Labonte – 17 (51)
Average Start (Races)   Bobby Isaac – 3.63 (8)  Jimmie Johnson – 4.0 (5)   
Jimmie Johnson – 4.0 (5)
Average Finish (Races)  Pete Hamilton – 5.60 (5)    Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 8.0
(9)  Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 8.0 (9)