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In The Know – Talladega

NASCAR CUP SERIES OVERVIEW:

●  Event:  GEICO 500 (Round 10 of 36)

●  Time/Date:  3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 23

●  Location:  Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway

●  Layout:  2.66-mile oval

●  Laps/Miles:  188 laps/500 miles

●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 60 laps / Stage 2: 60 laps / Final Stage: 68 laps

●  TV/Radio:  FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR FAST FACTS:

Kevin Harvick: 

Harvick has made 44 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Talladega, collecting eight top-fives and 19 top-10s. Denny Hamlin leads the series with 10 top-fives at Talladega while Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano are tied for the second-most top-fives with nine apiece. In the top-10 category, only Busch is ahead of Harvick with 22 top-10s.

Aric Almirola:

In 433 career NASCAR Cup Series starts, Almirola has three wins, 28 top-five finishes, 92 top-10s, three poles, and has led 1,007 laps.

Chase Briscoe:

Now the No. 14 team heads to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, the largest oval on the NASCAR circuit, with a special Mahindra Tractors scheme carrying the theme “You Old Goat,” en hommage to team co-owner Tony Stewart. Over the last two years, the three-time Cup Series champion has shared the spotlight with his driver in Mahindra’s national TV spots, and Briscoe typically has been on the receiving end of Stewart’s jokes. While Briscoe has been known to get in his jabs at the boss, he decided to take it a step further with a scheme designed to show “Smoke” who is really in charge.

 

Ryan Preece:

Preece hopes to ride the momentum from his Martinsville to the high banks of Talladega this weekend, where he has one top-five finish and two top-10s in six career Cup Series career starts with a best finish of third coming in his debut in 2019. In his lone NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Talladega, he started 26th and finished 15th for JD Motorsports in 2016. Last season, Preece made his first NASCAR Truck Series start at Talladega in the No. 17 David Gilliland Racing entry. He started 10th and finished fourth.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

 

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Kevin Harvick Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang:

Talladega marks your 800th career NASCAR Cup Series start, which puts you 10th all-time. When you first came into racing, did 100 starts even seem like a reality, never mind 800?

“Well, I didn’t even know if I’d get to one (laughs). When you think about 800 races and you try to put it into perspective, you really start adding the years up. It’s a really wide body of work, and I think that’s what I’m the most proud of. Through those 800 starts, it’s not like we started the year cashing checks and just riding around. We’ve been competitive, racing at the front of the pack, leading laps and having the chance to win races. For me, that’s the thing that I’m most proud of, and I think from your colleagues and people from other race teams, they see that body of work and being competitive across that long period of time. You hear it all the time, ‘I can’t believe they’ve been that competitive for that long.’ And to me, that’s the part I’m most proud of, being able to do this at a high level for such a long time. But wrapping your arms around 800 of them is, for me, quite an honor, just because of the fact that you’ve been able to adapt and adjust to so many things and stick around so long. But being competitive is still the thing that I enjoy the most. Getting to that number is great, but getting there and being competitive is better.”

Aric Almirola Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang:

Do you enjoy speedway racing?

“I really enjoy speedway racing. I think, of all of the racing we do, there is a level of confidence that you have to have going into it. For me, I always go into those races with a lot of confidence because I’ve won there before. When you have success at places and you feel like you’re good at it, that confidence bleeds over to your success on the track. I feel like every time we go to Talladega or Daytona we have a really good shot at winning, and I know that at some point in the race we’re going to find ourselves up front and, at that point, you just have to execute.”

Chase Briscoe Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang:

Where did the idea for this paint scheme come from?

“We all know Tony has done some great things on track, and he was given a lot of opportunities to pick on me a little in all the Mahindra commercials we’ve done, so I really wanted the chance to get back at him a little. He’s a prankster and his brain is always working, always finding a way to make a joke about something, and I felt like this was the perfect way to give him a taste of his own medicine. And it’ll be nice that he gets to watch me drive around Talladega in his car with his face on the side of it.”

Ryan Preece Driver of the No. 41 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang:

What’s it like being a driver at a track like Talladega?

“Your adrenaline is high, your emotions are high and you’re going 200 mph. Meanwhile you’re two, three-wide getting pushed in the pack from behind, there’s just a lot going on. It’s hard to explain to people how many thoughts and things you’re trying to keep track of as a driver when you’re racing at Talladega. Talladega and superspeedway racing have typically been pretty good for me. So, going into this weekend, we need to be aggressive because stage points with the current points system means so much but at the same time, we just have to have a good day.”