Talladega Superspeedway
| Talladega Superspeedway | |
| |
| Location | Lincoln, Alabama |
| Races | FARC Lowe Dollar Series ASCC |
Talladega Superspeedway is a 2.66-mile (4.281-km) tri-oval superspeedway located near Talladega, Alabama. Talladega currently hosts races for the FARC Lowe Dollar Series and the ASCC. It previously hosted the TM Master Cup Round of Alabama, TM Lights, and GRL.
The track is known for its high speeds, with the Master Cup series reaching 240 mph without restrictor plates, and breathtaking finishes. Scott Bates and Chuck Johaanes are known to be the best at this track, with Bates winning here nine times and Johaanes winning eight times.
Layout[edit | edit source]
Talladega Superspeedway is laid out similarly to Daytona International Speedway, but is slightly longer. It has 33 degrees of banking in the turns, 16 degrees in the tri-oval and 3 degrees on the backstretch. It used to use a infield road course but isn't used anymore.
Unlike at Daytona, the start-finish line is located just beyond the pit exit, which means that drivers jockeying for position on the final lap have an extra distance to race before taking the checkered flag.
TM Master Cup[edit | edit source]
In recent days, it has been known for the untimely death of Steve Marshall in 2007, commonly known as one of the darkest days in recent TM Master Cup Series history. Talladega had been a staple of the TM Master Cup Series calendar, but the 2010 Round of Alabama was marred by a huge accident on lap 6 in which Brian Sendack, Woody Watts and Matt Taylor were all injured. As a result of too many crashes happening, the track was dropped in 2011 after the track's safety was called into question. TM Master Cup Series officials are still uncertain if they will put the track back on the calendar in the future, considering the track has had too many serious accidents in the past following the last race there in 2010.
FARC Lowe Dollar Series[edit | edit source]
Chuck Johaanes is FARC's most successful driver at Talladega, winning the first eight races in a row. The track is also known for one of the closest finishes in series history, when John Burr beat Johaanes by .001 second in 1996. Burr's win and Trueman Ellison's victory in 2016 are considered two of the Lowe Dollar Series' greatest upsets.
Talladega has also been the scene of several major accidents; in the inaugural event in 1978, rookie Andy Pearson triggered a pileup that collected 36 of 40 cars, the largest wreck in series history. Jeb Klinger was sent over the wall and suffered injuries that would sideline him for the next 30 years. Floyd Moss suffered fatal injuries in an accident in the 2004 race.
The 2012 Radii Radiators 300 was marred by two huge crashes, the first involving AJ Young and Vijay Pushanda, and the second severely injuring sweepstakes winner Mark Freestone, who was competing in his first ever professional race. ARLA officials cancelled the remainder of the event following Freestone's accident, but later rescheduled it as the penultimate race of the season following safety upgrades.
Race Winners[edit | edit source]
RROL[edit | edit source]
to be completed later.
ASCC[edit | edit source]
Race Winners[edit | edit source]
| Year | Winner | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Anthony Evans | Evans Motorsports |
| 2013 | Ethan Everett Tom Delgado |
Ocean Motorsports Ocean Motorsports |
| 2019 | Donnie King, Jr. | Team Saar USA |