Venue | Talladega Superspeedway |
---|---|
Location | Talladega, Alabama, United States |
First race | 1969 |
Distance | 500.08 miles (804.80 km) |
Laps | 188 (Stage 1: 55 Stage 2: 55 Stage 3: 78) |
Previous names |
Talladega 500 (1969–1987) Talladega DieHard 500 (1988–1989) DieHard 500 (1990–1997) Winston 500 (1998–2000) EA Sports 500 (2001–2004) UAW-Ford 500 (2005–2007) AMP Energy 500 (2008–2009) AMP Energy Juice 500 (2010) Good Sam Club 500 (2011) Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 (2012) Camping World RV Sales 500 (2013) GEICO 500 (2014) CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega (2015) Hellmann's 500 (2016) |
Most wins (driver) | Dale Earnhardt (7) |
Most wins (team) | Richard Childress Racing (8) |
Most wins (manufacturer) | Chevrolet (21) |
Surface | Asphalt |
Length | 2.66 mi (4.28 km) |
Turns | 4 |
The Alabama 500 is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The race is one of four NASCAR Cup Series races currently run with restrictor plates, the others being the GEICO 500 in May, the Coke Zero 400, and the Daytona 500. Through 1996, this race was normally held in early August or late July. In 1997, it was moved to early October due to the uncomfortably hot summer temperatures, and sometimes unpredictable summertime thunderstorms in the Alabama area. In 2009, the race moved again, this time to November 1 as part of a realignment agreement with Atlanta and Fontana (where Fontana earned a race in the Chase and Atlanta gained the Labor Day weekend race).
In 1998, the name of the race was swapped with that of the Talladega spring race. The fall race became known as the Winston 500 for three years in order to promote the Winston No Bull 5 program.
This race has been on average the most consistently competitive in NASCAR history. The race has broken 40 official lead changes in 1971, 1973, 1975–1978, 1983–1984, 1989, 2000, and every year in the period spanning 2003–2012. In 13 of these, the race exceeded 60 lead changes, most recently in 2012 with 65, and in 2010 the race reached 87 lead changes, one short of the motorsports record set in April.
Joey Logano is the defending winner, having won it in 2016.