Last week at Richmond, Kurt Busch led 291 of the 400 laps on his way to victory lane in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
Busch took the lead from Joey Logano on lap 94 and then forged ahead of Jamie McMurray on lap 262 to get the win. It was his 26th career victory and first since being suspended by NASCAR over a domestic violence incident.
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This week the circuit moves to one of the most popular and fastest tracks in NASCAR, Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. The 2.66-mile tri-oval features steep, 32-33 degrees of banking and tight, restrictor-plate racing that usually produces multi-car accidents — known as "the Big One" by fans.
'Dega is also one of the best tracks for fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has led laps in 27 of his 30 starts there. Junior owns the series' best average running position (14.5), the second-best driver rating (90.7) and the third-most quality passes (4,478) at the famed track.
MORE: Busch reaping rewards | Stewart cursing out Junior | Talladega odds | PHOTOS: 2015 Cup winners
The weekend's races at Talladega have switched sponsors and dates compared to last season. The Xfinity Series' Winn Dixie 300 will be run on Saturday and the green flag for the Sprint Cup Series' GEICO 500 will drop on Sunday.
The weekend schedule (all times Eastern):
FRIDAY
11:30 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, FOX Sports 1
2 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, FOX Sports 1
4:30 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, FOX Sports 1
SATURDAY
11 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1
1 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX
3 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Winn Dixie 300, FOX (113 laps, 300.58 miles)
SUNDAY
1 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series GEICO 500, FOX (188 laps, 500.08 miles)
Sprint Cup: 2014 Talladega spring race recap
In his 300th career start, Denny Hamlin went to victory lane for his first win at a restrictor plate track.
Hamlin was leading when a caution flag flew for Carl Edwards' wreck with five laps remaining. He held the lead on a restart with two laps to go and took the white flag just after Allgiaer spun on the front stretch. With a big piece of debris in the middle of the track, NASCAR threw another yellow flag, allowing Hamlin to take the checkered flag under caution.
Greg Biffle, who led the most laps with 58, finished second, followed by Clint Bowyer, Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger.
Results
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (34) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 188 laps, 123.2 rating, 47 points, $303,315.
2. (35) Greg Biffle, Ford, 188, 115.1, 44, $265,985.
3. (27) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 188, 67.2, 41, $215,151.
4. (18) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 188, 81.8, 41, $181,760.
5. (3) A J Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 188, 88.2, 39, $154,113.
6. (2) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 188, 83.8, 39, $167,384.
7. (8) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 188, 107.6, 38, $158,778.
8. (42) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 188, 87.7, 36, $131,145.
9. (29) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 188, 94.8, 35, $140,590.
10. (25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 188, 65.5, 34, $152,795.
11. (41) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 188, 64.6, 0, $104,410.
12. (19) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 188, 103.4, 33, $152,276.
13. (15) Aric Almirola, Ford, 188, 66.3, 31, $143,821.
14. (4) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 188, 74.7, 31, $130,018.
15. (5) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 188, 79.4, 29, $151,146.
16. (17) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 188, 55.2, 28, $118,043.
17. (43) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 188, 85.2, 27, $130,493.
18. (6) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 188, 45.8, 27, $109,735.
19. (26) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 188, 61, 26, $127,280.
20. (36) Josh Wise, Ford, 188, 48.8, 24, $98,535.
21. (31) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 188, 58.2, 23, $96,160.
22. (7) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 188, 74.9, 23, $106,835.
23. (20) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 188, 99.8, 22, $148,871.
24. (37) Terry Labonte, Ford, 188, 38.7, 20, $109,168.
25. (28) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 188, 43.9, 19, $105,410.
26. (30) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 188, 69, 19, $104,110.
27. (38) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 188, 53.4, 17, $113,107.
28. (33) Alex Bowman, Toyota, accident, 187, 62.4, 16, $94,510.
29. (32) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 187, 32.4, 15, $129,024.
30. (10) Carl Edwards, Ford, accident, 182, 52, 15, $111,110.
31. (24) Ryan Truex, Toyota, accident, 182, 62.5, 13, $92,460.
32. (16) Joey Logano, Ford, accident, 174, 91.3, 13, $131,301.
33. (9) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, accident, 174, 82.4, 11, $91,185.
34. (22) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, accident, 174, 50.1, 11, $91,060.
35. (39) David Ragan, Ford, accident, 174, 52.9, 10, $98,910.
36. (14) Michael McDowell, Ford, accident, 174, 56.2, 9, $90,785.
37. (21) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 171, 77.6, 8, $139,742.
38. (13) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 160, 32.6, 7, $130,098.
39. (11) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 156, 69.1, 6, $127,626.
40. (40) David Gilliland, Ford, engine, 150, 60.6, 5, $84,690.
41. (23) Trevor Bayne, Ford, accident, 136, 77.6, 0, $72,690.
42. (1) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, accident, 136, 60.3, 0, $74,690.
43. (12) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, accident, 136, 44.2, 1, $99,348.
Race Statistics
Average speed of race winner: 152.103 mph.
Time of race: 3 hours, 17 minutes, 16 seconds.
Margin of victory: Under Caution.
Caution flags: 8 for 31 laps.
Lead changes: 48 among 23 drivers.
Recent winners (spring)
2014: Hamlin
2013: Ragan
2012: Keselowski
2011: Johnson
2010: Harvick
Recent winners (fall)
2014: Keselowski
2013: McMurray
2012: Kenseth
2011: Bowyer
2010: Bowyer
Top five drivers at Talladega since 2010 (10 races)
Bowyer (two wins, five top fives, 7.4 average finish)
Harvick (one win, three top fives, 14.4 average finish)
Kenseth (one win, three top fives, 16.9 average finish)
Keselowski (two wins, three top fives, 17.2 average finish)
Johnson (one win, two top fives, 18.2 average finish)
News and notes
— Gordon has strung together a streak of six consecutive top-10 finishes and could easily make it seven on Sunday. Gordon is the all-time winner at restrictor plate races and leads all active drivers with 19 top 10s at the series’ largest track.
— Despite three fewer races, Busch ranks fourth in fastest laps run (217) and second in laps led (536).
— Of McMurray's seven career wins, four have come in plate races — two each at Daytona and Talladega. His last win was at Talladega on Oct. 20, 2013.
— The last time a Ford won at Talladega came last year when Keselowski, facing elimination from the Chase, captured his sixth win of the of the season, most for any driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and enabled him to move on into the three-race Eliminator Round.
Xfinity Series: 2014 spring race recap
The lead changed 27 times but Elliott Sadler led 40 laps and remained in control through a three-lap shootout to take the checkered flag. The win was his 10th Xfinity Series event of his career and first at Talladega. The veteran held off Chris Buescher at the finish by just 0.125 seconds.
The winner of last year's race, Regan Smith finished third, while David Ragan, Sam Hornish Jr. rounded out the top five.
Camping World Truck Series
The series returns to action next week with the Kansas 250 at Kansas Speedway.