Most Talladega starts without a win
The GEICO 500 Sunday will feature 10 past winners of a points race at Talladega Superspeedway in the Cup Series.
The five drivers who have made the most starts at the 2.66-mile speedway but have yet to reach Victory Lane include two past champions and former Daytona 500 winners.
No. 5 Austin Dillon (15 starts)
The 2018 Daytona 500 champion’s highest finish at the track was a third-place finish in the May 2016 race.
Dillon has earned one Top-5 finish and three Top-10 finishes at Talladega.
The Richard Childress Racing driver will start the race 11th.
No. 4 Michael McDowell (20 starts)
The 2021 Daytona 500 champion is off to the best start of his Cup Series career, and a superspeedway race could play into his wheelhouse Sunday.
McDowell’s highest finish at the speedway was a fifth-place effort in the October 2019 race.
The Front Row Motorsports driver will start the race 23rd.
No. 3 Martin Truex Jr. (32 starts)
The 2017 series champion has a pair of fifth-place finishes as his highest results at the speedway.
With an average finish of 21.5, Truex has earned one pole, two Top-5 finishes and eight Top-10 finishes.
In the last 10 Talladega races, Truex has not finished inside the Top-10.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver will start the race third.
No. 2 Ryan Newman (38 starts)
Newman has finished second-place twice, including a runner-up photo finish in the October 2019 race to winner Ryan Blaney.
In total, Newman has led 82 laps, along with seven Top-5 finishes and 16 Top-10 finishes.
Newman will start 28th.
No. 1 Kurt Busch (40 starts)
The 2004 series champion has the most starts among active competition and starters in Sunday’s field without a win at the track.
Busch has racked up one pole, eight Top-5 finishes, 21 Top-10 finishes and has led 282 laps. His highest finish came in the April 2018 race, where he finished second to Joey Logano.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver will start the race in 15th.
OUTLOOK
The GEICO 500 is scheduled for Sunday, April 25, with live television scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on FOX.
SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info
Categories
Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.