GEICO 500

GEICO 500

NASCAR Cup Series
Venue	Talladega Superspeedway
Location	Talladega, Alabama, United States
Corporate sponsor	GEICO
First race	1970 (1970)
Distance	500.08 miles (804.80 km)
Laps	188 Stages 1/2: 60 each Final stage: 68
Previous names	Alabama 500 (1970) Winston 500 (1971–1993, 1997) Winston Select 500 (1994–1996) DieHard 500 (1998–2000) Talladega 500 (2001) Aaron's 499 (2002–2014)
Most wins (driver)	Jeff Gordon Brad Keselowski (4)
Most wins (team)	Hendrick Motorsports (8)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Chevrolet (22)
Circuit information
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Turns	4

The GEICO 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The race is usually held in April or May. The 1997 event stands as the fastest NASCAR race to date ever run with an average speed of 188.354 miles per hour (303.126 km/h) and was the first race at Talladega Superspeedway that was not interrupted by a caution period.

The race was known as the second leg of the sport's

• 1971: The first Talladega race under Winston sponsorship. Donnie Allison edged Bobby Allison and Buddy Baker for the win; this was Bobby's first race with Holman-Moody since 1967.
• 1972:
  David Pearson escaped a crash between Bobby Isaac and Jimmy Crawford coming to the white flag; he grabbed his first Talladega win and second career win in a Wood Brothers
  Mercury.
• 1973: A massive accident eliminated some 20 cars, leaving
  David Pearson to ride home almost uncontested. Jim Vandiver
  made up three laps to finish eighth.
• 1974: Pearson grabbed his third straight Winston 500 (and fourth straight for
  Penske Racing
  team. The lead changed 53 times.
• 1975: The race was filled with several accidents, featured the first win for
  F1 Champion Juan Manuel Fangio
  was the honorary starter.
• 1976: Baker became the first driver to win a 500-mile race in under three hours. He drove Bud Moore's Ford to the win in 2 hours 56 minutes.
• 1977: The race produced 63 official lead changes and a four-car scramble on the final lap. Darrell Waltrip had the lead and on the last lap swung low to break the draft; Cale Yarborough blew past Donnie Allison and swung high on Waltrip; Waltrip sideswiped Cale and Benny Parsons dove low and raced Cale all the way to the stripe.
• 1978: Rain postponed the race to
  Mothers Day Sunday. Cale Yarborough drafted past Buddy Baker
  for the win.
• 1980: Baker stormed past sophomore Dale Earnhardt coming to the white flag for his final Talladega win.
• 1981: Bobby Allison fought off a late challenge from Baker, Darrell Waltrip, and Ricky Rudd; the race lead changed six times in the final six laps.
• 1982:
  Nashville Speedway
  ), disappeared.
• 1984: The race has exceeded 40 official lead changes 18 times. In 1984 a motorsports record of 75 lead changes was set, but this record was broken in 2010 as the lead changed 88 times; this record was tied in 2011. The race was won by Cale Yarborough on a last-lap pass of Harry Gant.
• 1985: Bill Elliott came from nearly two laps down and ran down the field under green to take the win from Kyle Petty.
• 1987: On lap 22,
  Firecracker 400 at Daytona), saw the cars using smaller carburetors in an effort to curtail speeds. Starting in 1988, all races at Daytona and Talladega saw mandated carburetor restrictor plates, which were used until the introduction of a new aerodynamics package following the 2019 Daytona 500. Overshadowed by the frightening scene was that this race would be the first victory for Bobby Allison's son Davey
  .
• 1988: Phil Parsons' single Cup series victory which was shadowed by an incident involving A. J. Foyt and Alan Kulwicki that left Foyt suspended from NASCAR for six months. He was also fined $5,000. NASCAR's vice president of competition Les Richter reviewed the incident and lifted the suspension. However, Foyt's fine was increased to $7,500.^[1][2]
• 1990: Dale Earnhardt grabbed his first Talladega win since 1984, holding off a wildcard bid by Greg Sacks.
• 1991: The race was delayed until Monday due to Sunday rains. A massive battle for the lead erupted into a 20-car crash near halfway when pole-sitter Ernie Irvan got into Kyle Petty and Mark Martin; Petty suffered a shattered leg when he was hit in the door by Chad Little. The race was red-flagged for nearly an hour. Harry Gant won the race on a controversial drafting push by teammate Rick Mast who was a lap down.
• 1993: The last lap saw a ferocious scramble where
  Morgan-McClure Motorsports
  .
• 1994: Dale Earnhardt won this race, and dedicated it to Three-time Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna, who died earlier that day in a crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, Italy. There were two consecutive Big Ones just past the midway point: the first one happened on lap 103 in a race for third place when Todd Bodine came down on Greg Sacks and spun into Jeff Gordon. The three cars spun, with Sacks escaping, and collected eight other cars. Mark Martin had taken the worst hit, as his car was collected, shot across the infield, struck the inside wall, and plowed through a guardrail, a chain-link fence, and lastly caught by another guardrail protecting the infield road course, coming to a rest feet from a spectator area. After the field bunched up for the restart, another crash occurred in the tri-oval, when Terry Labonte, running 14th, was tapped from behind, starting a chain-reaction crash collecting at least 14 other cars in turn 1.
• 1996: Sterling Marlin rallied from the back of the pack three separate times to take the win. The race saw two airborne crashes; Bill Elliott flew down the backstretch in the air^[3] and suffered a leg injury that sidelined him for several races. Later Mark Martin was turned into the wall by Jeff Gordon and bounced into traffic; Ricky Craven tumbled up the Turn One banking and hit the fencing before bouncing down to the ground.^[4]
• 1997: Mark Martin won the fastest NASCAR race ever run at Talladega Superspeedway, and the fastest NASCAR race in history when he averaged 188.354 mph in 2 and half hours.
• 2000: Jeff Gordon scored his 50th career win after starting the race from 36th place, the farthest starting spot ever at Talladega.
• 2001: Bobby Hamilton won the race after passing Tony Stewart coming to the white flag. It would be Hamilton's final victory before his death in 2007. It was the second caution-free Talladega race ever, and the first restrictor-plate race since Dale Earnhardt's death.
• 2002: Dale Earnhardt Jr. dominated the race, leading for 133 laps, and took home his second consecutive Talladega win, and teammate Michael Waltrip finished second, the third time the DEI Chevrolets had finished 1-2 after the Daytona races of the previous year. The race was marred by a 24 car crash on the back straightaway on lap 164, in the same location where a large crash had occurred the day before in the Busch race that had involved 30 cars. It was the largest crash ever recorded in NASCAR Cup Series competition until the following year. This was also the first Talladega spring Cup race under the "Aaron's 499" name.
• 2003: On lap 4, the largest crash ever recorded in the NASCAR Cup Series happened when
  Johnny Benson, eventual race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Ricky Rudd, Jeff Burton, points leader Matt Kenseth
  and more. After multiple trips down pit road to repair damage to his car, Earnhardt Jr. made several rallies to the front, overtaking Kenseth with three laps to go to win his fourth consecutive Talladega race.
  • The finish was not without controversy: after the 2001 spring race (thanks in part to protestations from
    Indy Racing League
    , would have called Kenseth out for violating the blocking rule – a driver may not make two-lane changes on a straight, which is a penalty; the ethic against blocking, however, holds no weight in NASCAR given the gendered nature of the cars. The yellow line rule remained a controversial rule in the sport, with subsequent controversies in the 2008 and 2020 autumn races.
  • Following Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 2003 win, Hendrick Motorsports won four straight – three by Jeff Gordon and one by Jimmie Johnson.
• 2004: Jeff Gordon's win was marked by a spinout by
  green-white-checkered rule
  being instituted in the NASCAR Cup Series and Nationwide Series less than two months later.
• 2008: Kyle Busch won at Talladega over Juan Pablo Montoya. Until 2023, this was his most recent win at Talladega in the Cup Series.
• 2009: A final battle to the finish between Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards ended in near-disaster when Edwards' car made contact with Keselowski while approaching the finish line and was hooked onto the trioval apron. The car spun into the air and was hammered by Ryan Newman, sending Edwards flipping into the catch fence as Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. crossed the finish line. The debris from the wreck injured eight spectators, all non-life-threatening. Immediately after the car came to rest, Edwards walked away unharmed after jogging past the finish line as an absurd homage to the finale of the 2006 racing comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Keselowski went on to win the race in only his fifth NASCAR Cup Series starts, undoubtedly one of the biggest upsets of the decade. There were two Big Ones during the race: one in turn 3 on lap 7 involving 14 cars, and one on the back straightaway on Lap 180 involving eleven cars. There were 56 lead changes among 25 drivers.
• 2010: The race was called "the Greatest Talladega Race Ever" by
  green-white-checkered finish rule was implemented for the first time to the maximum of three attempts (the first attempt because Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, and Scott Speed wrecked in the tri-oval on lap 182; the second attempt began when Joey Logano turned Ryan Newman loose in turn 3 and Newman ran into the wall, collecting Bobby Labonte, Elliott Sadler, Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne, Marcos Ambrose, Sam Hornish Jr., and Brad Keselowski; the third attempt happened when Jimmie Johnson was clipped by Greg Biffle and collided with the inside wall on the back straightaway). Jamie McMurray was the leader at each GWC restart and on the final lap, McMurray and Kevin Harvick pulled away. Coming through the tri-oval, Harvick pushed McMurray up the track and moved low; unlike Carl Edwards the previous year, McMurray gave Harvick room, which allowed Harvick to overtake him and win the race by a wheel, with an official margin of victory set at .012 seconds. This marked Harvick's first win since the 2007 Daytona 500
  amid contract talks for the 2010 season. Harvick's contract was renewed shortly afterward.
• 2011: The race saw a Hendrick Motorsports sweep of the top four starting positions, with Jeff Gordon winning the inside pole and Jimmie Johnson taking the outside pole. During the race, Gordon and Johnson drafted respectively with Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who filled out the second row on the grid.
  • The race set the record for most lead changes in regulation (tying the all-time record for most lead changes overall, but the 88th lead change took place on lap 188, the last lap of regulation, unlike the previous year, when Harvick's last-lap pass on McMurray took place on Lap 200, the final lap of the third green-white-checkered finish), and also tied the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 for the closest NASCAR Cup Series finish in the electronic timing era (1993–present) at 0.002 seconds. Coming into the tri-oval, Gordon was being pushed by Martin and dueling with Clint Bowyer, who was being pushed by Kevin Harvick. Entering the tri-oval, Johnson, pushed by Earnhardt Jr., squeezed low to Gordon's inside. A brush between Earnhardt Jr., and Martin killed Martin's momentum, and Johnson was able to edge ahead of Bowyer and Gordon to win.
• 2012: This was the first Talladega race after NASCAR mandated a smaller spoiler and also radiator changes to induce a greater risk of overheating. The changes were made to break up tandem drafting; the lead changed only 34 times and drivers such as Jeff Gordon protested after the race that the rules package made them race "too conservative." The race saw two crashes in the last 60 laps: one on lap 142 involving five cars in turn 3 caused by some cars running out of gas, and another in turn 1 during a late restart on lap 186 (after Kurt Busch's spin in the tri-oval). In the final laps, a tandem draft of Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch stormed into the lead; Keselowski shook off Busch's bumper and blasted away to win by two car lengths, the first time in several years that the race win had not been decided by the last-lap.
• 2013: A green-white-checkered finish set up a frantic final lap as
  Roush Fenway Racing
  ). This race is sometimes referred to as "The 7 hours of Talladega", as the field first received the green flag at 1:07 pm EST/12:07 CDT and finished at around 8:15 pm EST/7:15 CDT, causing NASCAR to do just a single attempt at a green-white-checkered finish due to darkness. It was also NASCAR's first major test/workout for their new Air Titan track-drying technique, which did double duty, also working the Nationwide race the day before. Nationwide race winner Regan Smith was in contention toward the end but was shuffled back and finished sixth.
• 2014: Denny Hamlin clawed to his first win of the season and the first points-paying restrictor-plate race win. The race ended under yellow when Justin Allgaier, who'd rallied to challenge for the win in the final 30 laps, crashed with Alex Bowman coming to the white flag. Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 26 laps but lost the lead draft in the final 20 laps and finished 26th. Danica Patrick led six laps early but faded to 22nd. The story of the race was Brad Keselowski; after spinning in the first turn following a shunt with Patrick, he lost six laps early in the race with radiator problems; in the second half of the race he was fighting to get a lap back; he spun out with 50 to go and the crash involved some eleven other cars; Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth were very critical of Keselowski's actions. A crash with twelve to go eliminated Keselowski's teammate Joey Logano. This was also the final Talladega spring Cup race under the "Aaron's 499" name.
• 2015: The race started at 1:20 p.m., The lead changed 27 times between 15 drivers, A multi-car wreck happened on lap 47, as 15 cars were involved, that brought out an 11-minute 15-second red flag, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first race of the season. This was also the first Talladega spring race under the "GEICO 500" name.
• 2016: The race was started 20 minutes early due to the threat of rain in the area. After a 50 lap opening green-flag run, the race itself was marred by eight crashes, including four Big Ones. Of the 40 cars in the field, only seven cars finished without damage. These included a wreck on lap 96 that saw Chris Buescher flip over three times on the back straightaway, a 17 car wreck in turn 1 on lap 162, and a 12 car wreck on lap 180 saw Matt Kenseth flip over on the back straightaway and strike the inside wall, before turning back upright. Brad Keselowski won his second race of the year as an eight-car wreck unfolded in the tri-oval. The lead changed 37 times between 17 drivers.
• 2017: The race was also notable because of the big one striking late and A. J. Allmendinger going over on his roof with Chase Elliott almost going over, and Danica Patrick hitting hard on the backstretch as she did in the spring 2016 race. The race was won by Ricky Stenhouse Jr, which was his first NASCAR Cup Series win.
• 2019: This race was the first at Talladega without restrictor plates since 1987, as NASCAR used a tapered spacer to restrict the engines instead. Chase Elliott won the race after a final lap crash resulted in Kyle Larson going airborne on the backstretch and flipping several times.
• 2020:
  FBI investigation was performed, declaring Wallace was not the target of a hate crime. Wallace in the Richard Petty Motorsports
  43 led one lap and was running fourth with three to go but had to pit for fuel and finished 14th.
• 2021: Joey Logano got airborne and flipped over in Turn 3 on the last lap of Stage 1. Despite also being involved in the wreck, Brad Keselowski continued on and would end up winning the race. This would be his last win until 2024 at Darlington Raceway.
• 2023: Kyle Busch got his 1st win at Talladega in 15 years when Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney triggered The Big One headed into Turn 1 on the final lap.

Past winners

• 1974: Race shortened due to the energy crisis.
• 1987: Race shortened due to darkness – caused by a red flag that lasted for two and a half hours to repair the
  catch fence after Bobby Allison
  's lap 22 crash.
• 1991 & 2006: Race moved from Sunday to Monday due to rain.
• 1997: Race was scheduled for Sunday, April 27, but was moved back two weeks due to rain. Qualifying was held as scheduled, but rain washed out any chance to hold the race on Sunday or Monday. To complicate matters, the series was racing at Sonoma the following weekend, and the travel burden for the teams would be too much to overcome if the race were to be held Tuesday as would be the normal policy (next available day). Series officials decided to have the teams pack up and depart for Sonoma, and rescheduled the Winston 500 for the weekend after that (Saturday, May 10). It was Mother's Day weekend, a date traditionally left open by NASCAR at the time. The teams arrived in sunny skies, and Mark Martin won the first-ever caution-free Talladega plate race.
• 2001: The first restrictor-plate race after Dale Earnhardt's death was the second-ever caution-free race in Talladega history. It was Bobby Hamilton's last win in Cup before his death in 2007 to cancer.
• 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2020, 2021, & 2023: Race extended due to a NASCAR Overtime finish. 2010 took three attempts for the first time. 2013 was restricted to a single attempt due to impending darkness after a weather delay of 3 hours and 36 minutes.
• 2010: Set record for most lead changes in regulation (87) and overall lead changes (88).^[60]
• 2011: Set record for most lead changes in regulation (88), and tied for closest margin of victory in the Sprint Cup Series (0.002 sec.)^[61]
• 2020: Race postponed from April 26 to June 21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then postponed from June 21 to June 22 due to rain.^[62][63]

Multiple winners (drivers)

Multiple winners (teams)

Manufacturer wins

References

External links

• Talladega Superspeedway race results at Racing-Reference