MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
Alabama 500
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, Alabama
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Race Winner: Brad Keselowski
Age: 33
Team: No. 2 – Miller Lite Ford
Owner: Team Penske
Crew Chief: Paul Wolfe
IN THE WORDS OF THE WINNER – “This is still sinking in. It is a special place to get to race and a special place when you win here. It was really a collaborative effort with the team and getting a real fast car and making the right moves as a driver and a lot of help from up above with staying out of those wrecks. It really takes all three and we had them all today.”
- Brad Keselowski
----------------
· Brad Keselowski won the 49th annual Alabama 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Talladega Superspeedway Sunday afternoon. It was the second of the three races in the Round of 12 of the MENCS playoffs. It is Keselowski’s 24th win in 300 career MENCS races and his third victory in 31 races this year. It is also his fifth victory in 18 career MENCS races at Talladega.
· Keselowski becomes the seventh driver to earn a victory in his 300th career MENCS start.
· With the victory, Keselowski locks up a spot in the Round of 8 in the MENCS playoffs, joining Martin Truex Jr., who has also secured a spot.
· Overall, today’s finish marked Keselowski’s 18th top-10 and 13th top-5 in 31 races of 2017.
· This marked the 16th straight playoff race that was won by a driver who was still alive in the playoffs. The streak dates back to the 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 on November 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which was won by Kyle Busch.
· This marked the fifth straight Talladega race and sixth in the last seven that was won by a Ford driver.
· Ford drivers occupied four of the top-5 spots today.
· Ryan Newman (2nd) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 31 MENCS races this year and his seventh in the top-5. It was his best finish since he won at Phoenix on March 19 of this year.
· Trevor Bayne (3rd) accounted for his best finish since he also stood third on July 2, 2016 at Daytona. It marked his fifth top-10 finish in 31 races this year and second top-5.
· Gray Gaulding (9th) was the highest finishing rookie.
· For 2017, NASCAR has introduced a new stage format in all three national series where each race is segmented into three stages. In addition to the points awarded at the end of a race (Final Stage), points are also awarded to the top-10 finishers of the first two stages (Stage 1 & Stage 2).
· Brad Keselowski won Stage 1 of today’s race while Ryan Blaney took Stage 2.
· The following are the playoff standings following the second of three races in the Round of 12. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 19.
Name Pts. Name Pts.
1. Martin Truex Jr.* 3120 7. Ryan Blaney 3076
2. Brad Keselowski* 3101 8. Jimmie Johnson 3074
3. Kyle Larson 3096 9. Kyle Busch 3067
4. Kevin Harvick 3089 10. Matt Kenseth 3066
5. Denny Hamlin 3088 11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 3062
6. Chase Elliott 3087 12. Jamie McMurray 3045
*Advances to Round of 8
· In nine career MENCS starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Brad Keselowski has recorded three top-10 finishes and two top-5 showings. He earned his lone cup championship of his career following the 2012 Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
· The NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) was off this week. They will return to action next Saturday at Kansas.
· The following are the standings heading into the Round of 8 of the 2017 NXS playoffs, which commences this week in Kansas. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 300 XFINITY Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 18.
Name Pts. Name Pts.
1. William Byron# 3026 5. Cole Custer# 3007
2. Justin Allgaier 3023 6. Brennan Poole 3006
3. Elliott Sadler 3020 7. Ryan Reed 3005
4. Daniel Hemric# 3009 8. Matt Tifft# 3004
#Denotes rookie
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
· Parker Kligerman won the 12th annual fred’s 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. The race was the third of the 2017 Camping World Truck Series playoffs, and concluded the Round of 8. It marked Kligerman’s second victory in 68 career NCWTS starts.
· For Kligerman it was his fifth top-10 finish and first top-5 showing in seven races this year.
· Christopher Bell (2nd) accounted for his 17th top-10 finish and 13th top-5 showing in 19 NCWTS races this year.
· Myatt Snider (3rd) posted his third top-10 finish and first top-5 showing in six NCWTS races this year.
· Grant Enfinger (4th) was the highest finishing rookie.
· The following are the playoff standings heading into the Round of 6 in the NCWTS playoffs, which will commence in two weeks at Martinsville. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 200 Camping World Truck Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, November 17.
Name Pts. Name Pts.
1. Christopher Bell 3047 4. John Hunter Nemechek 3014
2. Johnny Sauter 3027 5. Ben Rhodes 3013
3. Matt Crafton 3014 6. Austin Cindric# 3007
#Denotes rookie
Alabama 500
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, Alabama
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Race Winner: Brad Keselowski
Age: 33
Team: No. 2 – Miller Lite Ford
Owner: Team Penske
Crew Chief: Paul Wolfe
IN THE WORDS OF THE WINNER – “This is still sinking in. It is a special place to get to race and a special place when you win here. It was really a collaborative effort with the team and getting a real fast car and making the right moves as a driver and a lot of help from up above with staying out of those wrecks. It really takes all three and we had them all today.”
- Brad Keselowski
----------------
· Brad Keselowski won the 49th annual Alabama 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Talladega Superspeedway Sunday afternoon. It was the second of the three races in the Round of 12 of the MENCS playoffs. It is Keselowski’s 24th win in 300 career MENCS races and his third victory in 31 races this year. It is also his fifth victory in 18 career MENCS races at Talladega.
· Keselowski becomes the seventh driver to earn a victory in his 300th career MENCS start.
· With the victory, Keselowski locks up a spot in the Round of 8 in the MENCS playoffs, joining Martin Truex Jr., who has also secured a spot.
· Overall, today’s finish marked Keselowski’s 18th top-10 and 13th top-5 in 31 races of 2017.
· This marked the 16th straight playoff race that was won by a driver who was still alive in the playoffs. The streak dates back to the 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 on November 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which was won by Kyle Busch.
· This marked the fifth straight Talladega race and sixth in the last seven that was won by a Ford driver.
· Ford drivers occupied four of the top-5 spots today.
· Ryan Newman (2nd) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 31 MENCS races this year and his seventh in the top-5. It was his best finish since he won at Phoenix on March 19 of this year.
· Trevor Bayne (3rd) accounted for his best finish since he also stood third on July 2, 2016 at Daytona. It marked his fifth top-10 finish in 31 races this year and second top-5.
· Gray Gaulding (9th) was the highest finishing rookie.
· For 2017, NASCAR has introduced a new stage format in all three national series where each race is segmented into three stages. In addition to the points awarded at the end of a race (Final Stage), points are also awarded to the top-10 finishers of the first two stages (Stage 1 & Stage 2).
· Brad Keselowski won Stage 1 of today’s race while Ryan Blaney took Stage 2.
· The following are the playoff standings following the second of three races in the Round of 12. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 19.
Name Pts. Name Pts.
1. Martin Truex Jr.* 3120 7. Ryan Blaney 3076
2. Brad Keselowski* 3101 8. Jimmie Johnson 3074
3. Kyle Larson 3096 9. Kyle Busch 3067
4. Kevin Harvick 3089 10. Matt Kenseth 3066
5. Denny Hamlin 3088 11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 3062
6. Chase Elliott 3087 12. Jamie McMurray 3045
*Advances to Round of 8
· In nine career MENCS starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Brad Keselowski has recorded three top-10 finishes and two top-5 showings. He earned his lone cup championship of his career following the 2012 Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
· The NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) was off this week. They will return to action next Saturday at Kansas.
· The following are the standings heading into the Round of 8 of the 2017 NXS playoffs, which commences this week in Kansas. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 300 XFINITY Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 18.
Name Pts. Name Pts.
1. William Byron# 3026 5. Cole Custer# 3007
2. Justin Allgaier 3023 6. Brennan Poole 3006
3. Elliott Sadler 3020 7. Ryan Reed 3005
4. Daniel Hemric# 3009 8. Matt Tifft# 3004
#Denotes rookie
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
· Parker Kligerman won the 12th annual fred’s 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. The race was the third of the 2017 Camping World Truck Series playoffs, and concluded the Round of 8. It marked Kligerman’s second victory in 68 career NCWTS starts.
· For Kligerman it was his fifth top-10 finish and first top-5 showing in seven races this year.
· Christopher Bell (2nd) accounted for his 17th top-10 finish and 13th top-5 showing in 19 NCWTS races this year.
· Myatt Snider (3rd) posted his third top-10 finish and first top-5 showing in six NCWTS races this year.
· Grant Enfinger (4th) was the highest finishing rookie.
· The following are the playoff standings heading into the Round of 6 in the NCWTS playoffs, which will commence in two weeks at Martinsville. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 200 Camping World Truck Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, November 17.
Name Pts. Name Pts.
1. Christopher Bell 3047 4. John Hunter Nemechek 3014
2. Johnny Sauter 3027 5. Ben Rhodes 3013
3. Matt Crafton 3014 6. Austin Cindric# 3007
#Denotes rookie
