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| NASCAR Cup Series | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Talladega Superspeedway |
| Location | Talladega, Alabama, United States |
| Corporate sponsor | YellaWood[1] |
| First race | 1969 |
| Distance | 500.08 miles (804.801 km) |
| Laps | 188 Stages 1/2: 60 each Final stage: 68 |
| 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)[2] CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega (2015) Hellmann's 500 (2016) Alabama 500 (2017) 1000Bulbs.com 500 (2018–2019) |
| Most wins (driver) | Dale Earnhardt (7) |
| Most wins (team) | Richard Childress Racing (8) |
| Most wins (manufacturer) | Chevrolet (22) |
| Circuit information | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 2.66 mi (4.28 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
The YellaWood 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, hosting an event in the NASCAR playoffs. The race is one of four NASCAR Cup Series races currently run with tapered spacers, the others being the GEICO 500 in May, the Coke Zero Sugar 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 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, every year in the period spanning 2003–2013, and once again in 2019-20. 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. Additionally, the 2000 running of the race is especially notable for being the final career victory for Dale Earnhardt, charging from 18th to the lead in the final 6 laps of the race.
- ^ "YellaWood 500 Announced at Talladega". Talladega Superspeedway. May 26, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- ^ "GEICO's Partnership Grows with Talladega Superspeedway – "GEICO 500" Fall Classic Sprint Cup Series Race Set for Oct. 19". Talladega Superspeedway. January 30, 2014. Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.