TALLADEGA, Ala. -- John Hunter Nemechek was on the brink of an early exit from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs after he was caught up in a wreck roughly halfway through the running of the Fred's 250. But he weaved his way through a multi-truck wreck with roughly 20 laps remaining and took advantage of the trucks caught up in the final-lap melee to claim a sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway.
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. will lead the field to the green flag tomorrow afternoon after winning the pole for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
With most of the focus on the Camping World Truck Series playoff picture, Spencer Boyd patiently managed the Talladgea draft to finish 13th, a career high. Boyd has spent the latter part of the season running in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for SS Green Light Racing in the No. 07, but had an opportunity to run his 3rd Truck race this year in DJ Copp’s No. 83.
Joey Logano led the way for the Ford Performance and Team Penske contingent in qualifying with the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion for Sunday afternoon’s Alabama 500, turning the third fastest lap time.
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 MOUNTAIN DEW CHEVROLET SS – Pole Winner - WHAT’S IT LIKE TO GET A POLE ON YOUR FINAL ATTEMPT AT TALLADEGA? “We got a pole earlier this year at Daytona. We’ve been fighting our teammate, Chase (Elliott) and his group for poles at these tracks for a long time and it’s been a lot of fun to be honest with you, how these two teams have pushed and elevated each other."
BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – “That’s not bad. I wanted a little bit more. I want to be in the top-six, which is good. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty good, so we’ll take that and move forward.”
Donnie Allison, two-time Talladega Superspeedway winner and original member of the famed Alabama Gang, will lead the field to green in Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s historic No. 2 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Sunday’s Alabama 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) playoff race. The blue and yellow, white numeral machine was driven by Dale Sr. during the 1979 and 1980 MENCS seasons and was presented to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. as a retirement gift from the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and Talladega Superspeedway on Friday.
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Before the season started, at the Henderson Motorsports shop in Abingdon, Virginia, I asked NBC Sports analyst Parker Kligerman why he was taking a part-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride. His response was "Why the hell not?" Today I asked him if this win validated that response, he said it didn't need validating because he's having a hell of a lot of fun.
