Sparks Energy 300

This article is about the race called the Aaron's 312 held in Talladega. For the race formerly called the Aaron's 312 held in Atlanta, see Great Clips 300.
Sparks Energy 300
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Venue Talladega Superspeedway
Location Talladega, Alabama, United States
Corporate sponsor Sparks Energy
First race 1992 (1992)
Distance 300.08 miles (482.93 km)
Laps 113
Previous names Fram Filter 500k (1992–1994)
Humminbird Fishfinder 500K (1995–1996)
Birmingham Auto Dealers 500K (1997)
Touchstone Energy 300 (1998–2000)
Subway 300 (2001)
Aaron's 312 at Talladega (2002)
Aaron's 312 (2003–2014)
Winn-Dixie 300 (2015)
Most wins (driver) Martin Truex Jr. (3)
Most wins (team) Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Joe Gibbs Racing (5)
Most wins (manufacturer) Chevrolet (14)
Circuit information
Surface Asphalt
Length 2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Turns 4

The Sparks Energy 300 is a NASCAR Xfinity Series race held at Talladega Superspeedway, a 300.08-mile-long (483 km) race, It is held annually before the Sprint Cup Series race, the GEICO 500, the 500.08-mile-long (805 km) race.

From its inception in 1992 through 1996, the race was held in the summer, as a support race to the Talladega DieHard 500. When the DieHard 500 moved to the fall, this race moved to the spring, as a support race to the spring Cup event.

Large wrecks involving 20 or more cars have occurred a number of times in the history of the event, most notably in 2002. 30 cars were involved in an accident on the backstretch on lap 14, with 19 knocked out of the race at that point. The remainder of the race, following a long red-flag period, had little resemblance to typical restrictor plate racing as only two cars were within short distance at the checkered flag and only three finished on the lead lap.

Unique race distance

At its inception, the event debuted as a 500-kilometer (310 mi) event, the longest race on the NASCAR Busch Series schedule. Automobile races in the United States measured in kilometers, especially those in NASCAR, are few. Through their history, ARCA races held at the track carried the more attractive and marketable "500" distance, even if it meant "500 kilometers" instead of miles (a custom also used at Riverside and Phoenix). The Busch Series race mimicked that precedent.

In 1998, fans complained about the use of kilometers, which was seen as a European custom. They argued that kilometers are rarely used in the United States, noting that the track measurement itself was still advertised in miles. Management changed the race to a 300-mile (480 km) event from 1998-2001. The change shortened the race distance by just four laps.

In 2002, Aaron's assumed title sponsorship and returned the race to a 312-mile (502 km) event. The race distance is only coincidental to that of 1992-1997. The distance, advertised unequivocally in miles this time, was set to reflect the sponsor's slogan ("3 ways to buy, 12 reasons to shop at Aaron's"). In 2015, the race returned to 300 miles.

Notable races

Past winners

Year Date Driver Team Manufacturer Race distance Race time Average speed
(mph)
Laps Miles (km)
1992 July 25 Ernie Irvan Ernie Irvan Chevrolet 117 311.22 (500.86) 1:57:55 158.359
1993 July 24 Dale Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 117 311.22 (500.86) 2:07:12 146.801
1994 July 23 Ken Schrader Ken Schrader Chevrolet 117 311.22 (500.86) 1:51:30 167.473
1995 July 22 Chad Little Mark Rypien Motorsports Ford 117 311.22 (500.86) 2:31:56 122.904
1996 July 27 Greg Sacks Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet 117 311.22 (500.86) 2:13:55 139.438
1997 April 26 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 117 311.22 (500.86) 1:50:32 168.937
1998 April 25 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 113 300.58 (483.736) 2:32:35 118.196
1999 April 24 Terry Labonte Labonte Motorsports Chevrolet 113 300.58 (483.736) 1:59:36 150.793
2000 April 15 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 113 300.58 (483.736) 1:57:13 153.859
2001 April 21 Mike McLaughlin Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 113 300.58 (483.736) 2:17:24 131.258
2002 April 20 Jason Keller ppc Racing Ford 117 311.22 (500.86) 1:58:25 157.691
2003 April 5 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 117 311.22 (500.86) 2:11:43 114.768
2004 April 24 Martin Truex, Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 117 311.22 (500.86) 2:16:31 136.783
2005 April 30 Martin Truex, Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 120* 319.2 (513.702) 2:36:50 122.117
2006 April 29 Martin Truex, Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 117 311.22 (500.86) 2:04:40 149.785
2007 April 28 Bobby Labonte Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 120* 319.2 (513.702) 2:23:46 133.216
2008 April 26 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 117 311.22 (500.86) 2:20:17 133.111
2009 April 25 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 120* 319.2 (513.702) 2:08:32 149.004
2010 April 25* Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 120* 319.2 (513.702) 2:01:30 157.630
2011 April 16 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 124* 329.84 (530.826) 2:36:18 126.618
2012 May 5 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 122* 324.52 (522.264) 2:22:54 136.258
2013 May 4 Regan Smith JR Motorsports Chevrolet 110* 292.6 (470.894) 2:11:44 133.269
2014 May 3 Elliott Sadler Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 117 311.22 (500.86) 2:22:18 131.224
2015 May 2 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 113 300.58 (483.736) 2:22:07 126.901
2016 April 30 Elliott Sadler JR Motorsports Chevrolet 116* 308.56 (496.579) 2:19:45 132.477

Multiple winners (drivers)

# Wins Driver Years won
3 Martin Truex, Jr. 2004, 2005, 2006
2 Joe Nemechek 1998, 2000
Joey Logano 2012, 2015
Elliott Sadler 2014, 2016

Multiple winners (teams)

# Wins Team Years won
5 Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 1993, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
Joe Gibbs Racing 2001, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014
2 Roush Fenway Racing 1997, 2009
NEMCO Motorsports 1998, 2000
Team Penske 2010, 2015
JR Motorsports 2013, 2016

Manufacturer wins

# Wins Make Years won
14 United States Chevrolet 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2016
5 United States Ford 1995, 1997, 2002, 2009, 2015
4 Japan Toyota 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014
1 United States Pontiac 2001
United States Dodge 2010

Television broadcasters

Year Network Lap-by-lap Color commentator(s)
1992 CBS Buddy Baker Ned Jarrett
Chris Economaki
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997 ABC Bob Jenkins Ned Jarrett
Benny Parsons
1998
1999
2000 ESPN2
2001 Fox Mike Joy Darrell Waltrip
Larry McReynolds
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007 ABC Jerry Punch Rusty Wallace
Andy Petree
2008
2009
2010 ESPN Marty Reid Dale Jarrett
Andy Petree
2011 Allen Bestwick
2012 ABC
2013 ESPN
2014
2015 Fox Adam Alexander Jeff Gordon
Michael Waltrip
2016 Denny Hamlin
Michael Waltrip

References

    External links

    Previous race:
    Toyota Care 250
    NASCAR Xfinity Series
    Sparks Energy 300
    Next race:
    Ollie's Bargain Outlet 200
    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, May 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.