al.com ♦ Our online home Your pocket guide to Aaron’s 499 Thursday-Sunday, April 22-25 ♦ Talladega Superspeedway
The schedule Parking ThursDAY SaturDAY Talladega Superspeedway has announced some 7 a.m. – ARCA, NASCAR 6 a.m. – NSCS garage changes to its traffic plan Nationwide Series garages opens to get fans in and out of open 8 a.m. – Grandstands open the track faster. 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. – ARCA 9 a.m. – Nationwide Series Jimmie Johnson leads practice garage opens Saturday Sprint Cup points race . North parking lots 2N & 3N 3 p.m. – Nationwide Series 10:35 a.m. – Sprint Cup practice (located across from the main qualifying, then impound entrance) will remain closed Nationwide Series The drivers Who to watch for 4 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. – Nationwide on Saturday only. Race fans final practice should park in lots 1E–4E and Series driver introductions Car No. / Driver / Automaker 1 9 Elliott Sadler, Ford, 4 7 Marcos Ambrose, Toyota 5:05 p.m. – ARCA qualify- 1W–9W. 2 p.m. – Nationwide Series 00 David Reutimann, Toyota 20 Joey Logano, Toyota 48 Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet ing . West parking lots 10W & Aaron’s 312 1 Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 7 p.m. – NASCAR Sprint 55 Michael Waltrip, Toyota 11W (located off New Jackson Sprint Cup garage Trace) will remain closed on Cup haulers enter 2 p.m. – 2 Kurt Busch, Dodge 26 David Stremme, Ford 56 Martin Truex Jr, Toyota closes Saturday only. If entering the 7:30 p.m. – ARCA, Nation- 5 Mark Martin, Chevrolet 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 66 Dave Blaney, Toyota facility from New Jackson Trace, lot 9W will be open. wide Series garage closes 6 David Ragan, Ford 3 1 Jeff Burton, Chevrolet 7 1 Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet 7 Robby Gordon, Toyota 3 3 Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet . Allison Grandstand custom- FRIDAY 77 Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge ers will have a new express 09 Mike Bliss, Chevrolet 3 4 Travis Kvapil, Ford 6 a.m. – Sprint Cup, 78 Regan Smith, Chevrolet lane that leads to Speedway 9 Kasey Kahne, Ford 35 Aric Almirola, Chevrolet Boulevard without waiting on Nationwide Series garage 82 Scott Speed, Toyota cross-traffic exiting the Gate opens 1 1 Denny Hamlin, Toyota 36 Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet 83 Brian Vickers, Toyota V9 Infield Crossover. 8 a.m. – Grandstands open 1 2 Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 37 Robert Richardson Jr., Ford 87 Joe Nemechek, Toyota Sunday 9:30 a.m. – ARCA final 1 3 Max Papis, Toyota 38 Kevin Conway, Ford 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet . North Park Free Camping practice 1 4 Tony Stewart, Chevrolet 39 Ryan Newman, Chevrolet lots will be held for two hours 10:30 a.m. – Nationwide 1 6 Greg Biffle, Ford 42 Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet 97 Jeff Fuller, Toyota while traffic exits the Free Day Series qualifying 1 7 Matt Kenseth, Ford 43 A J Allmendinger, Ford 98 Paul Menard, Ford Parking lots. Sunday 1 p.m. – NSCS practice 18 Kyle Busch, Toyota 46 Terry Cook, Dodge 99 Carl Edwards, Ford . Reserved Family Camping 8 a.m. – Grandstands open lots will be held for two hours 2 p.m. – Nationwide Series while traffic exits the Free Day garage closes 8 a.m. – Sprint Cup garage Parking lots. opens 2:30 p.m. – NSCS final . Allison Grandstand custom- practice 11:30 a.m. – Sprint Cup ers will again be able to use 4 p.m. – ARCA Series Race driver Introductions the new express lane that 250 (94 Laps, 250 Miles) leads to Speedway Boulevard Noon – Sprint Cup without having to wait on 6:30 p.m. – NSCS garage Aaron’s 499 (green flag No. 2 Kurt No. 11 Denny No. 24 Jeff No. 48 Jimmie No. 88 Dale No. 99 Carl cross-traffic exiting the Gate closes scheduled at 12:19 p.m.) Busch Hamlin Gordon Johnson Earnhardt Jr. Edwards V9 Infield Crossover. TaTALLllADEGAadega TRA SuperspeedwCK FACTS ay Track facts Built: 1969 ♦ Distance: 2.66-mile tri-oval course ♦ Grandstand seating capacity: 143,231 ♦ Size: 3,000 acres ♦ Infield: 212 acres
South Talladega Airport tunnel Nationwide More than 700 airplanes Garage land on race day. TURN 1 Start/finish line TURN 2 Grandstands RV parking Scoring tower
RV parking Frontrunners Sprint Club 1 Cup Frontrunners Garage Club 2 Automobiles and tents RV parking
RV parking Merchandise TURN 3 and displays TURN 4 Talladega Sheriff’s Department North Contains holding tunnel cell and can accept fines on race day.
Old runways The track was built on N the site of a Ticket decommissioned office Army training base.
To Birmingham 42 miles
NEWS STAFF Talladega coverage in print & online . Daily in the Sports section of The Birmingham News . Online updates at al.com: al.com/birmingham . Follow Doug Demmons’ Blog of Tomorrow at blog.al.com/blogoftomorrow