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Numbers Game: 2006 UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega

0
Number of drivers, crew chiefs and team members that were happy about the post-practice restrictor-plate change at Talladega this weekend.

1
Career win for Brian Vickers in 107 Nextel Cup starts.

1st
Career pole in nine starts for David Gilliland. He posted a speed of 191.721 mph at Talladega.

3 hours, 10 minutes, 23 seconds
Time it took to complete the UAW-Ford 500.

5th
Martin Truex Jr.‘s finishing position, earning him Rookie of the Race honors.

5
Wins for Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Talladega; the most of any active driver.

6
Number of cars that failed to make the starting field.
(Travis Kvapil, No. 32; Todd Bodine, No. 4; Kevin Lepage, No. 34; Hermie Sadler, No. 00; Kirk Shelmerdine, No. 27; Chad Chaffin, No. 61)

6
Points that Jeff Burton leads Matt Kenseth by in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.

6
Caution flags for a total of 22 laps Sunday.

15
Top-10 finishes in 2006 for Kasey Kahne, including Sunday’s second-place run, his best ever finish on a restrictor-plate track.

17
Laps led by race winner Vickers Sunday in the UAW-Ford 500.

26
Penalties handed down by NASCAR Sunday during the running of the UAW-Ford 500.

29
Positions gained by Bobby Labonte in the UAW-Ford 500 to win the USG Improving the Finish Award (started 39th, finished 10th).

Editor’s Note: Before you leave a comment, please note that teams must be a participant in the USG program to be eligible for this contingency award.

30
Cars running at the end of the UAW-Ford 500, with 23 of those ending the race on the lead lap.

36th
The furthest back a winner has started at Talladega. This occurred in April 16, 2000, when Jeff Gordon won the Diehard 500.

37
Laps led by Earnhardt Jr. on Sunday, the most of any driver.

43rd
Derrike Cope‘s finishing position Sunday in the UAW-Ford 500; He completed just nine laps before retiring from the event for an overheating engine.

63
Lead changes among 23 drivers Sunday.

148
Career wins for car owner Rick Hendrick after Vickers’s trip to victory lane on Sunday.

157.602
Average race speed (in mph) of the fall Cup race at Talladega.

188
Laps in the UAW-Ford 500, equaling 500.080 miles.

1969
Year when Richard Brickhouse won the first Cup race at Talladega, the Talladega 500.

160,000
Estimated crowd in attendance at Talladega.

$228,850
Vickers’s purse for winning the UAW-Ford 500.

$5,282,231
Total purse for the UAW-Ford 500.

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