Talladega Superspeedway’s record book can attest to the success from four of the five incredible figures announced Wednesday to NASCAR’s 2017 Hall of Fame class. Two phenomenal car owners – Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick, as well as two legendary drivers – Benny Parsons and Mark Martin – have all left their marks on NASCAR’s biggest and baddest track. Raymond Parks, NASCAR’s “original car owner,” joins the group to complete the eighth class since its 2010 inception.
Hendrick, who began Hendrick Motorsports in 1984, and Richard Childress, at the helm of Richard Childress Racing since 1969, have both managed to dominate Talladega’s mammoth 2.66-mile venue. The two are tied as the track’s all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winningest car owners with 12 triumphs each, and have accumulated more than a quarter of the wins at NASCAR’s Most Competitive ribbon of asphalt since its inception in ’69.
Hendrick, who owns a record 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship titles, went to Gatorade Victory Lane at TSS first in 1988 with Ken Schrader, then followed with victories with Jeff Gordon (6), Jimmie Johnson (2), Terry Labonte (1), Brick Vickers (1) and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (1).
Meanwhile, Childress took three drivers to the TSS winners circle, including Dale Earnhardt (9), Clint Bowyer (2) and Kevin Harvick (1). The track is also special to Childress since he made his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut as driver in the inaugural NSCS event at Talladega in 1969. He would go winless in 285 races as a driver but would win six NSCS championships as an owner with Earnhardt behind the wheel.
Martin, often described as the “greatest driver to never win a championship,” is the only competitor to win in every series that now competes at Talladega. He won twice in the Cup events at TSS (1995, 1997), once in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (1997), once in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (the first NCWTS event at TSS in 2006) and once in the ARCA Racing Series (1981). In the 1997 NSCS event, Martin won caution-free with an average speed of 188.354 mph, an all-time record that still stands today.
Parsons became the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to officially break the 200 mph mark in qualifying at a speed of 200.176 mph at Talladega in 1982. Although he never went to Gatorade Victory Lane at TSS, the 1973 NASCAR Spring Cup Series champion and 21-time race winner had 11 top-five finishes, including two runner-up results (1974, 1983).
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