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Talladega Offers Special Jeff Gordon Pole Day Ticket

TALLADEGA, Ala. – If Jeff Gordon successfully defends his Talladega 500 title at Talladega Superspeedway in April, fans might do a double take when the No. 24 Chevy glides into Victory Lane.

Gordon will arrive at Alabama’s 2.66-mile tri-oval for "Track Attack Weekend" with a special Pepsi paint scheme on his No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo. If Gordon repeats in the Talladega 500 on April 22, it will be the first time a Pepsi car has visited Victory Lane since Darrell Waltrip’s Pepsi Challenger won six races in 1983.

To help commemorate Pepsi’s return to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and honor one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers, Talladega Superspeedway is offering a special Jeff Gordon Pole Day Ticket for Advance Auto Parts Qualifying Day on April 20.

The ticket measures 8.5 inches by 3.5 inches and has a photo of the No. 24 Chevy with the Pepsi paint scheme as its centerpiece. The car appears to be driving through the ticket with a picture of Gordon celebrating in Victory Lane at Talladega last season directly above the Pepsi Chevy.

As a backdrop to the pictures of the Pepsi Chevy and Gordon, fans in Talladega’s grandstands can be seen cheering during a race. Each of the Jeff Gordon Pole Day tickets is numbered in a series of 5,000. The ticket is $10 and is good for all of Friday’s activities.

In just his ninth full season on the circuit, Gordon has already claimed three Winston Cup Series championships and was Series Rookie of the Year in 1993. Just as impressive as his Winston Cup championships is the number in Gordon’s win column.

In 256 races through the 2000 season, Gordon has won an incredible 52 times – that’s one win for every five races. For three straight seasons – 1996 through 1998 – Gordon won at least 10 races each year. In 1998, his 13 wins tied Richard Petty for the modern-era record for most wins in a season.

And his numbers at Talladega are just as impressive. In 16 races at NASCAR’s Most Competitive Track, Gordon has seven Top 5 finishes, including two wins. Gordon’s first win at Talladega came in 1996, starting on the outside pole. In April of 2000, despite starting 36th, Gordon moved to the front of the pack by lap 14 and went on to win the 50th race of his career.

Last October, Gordon was relegated to the 43rd spot at Talladega, but led the 13th lap. He finished fourth in the event fans voted as the most-memorable race in ESPN’s 20 years of broadcasting NASCAR events.

DuPont Automotive developed the special pearlescent blue paint for the Pepsi car that Gordon will race at Talladega. Talladega Superspeedway’s "Track Attack Weekend," April 19-22, features the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Talladega 500, the NASCAR Busch Series 300 and the True Value International Race of Champions XXV.

 

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