Fresh off his dominating performance at Texas Motor Speedway last Saturday, Matt Kenseth and 42 other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers head to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend for the Aaron’s 499.
Earlier this week, track officials announced that college students interested in attending the race can do so for a discounted price of $19 per ticket with a valid college ID.
The “Spring Break Continues at Talladega presented by Coca-Cola” ticket offer is available both online and by phone for college students to purchase. The web address is talladegasuperspeedway.com/cc6campus. Students can also call 877-Go2-DEGA and ask for the college offer.
Upon visiting the website, UA students will need to fill in the field marked “school” as well as enter the last four digits of their student ID. After receiving access to the ticket portion of the website, students can select the number of tickets they want and complete payment online.
Patrick Gray, a junior majoring in nutrition, said he was excited to learn of the track’s ticket offer, as he had just planned on buying tickets the day of the event.
“I try to go to Talladega at least once every year to catch the race,” Gray said. “This weekend, I plan on going to the A-Day game on Saturday and then the NASCAR race on Sunday. I’m really looking forward to it, especially now that I know that the tickets are at a discounted price.”
This weekend’s race is the 8th of 36 scheduled races for the 2011 season. The track, which is 2.66 miles long and has 33-degree banking in the corners, has hosted a total of 83 races since it opened in 1969.
At this race last year, which was held on April 25, driver Kevin Harvick completed a last-lap pass around Jamie McMurray in the race’s third attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, NASCAR’s version of overtime.
Of all active drivers competing at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, Jeff Gordon leads the field in wins with six. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is second, with five.
Sunday’s race is not the only race this weekend, as the ARCA series kicks off Friday night with a race scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. On Saturday, the NASCAR Nationwide Series will race at 2 p.m. The drivers of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series take the track on Sunday, with the green flag scheduled to drop at noon.
“Harvick has been hot all year,” Gray said. “He’s already won two of the first seven races, and he’s the defending champion of this race, so how could I not go? I hope he can win on Sunday. This year is the year someone will finally beat Jimmy Johnson in the point standings. Harvick is going to do it.”
Talladega Superspeedway is located at 3366 Speedway Blvd., Talladega; approximately 102 miles from Tuscaloosa.
