Unhinged 300


The Unhinged 300 is a NASCAR Xfinity Series race held at Talladega Superspeedway, a 300 mile race, It is held annually before the NASCAR Cup Series race, the GEICO 500.
From its inception in 1992 through 1996, the race was held in the summer, as a support race to the Alabama 500. When the DieHard 500 moved to the fall, this race moved to the spring, as a support race to the spring race, the GEICO 500.
Large wrecks involving 20 or more cars have occurred a number of times in the history of the event, most notably in 2002, when 30 cars were involved in an accident on the backstretch on lap 14, with 19 of them knocked out at that point. The remainder of the race, following a long red-flag period, had little resemblance to typical restrictor plate racing as only two cars were within short distance at the checkered flag and only three finished on the lead lap.

Unique race distance

At its inception, the event debuted as a event, the longest race on the NASCAR Busch Series schedule. Automobile races in the United States measured in kilometers, especially those in NASCAR, are few. Through their history, ARCA races held at the track carried the more attractive and marketable "500" distance, even if it meant "500 kilometers" instead of miles. The Busch Series race mimicked that precedent.
In 1998, fans complained about the use of kilometers, which was seen as a European custom. They argued that kilometers are rarely used in the United States, noting that the track measurement itself was still advertised in miles. Management changed the race to a event from 1998–2001. The change shortened the race distance by just four laps.
In 2002, Aaron's assumed title sponsorship and returned the race to a event. The race distance is only coincidental to that of 1992–1997. The distance, advertised unequivocally in miles this time, was set to reflect the sponsor's slogan. In 2015, the race returned to 300 miles.

Notable races

# WinsDriverYears won
3Martin Truex Jr.2004, 2005, 2006
2Joe Nemechek1998, 2000
2Joey Logano2012, 2015
2Elliott Sadler2014, 2016

Multiple winners (teams)

# WinsTeamYears won
5Dale Earnhardt, Inc.1993, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
5Joe Gibbs Racing2001, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014
2Roush Fenway Racing1997, 2009
2NEMCO Motorsports1998, 2000
2Team Penske2010, 2015
2JR Motorsports2013, 2016

Manufacturer wins

# WinsMakeYears won
17 Chevrolet1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020
6 Ford1995, 1997, 2002, 2009, 2015, 2017
4 Toyota2008, 2011, 2012, 2014
1 Pontiac2001
1 Dodge2010