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Arena: Talladega Superspeedway

Location: Talladega, AL

Date: October 20, 2013

NASCAR Betting Online: The Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 is one of four races currently run with restrictor plates, the others being the Aaron's 499, the Coke Zero 400, and the Daytona 500. Through 1996 the race was normally held in early August or late July. In 1997, it was moved, after overwhelming fans' requests, to early October due to the uncomfortably hot summer temperatures, and sometimes unpredictable summertime thunderstorms in the Alabama area. In 2009, the race moved again, this time to November 1 as part of a realignment agreement with Atlanta and Fontana (where Fontana will earn a race in the Chase and Atlanta will gain the Labor Day weekend race).

In 1998, the name of the race was swapped with that of the spring race. The fall race became known as the Winston 500 for three years in order to promote the Winston No Bull 5 program.

The race has been perhaps the most consistently competitive in NASCAR history. It has broken 40 official lead changes in 1971, '73, 1975-8, 1983-4, 1989, 2000, and 2003–10; in eleven of these races the barrier of 50 lead changes was broken, and in 2010 the race reached 87 lead changes, one short of the motorsports record set in April.

Talladega SuperSpeedway

On an unassuming stretch of land suited for soybean farming located next to a couple of abandoned airport runways, crews constructed the biggest superspeedway in NASCAR, Talladega Superspeedway.

Since Alabama International Motor Speedway (as it was called until 1989) opened its gates in September 1969, the track has surpassed every initial expectation.

Talladega, Ala., emerged as the top choice among several possible sites in the Southeast, with the main criteria for selection being availability of land, access to the interstate system and a population base of at least 20 million people within 300 miles.

Anniston insurance executive Bill Ward, a race driver and fan himself, helped NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation founder William H.G. (Bill) France find the land in Alabama, following a casual conversation with France in Daytona in the mid-1960s. Ward found what he thought was the perfect site in north Talladega County near an airport that the U.S. Government had sold to the City of Talladega after World War II. He set up a meeting with then-Talladega mayor James Hardwick and other city officials, and in a restaurant in Anniston in 1966, France got the group to consider the idea of putting a major track on the site. After a trip to the Firecracker 400 in Daytona to observe first-hand the potential economic impact, the group was sold.

Several obstacles had to be overcome, including financing. With France as the guiding force, however, construction began on the 2,000-acre site on May 23, 1968, with the first race being the 'Bama 400 Grand Touring race on Saturday, Sept. 13, 1969. Ken Rush drove his Camaro to Victory Lane in that event. The next day, Richard Brickhouse won the first Grand National (now Sprint Cup) race, the Talladega 500, edging Jim Vandiver and Ramo Stott.

The practice and qualifying speeds were so high (Charlie Glotzbach won the pole at 199.466 mph) that the tire companies could not come up with a compound that held together for many laps. The Professional Drivers Association (PDA), led by Richard Petty, declared the situation unsafe, and left the track Saturday afternoon.

France decided the race would go on, using the drivers that decided not to participate in the boycott, plus some of those who had raced the day before. The full 500 miles were run without a major incident.

His action broke the back of the PDA, which dissolved a couple of years later.

In 1987, Bill Elliott established a world stock car record when he posted a speed of 212.809 mph in qualifying. Mark Martin established a 500-mile stock car record in 1997 when he won the caution-free spring race with an average speed of 188.354 mph.

But the track's true dominator was Dale Earnhardt, who posted 10 Cup wins at Talladega.

The grandstands seating capacity is 143,231 including the most recent expansion of the O.V. Hill South Tower. The 212-acre all-reserved infield holds many thousands more.

Perhaps the greatest 1-2-3 finish in motorsports occurred a 1981 race, when rookie Ron Bouchard passed both Darrell Waltrip and Terry Labonte in the final 500 yards to win by less than a foot over Waltrip and two feet over Labonte.

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How to bet on Nascar Camping World RV Sales 500

The odds of a driver to win the Camping World RV Sales 500 will generally look something like:

• Jeff Gordon + 200
• Mark Martin + 250
• Jeff Burton + 300
• Bill Elliott + 700
• Robby Gordon + 700
• Field + 500

These betting odds will be lower when betting on a driver to finish in the top three, as the sportsbook must pay off three different winning bets.

A player would have to bet $10 to win $20 that Jeff Gordon will win the Camping World RV Sales 500, while the bettor wagering on Bill Elliott stands to win $70 on their $10 wager.

Another commonly placed bet in NASCAR is head-to-head finish between two drivers. With this bet, a player doesn't really care what place the driver finishes in, as long as the driver finishes higher than the other driver.

A head-to-head betting line for the Camping World RV Sales 500 will look something like:

• Mark Martin - 130 Jeff Burton + 110

In this bet, players wagering on Martin to finish higher than Burton will be asked to risk $13 to win $10, while bettors believing that Burton will finish higher than Martin will bet $10 to win $11.

Those familiar with sports betting will have no trouble making the transition to NASCAR wagering, while those new to the world of sports betting should be able to pick up the concepts of NASCAR betting without too much hassle.

2012 Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 - Jeff Gordon uses runner-up finish to climb to No. 6 in the Chase

Jeff Gordon kept his Chase championship hopes alive today with his runner-up finish behind Matt Kenseth in the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

The driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet isn't quite sure how he managed to survive the big one, the final-lap crash that claimed 24 cars.

Gordon had Kahne in front on him and Kyle Busch - who he called one of the best pushers out there - behind him.

Then Gordon saw smoke. Tony Stewart would later take the blame for the accident, saying he was trying to win the race.

Gordon said he could only see the bumper in front of him, and there was no room to avoid a collision.

The race runner-up counted his second-place showing as a victory. Gordon was ranked 10th in the points standings going into today's race. He moved up to sixth going to Charlotte next week.

2011 Good Sam Club 500 Winner - Clint Bowyer Wins Again at NASCAR’s Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega

Clint Bowyer took his first win of the season in the NASCAR Good Sam Club 500 from Talladega Superspeedway Sunday with a last-lap pass of teammate Jeff Burton, crossing the finish line just .018 seconds ahead after 188 laps of incident-filled racing.

While everyone else worried about a major wreck wiping out half the field, for Bowyer and Burton, it was a calm day which went according to plan.

In a race typical of this season’s restrictor-plate contests, pairs of partners ruled the track, and on the final restart, two laps from the end, Bowyer found the rear bumper of race leader Burton while the rest of the field shuffled and searched. The two Richard Childress Racing drivers powered away from the rest of the field, making it a two-car race for the win.

Clint Bowyer wins the 2010 Amp Energy 500

Clint Bowyer celebrates his second win in this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup with his victory at the Talladega Superspeedway. 2010 Amp Energy winner gives Richard Childress 11 wins at Talladega Superspeedway, most among team owners. Bowyer and Harvick were the only two Chase drivers who finished in the top-five. Juan Montoya was third, David Reutimann was fourth, and Joey Logano rounded out the top-five. The final lead change was on the final lap, when Bowyer managed to sneak in front of Harvick seconds before a race-ending caution flag came out. The race was so close that for several minutes afterward, neither Bowyer nor Harvick knew who had won.