Winston 500 (spring)

The Jack Link's 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The race is usually held in April or May. The 1997 event stands as the fastest NASCAR race to date ever run with an average speed of and was the first race at Talladega Superspeedway that was not interrupted by a caution period.

The race was known as the second leg of the sport's Grand Slam races from 1970 until the result of Ferko lawsuit in 2004. Still considered to be the fifth “Crown Jewel” race, along with the Brickyard 400 and the three originals, the race has consistently been the second Crown Jewel event of the season, with the exceptions being 2014, when the Southern 500 was scheduled in April, and 2020, when the GEICO 500 was postponed until June, after the Coca-Cola 600. The GEICO 500, as the Winston 500, was also previously part of the Winston Million. Austin Cindric is the defending winner of the race, having won it in 2025.

Notable races

*1971: The first Talladega race under Winston sponsorship. Donnie Allison edged Bobby Allison and Buddy Baker for the win; this was Bobby's first race with Holman-Moody since 1967.
*1972: David Pearson escaped a crash between Bobby Isaac and Jimmy Crawford coming to the white flag; he grabbed his first Talladega win and second career win in a Wood Brothers Mercury.
*1973: A massive accident eliminated some 20 cars, leaving David Pearson to ride home almost uncontested. Jim Vandiver made up three laps to finish eighth.
*1974: Pearson grabbed his third straight Winston 500 (and fourth straight for Wood Brothers Racing), while a crash on pit road leads to grave injury to Don Miller of the Penske Racing team. The lead changed 53 times.
*1975: The race was filled with several accidents, featured the first win for Buddy Baker since 1973 and the first Winston Cup Grand National win for team owner Bud Moore since 1971. Tragedy struck on Lap 149 when race leader Richard Petty pitted with a burning wheel bearing; his brother-in-law Randy Owens was killed when he fitted a hose to a pressurized water tank and the tank exploded. The lead changed 51 times, Five-time F1 Champion Juan Manuel Fangio was the honorary starter.
*1976: Baker became the first driver to win a 500-mile race in under three hours. He drove Bud Moore's Ford to the win in 2 hours 56 minutes.
*1977: The race produced 63 official lead changes and a four-car scramble on the final lap. Darrell Waltrip had the lead and on the last lap swung low to break the draft; Cale Yarborough blew past Donnie Allison and swung high on Waltrip; Waltrip sideswiped Cale and Benny Parsons dove low and raced Cale all the way to the stripe.
*1978: Rain postponed the race to Mothers Day Sunday. Cale Yarborough drafted past Buddy Baker for the win.
*1980: Baker stormed past sophomore Dale Earnhardt coming to the white flag for his final Talladega win.
*1981: Bobby Allison fought off a late challenge from Baker, Darrell Waltrip, and Ricky Rudd; the race lead changed six times in the final six laps.
*1982: Benny Parsons posted the first 200 MPH qualifying lap in NASCAR history. The race lead changed 51 times as Darrell Waltrip and Terry Labonte drafted past Parsons on the final lap. This race was also notable for the only race for a con artist using the name L.W. Wright; who finished poorly in a Music City Racing effort, then after several checks for a NASCAR license and car bounced (and a failure to qualify for the next race at Nashville Speedway), disappeared.
*1984: The race has exceeded 40 official lead changes 18 times. In 1984 a motorsports record of 75 lead changes was set, but this record was broken in 2010 as the lead changed 88 times; this record was tied in 2011. The race was won by Cale Yarborough on a last-lap pass of Harry Gant