StatChat - Nascar Cup Series @ Martinsville
After the race weekend that refused to end in Texas, a non-playoff driver victory meant that the playoff picture was still very much up in the air heading into Martinsville this Sunday. A minimum of 2 drivers will now make the Final 4 on points alone. Who has the advantage heading into this weekend? Let’s take a closer look:
Martinsville Speedway is a 0.526 mile short-track oval – the shortest track currently on the NASCAR circuit. This weekend’s race will (confusingly) be called the Xfinity 500. Martinsville is the only current track that has been on the NASCAR schedule every year since its inception, having been built in 1947. Nicknamed “The Paperclip,” it is also unique in that it’s the only NASCAR track to have asphalt straightaways with concrete in the corners.
The race will be 500 laps long (for a total of 263 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 130 – 260 – 500. The fuel window is approximately 145-155 laps, though tire wear will likely result in drivers pitting sooner than that.
This year, the Cup Series has now raced a total of 12,938.83 miles.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Martinsville:
| Jimmie Johnson | 9.32 over 37 races |
| Denny Hamlin | 9.90 over 29 races |
| Brad Keselowski | 10.48 over 21 races |
| Ryan Blaney | 11.67 over 9 races |
| Kyle Busch | 12.30 over 30 races |
Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Martinsville:
| Joey Gase | 35.33 over 3 races |
| JJ Yeley | 31.78 over 18 races |
| Ross Chastain | 30.25 over 4 races |
| Michael McDowell | 29.84 over 19 races |
| Matt DiBenedetto | 27.91 over 11 races |
Martinsville is classified as a short track. A short track is seen as anything under 1 mile in length.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks
| Kyle Busch | 11.63 over 150 races |
| Denny Hamlin | 11.88 over 144 races |
| Brad Keselowski | 12.69 over 107 races |
| Jimmie Johnson | 13.02 over 186 races |
| Kevin Harvick | 13.23 over 196 races |
Richard Petty is the winningest driver at Martinsville, having won 15 times over the course of his career, with Darrell Waltrip alone in 2nd with 11 wins. As far as active drivers go, Jimmie Johnson has 9 wins, and Denny Hamlin has 5.
Notable drivers who have not won at Martinsville:
| Matt Kenseth | (has won at 18 other tracks) |
| Chase Elliott | (has won at 6 other tracks) |
No current drivers list Martinsville as either their worst track or their best track.
Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at who’s having a better year than last year.
Drivers Faring Better than in 2019
| Matt DiBenedetto | +210 pts |
| Chase Elliott | +164 pts |
| Austin Dillon | +138 pts |
| Kevin Harvick | +122 pts |
| Bubba Wallace | +115 pts |
Drivers Faring Worse than in 2019
| Daniel Suarez | -476 pts |
| Kyle Busch | -255 pts |
| Joey Logano | -98 pts |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | -74 pts |
| William Byron | -68 pts |
While some drivers may be doing better this year than they did in 2019, how does this year stack up against their entire career? This statistic does not include rookies, as this is their first full year in the Cup Series.
Drivers Having their BEST Career Year
| Kevin Harvick | 7.06 |
| Denny Hamlin | 9.41 |
| Matt DiBenedetto | 15.09 |
| Michael McDowell | 20.65 |
| Bubba Wallace | 21.26 |
| Corey LaJoie | 25.24 |
Drivers Having their WORST Career Year
| Daniel Suarez | 26.42 |
| Ryan Preece | 24.21 |
| Matt Kenseth | 21.50 |
For those that aren’t aware, the Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position. (40 for 1st, 35 for 2nd, 34 for 3rd, etc.) No stage points or playoff points count.
Manufacturer Standings
| Ford | 1258 |
| Toyota | 1197 |
| Chevrolet | 1152 |
Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:
Chartered Team Standings
| Joe Gibbs | 1198 |
| Penske | 1130 |
| Stewart-Haas | 1116 |
| Hendrick | 1081 |
| Chip Ganassi | 894 |
| Richard Childress | 871 |
| Wood Brothers | 745 |
| Roush-Fenway | 733 |
| Front Row | 682 |
| JTG-Daugherty | 637 |
| Leavine Family | 569 |
| Richard Petty | 543 |
| Germain | 506 |
| Go Fas | 404 |
| Rick Ware | 303 |
| Spire | 233 |
| StarCom | 149 |
The race begins Sunday, November 1stat 2:00pm EST (11:00am PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!
Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!
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