StatChat - NASCAR Cup Series @ Atlanta
Yet another week of NASCAR Cup Series racing, and yet another different winner. Is this the year we have 36 different winners? (Spoiler alert – no, it’s not). However, it wouldn’t be crazy to suggest that our streak of different winners continues this weekend. With some of the big-name drivers still without a win this year (Hamlin, Keselowski, Logano, Elliott, Harvick, etc.), it’s certainly within the realm of possibility.
This weekend marks a return to Atlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.54-mile quad-oval that was built in 1960. It is known for being one of the fastest intermediate tracks on the NASCAR circuit, and for the extremely abrasive track surface which can make tire wear a very big factor in strategy decisions.
The race will be 325 laps (for a total of 500.5 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 105 – 210 – 325, and a competition caution at lap 25. The fuel window is approximately 58-62 laps.
NASCAR has run 1,865.70 miles so far this year, with only 3 drivers having raced all of them – Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Atlanta:
| Chase Elliott | 10.00 over 5 races |
| Kyle Busch | 13.82 over 22 races |
| Kyle Larson | 13.83 over 6 races |
| Kurt Busch | 14.55 over 29 races |
| Brad Keselowski | 14.58 over 12 races |
Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Atlanta:
| Michael McDowell | 33.80 over 10 races |
| Ross Chastain | 30.50 over 2 races |
| Ryan Preece | 30.50 over 2 races |
| Corey LaJoie | 30.00 over 3 races |
| Matt DiBenedetto | 27.60 over 5 races |
Atlanta Motor Speedway is an Intermediate Track.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks:
| Kevin Harvick | 11.75 over 361 races |
| Brad Keselowski | 12.56 over 213 races |
| Kyle Busch | 12.74 over 292 races |
| Chase Elliott | 13.00 over 97 races |
| Denny Hamlin | 13.22 over 276 races |
Dale Earnhardt has the most wins at Atlanta with nine, followed by Cale Yarborough with seven. As far as current drivers go, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch each have three wins, and Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski each have two.
Notable drivers who have not won at Atlanta:
| Martin Truex Jr. | (has won at 15 other tracks) |
| Joey Logano | (has won at 15 other tracks) |
No current driver has Atlanta listed as their BEST track, and William Byron is the only driver to list Atlanta as his WORST track.
No current drivers have ever scored their first Cup Series win at Atlanta – will that change this weekend?
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 2020
| Christopher Bell | +452 pts |
| Michael McDowell | +406 pts |
| Denny Hamlin | +395 pts |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | +223 pts |
| William Byron | +188 pts |
Drivers Faring Worse than in 2020
| Aric Almirola | -548 pts |
| Matt DiBenedetto | -465 pts |
| Erik Jones | -305 pts |
| Kyle Busch | -291 pts |
| Tyler Reddick | -282 pts |
While some drivers may be doing better this year than they did in 2020, 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
| Denny Hamlin | 5.20 |
| Brad Keselowski | 8.00 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 9.40 |
| Chase Elliott | 11.00 |
| Michael McDowell | 11.00 |
| Austin Dillon | 15.60 |
Drivers Having their WORST Career Year
| Quin Houff | 33.80 |
| Tyler Reddick | 23.60 |
In 2017, NASCAR introduced the concept of Stage Racing, which pauses the race at certain intervals and awards bonus points for the top 10 at that moment. Here are the Top-5 Stage Point earners so far this year:
Stage Point Leaders:
| Denny Hamlin | 77 pts |
| Brad Keselowski | 52 pts |
| Joey Logano | 50 pts |
| Chase Elliott | 43 pts |
| Ryan Blaney | 33 pts |
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
| Chevrolet | 180 |
| Toyota | 180 |
| Ford | 177 |
Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:
Chartered Team Standings
| Joe Gibbs | 180 |
| Hendrick | 174 |
| Penske | 151 |
| Stewart-Haas | 144 |
| Front Row | 134 |
| JTG-Daugherty | 134 |
| Chip Ganassi | 132 |
| Richard Childress | 117 |
| Roush-Fenway | 104 |
| Richard Petty | 78 |
| 23XI | 76 |
| Spire | 74 |
| Trackhouse | 71 |
| Wood Brothers | 58 |
| Rick Ware | 47 |
| Live Fast | 40 |
| StarCom | 20 |
The race begins Sunday, March 21that 3:00 pm EST (12:00 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @StatChat_RR
Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!
Comments
Post a Comment