StatChat - NASCAR Cup Series @ Richmond
This Sunday’s race is the 2021 schedule’s “Turn 1” – we will officially be 25% of the way through the season. Last week, Martin Truex Jr. bucked the trend and became our first two-time winner of the season at Martinsville. While it was fun to have a new one each week, we were never going to have 36 different winners. There are, however, still some real contenders who have not won a race yet this year.
Denny Hamlin has put together an impressive start, but that first-place finish has eluded him so far. Last year, Kevin Harvick had a win, a 2nd, a 3rd, and two 5thplace finishes through the first 8 races on his way to 9 total wins. Defending champion Chase Elliott has two 2nd-place finishes already this year, but has also matched that with two finishes outside of the top-20 (including a DNF at Atlanta). Throw in Brad Keselowski, the Busch brothers, and Alex Bowman, and you’ve got a long line of drivers itching to get their first victory of 2021. Will Sunday give us another new winner?
This weekend, the Cup Series returns to Virginia for a visit to Richmond Raceway. First opened in 1946 (and celebrating 75 years this year), it is a 0.75-mile D-shaped asphalt oval. NASCAR began racing at Richmond in 1953, and has been regularly hosting 2 races a year since 1959.
The race will be 400 laps (for a total of 300 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 80 – 235 – 400, and a competition caution at lap 30. The fuel window is approximately 125-130 laps, though teams may opt to pit sooner for fresher tires.
NASCAR has run 2,764.05 miles so far this year, and the only driver who has driven 100% of them is Denny Hamlin.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Richmond:
| Kyle Busch | 6.77 over 30 races |
| Denny Hamlin | 9.25 over 28 races |
| Kevin Harvick | 9.74 over 39 races |
| Joey Logano | 10.78 over 23 races |
| Kyle Larson | 11.67 over 12 races |
Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Richmond:
| Quin Houff | 33.67 over 3 races |
| Michael McDowell | 32.16 over 19 races |
| Ross Chastain | 31.75 over 4 races |
| Corey Lajoie | 29.17 over 6 races |
| Matt DiBenedetto | 27.64 over 11 races |
Richmond Raceway is a Short Track.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks:
| Kyle Busch | 11.70 over 155 races |
| Denny Hamlin | 11.71 over 149 races |
| Brad Keselowski | 12.62 over 112 races |
| Chase Elliott | 12.65 over 51 races |
| Joey Logano | 13.19 over 120 races |
Richard Petty again proves to be the class of the field, with 13 all-time wins at Richmond. Bobby Allison trails behind him with 7 wins to his name. Kyle Busch is the winningest current driver with 6 wins, and his next closest competitor, Kevin Harvick, has only 3.
Notable drivers who have not won at Richmond:
| Chase Elliott | (has won at 9 other tracks) |
| Ryan Blaney | (has won at 4 other tracks) |
No current driver has Richmond listed as either their BEST track, however both Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher list it as their WORST.
No current drivers have ever scored their first Cup Series win at Martinsville – 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
| Denny Hamlin | +402 pts |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | +318 pts |
| William Byron | +309 pts |
| Daniel Suarez | +292 pts |
| Michael McDowell | +254 pts |
Drivers Faring Worse than in 2020
| Aric Almirola | -553 pts |
| Kevin Harvick | -293 pts |
| Erik Jones | -287 pts |
| Matt DiBenedetto | -272 pts |
| Alex Bowman | -222 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 | 4.50 |
| Joey Logano | 9.00 |
| Kyle Larson | 11.00 |
| William Byron | 11.75 |
| Ryan Blaney | 13.63 |
| Michael McDowell | 14.63 |
Drivers Having their WORST Career Year
| Tyler Reddick | 19.88 |
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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 | 119 pts |
| Chase Elliott | 61 pts |
| Brad Keselowski | 60 pts |
| Ryan Blaney | 59 pts |
| Kyle Larson | 54 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
| Ford | 288 |
| Toyota | 287 |
| Chevrolet | 285 |
Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:
Chartered Team Standings
| Joe Gibbs | 286 |
| Hendrick | 275 |
| Penske | 262 |
| Stewart-Haas | 221 |
| JTG-Daugherty | 216 |
| Richard Childress | 207 |
| Chip Ganassi | 196 |
| Roush-Fenway | 190 |
| Front Row | 188 |
| Wood Brothers | 133 |
| Trackhouse | 129 |
| 23XI | 128 |
| Richard Petty | 126 |
| Spire | 98 |
| Rick Ware | 77 |
| Live Fast | 52 |
| StarCom | 49 |
The race begins Sunday, April 18that 3:00 pm EST (12:00 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!
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