StatChat - NASCAR Cup Series @ Darlington
The 12th race of the season brings us the Darlington Throwback Weekend, a tradition that has normally been in the Fall at the Southern 500, but was moved up to Spring this year. This also marks the last time in the regular season that we will be visiting a track that returns for the playoffs. Aside from the All-Star Race at Texas, the 14 remaining regular season tracks will not be revisited again this year.
So what does that mean? For teams that already have a win and have guaranteed their spot in the playoffs, it might be an opportunity to experiment. Winning this weekend might not be as important as finding a strategic advantage for the Southern 500 this Fall – the first race of the Playoffs.
Darlington Raceway is a uniquely-shaped 1.366-mile oval. It is referred to as “The Track Too Tough to Tame,” due to the challenging nature of its egg-like shape. With corners 1 and 2 being completely different from 3 and 4, it’s much more difficult than at a standard oval to perfect the setup of the car. After Martinsville, Darlington is the 2nd oldest track on the NASCAR circuit, having hosted races as early as 1950.
This weekend’s race will be 293 laps (for a total of 400.2 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 90 – 185 – 293, and a competition caution at lap 30. The fuel window is approximately 68-72 laps, though tire wear may be more of a factor than fuel.
NASCAR has run 3,972.61 miles so far this year.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Darlington:
| Erik Jones | 5.17 over 6 races |
| Kyle Larson | 6.67 over 6 races |
| Denny Hamlin | 7.53 over 17 races |
| Brad Keselowski | 10.43 over 14 races |
| Kyle Busch | 11.17 over 18 races |
Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Darlington:
| Quin Houff | 31.00 over 3 races |
| Corey LaJoie | 30.50 over 6 races |
| Michael McDowell | 28.45 over 11 races |
| Ross Chastain | 28.00 over 2 races |
| Daniel Suarez | 25.83 over 6 races |
Darlington is an intermediate track.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks:
| Kevin Harvick | 11.71 over 363 races |
| Brad Keselowski | 12.61 over 215 races |
| Kyle Busch | 12.67 over 294 races |
| Denny Hamlin | 13.17 over 278 races |
| Chase Elliott | 13.32 over 99 races |
David Pearson is the winningest driver at Darlington, having won there 10 times. Dale Earnhardt is a close second, having won 9 times, with Jeff Gordon in 3rd with 7 wins. As far as current drivers go, both Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick each have 3 wins.
Notable drivers who have not won at Darlington:
| Kurt Busch | (has won at 17 other tracks) |
| Joey Logano | (has won at 15 other tracks) |
| Ryan Newman | (has won at 12 other tracks) |
| Chase Elliott | (has won at 9 other tracks) |
Both Erik Jones and Austin Dillon list Darlington as their BEST track, while BJ McLeod is the only one to list it as his WORST.
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
| William Byron | +354 pts |
| Daniel Suarez | +312 pts |
| Michael McDowell | +283 pts |
| Denny Hamlin | +270 pts |
| Christopher Bell | +240 pts |
Drivers Faring Worse than in 2020
| Aric Almirola | -466 pts |
| Erik Jones | -314 pts |
| Kevin Harvick | -279 pts |
| Kurt Busch | -217 pts |
| Alex Bowman | -203 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 | 7.45 |
| William Byron | 10.18 |
| Austin Dillon | 13.36 |
| Ryan Blaney | 13.64 |
| Michael McDowell | 14.55 |
| Chris Buescher | 16.45 |
Drivers Having their WORST Career Year
| Ross Chastain | 19.64 |
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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 | 156 pts |
| Ryan Blaney | 88 pts |
| Brad Keselowski | 85 pts |
| Chase Elliott | 79 pts |
| Kyle Larson | 73 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 | 397 |
| Chevrolet | 392 |
| Toyota | 382 |
Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:
Chartered Team Standings
| Hendrick | 382 |
| Joe Gibbs | 381 |
| Penske | 370 |
| Stewart-Haas | 320 |
| Richard Childress | 284 |
| Chip Ganassi | 264 |
| JTG-Daugherty | 264 |
| Front Row | 256 |
| Roush Fenway | 255 |
| Wood Brothers | 226 |
| Trackhouse | 190 |
| 23XI | 168 |
| Richard Petty | 166 |
| Spire | 139 |
| Rick Ware | 96 |
| Live Fast | 75 |
| StarCom | 54 |
The race begins Sunday, May 9that 3:30 pm EST (12:30 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!
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Or you can email directly: acarabine@racingrefresh.com
Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!
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