StatChat - NASCAR Cup Series @ Michigan
This weekend’s race will take place at Michigan International Speedway, located just outside of Brooklyn, Michigan. It is a D-shaped 2-mile speedway with moderate banking. The track opened in 1967, and hosted its first NASCAR Cup Series race two years later. The first race was won by Cale Yarborough.
Sunday’s race is set to be 200 laps (400 miles), with stage breaks at 60 – 120 – 200 with a competition caution at lap 20. The fuel window is approximately 46-51 laps.
NASCAR has run 8,278.53 miles so far this year. Denny Hamlin has completed 99.89% of them, the most of any driver.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Michigan:
| Chase Elliott | 7.70 over 10 races |
| Kevin Harvick | 11.13 over 40 races |
| Joey Logano | 11.75 over 24 races |
| Kyle Larson | 12.42 over 12 races |
| Brad Keselowski | 12.70 over 23 races |
Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Michigan:
| Michael McDowell | 31.36 over 14 races |
| Quin Houff | 30.50 over 4 races |
| Ross Chastain | 30.00 over 3 races |
| Cole Custer | 29.50 over 2 races |
| Corey LaJoie | 27.00 over 8 races |
For the purposes of this article, Michigan has been lumped together with the intermediate courses.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Courses:
| Kevin Harvick | 11.18 over 368 races |
| Kyle Busch | 12.40 over 299 races |
| Kyle Larson | 12.45 over 122 races |
| Joey Logano | 13.23 over 229 races |
| Brad Keselowski | 13.35 over 220 races |
David Pearson holds the record for most Cup Series wins at Michigan, with 9. Cale Yarborough has 8, followed by Bill Elliott at 7. Kevin Harvick is the winningest of all current drivers, with 5 – including the last 3 in a row at Michigan.
Notable drivers who have not won at Michigan:
| Brad Keselowski | (has won at 17 other tracks) |
| Martin Truex Jr. | (has won at 15 other tracks) |
| Chase Elliott | (has won at 11 other tracks) |
| Alex Bowman | (has won at 5 other tracks) |
| Ryan Blaney | (has won at 4 other tracks) |
Kyle Larson scored his first ever Cup Series win at Michigan, in his 100th start.
No drivers list Michigan as their BEST or WORST track.
Milestone Watch!
| Martin Truex Jr. | Currently has 124 Career Top 5s |
| Chris Buescher | Currently has 24 Career Top 10s |
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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 | +279 pts |
| Daniel Suarez | +258 pts |
| Tyler Reddick | +220 pts |
| Christopher Bell | +159 pts |
| Michael McDowell | +129 pts |
Drivers Faring Worse than in 2020
| Aric Almirola | -371 pts |
| Kevin Harvick | -308 pts |
| Erik Jones | -255 pts |
| Brad Keselowski | -195 pts |
| Matt DiBenedetto | -130 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 | 9.08 |
| Kyle Larson | 9.58 |
| Chase Elliott | 11.29 |
| William Byron | 12.54 |
| Ryan Blaney | 12.67 |
| Austin Dillon | 14.17 |
| Alex Bowman | 14.33 |
| Chris Buescher | 17.13 |
| Michael McDowell | 18.83 |
| Bubba Wallace | 19.88 |
| Corey LaJoie | 24.96 |
Drivers Having their WORST Career Year
| Ryan Newman | 21.46 |
| Erik Jones | 20.63 |
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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 | 261 pts |
| Kyle Larson | 257 pts |
| William Byron | 182 pts |
| Chase Elliott | 173 pts |
| Kyle Busch | 166 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 | 892 |
| Ford | 822 |
| Toyota | 815 |
Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:
Chartered Team Standings
| Hendrick | 869 |
| Joe Gibbs | 811 |
| Penske | 765 |
| Stewart-Haas | 704 |
| Richard Childress | 627 |
| Chip Ganassi | 616 |
| JTG-Daugherty | 548 |
| Roush-Fenway | 536 |
| Wood Brothers | 481 |
| Front Row | 447 |
| 23XI | 414 |
| Richard Petty | 396 |
| Trackhouse | 385 |
| Spire | 352 |
| Rick Ware | 220 |
| Live Fast | 152 |
| StarCom | 116 |
The race is Sunday, August 22ndat 3:00pm EST (12:00pm PST) – Enjoy the races everyone!
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