StatChat - NASCAR Cup Series @ Watkins Glen
This weekend’s race will take place at Watkins Glen International, located in Watkins Glen, New York. While the track has multiple different configurations, the one used by NASCAR is 2.454 miles long, featuring 8 turns. The permanent circuit at Watkins Glen opened in 1956. Buck Baker won the first NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen in 1957, though they didn’t begin making a yearly visit to the track until 1986.
Sunday’s race is set to be 90 laps (220.5 miles), with stage breaks at 20 – 40 – 90 with a competition caution at lap 10. The fuel window is approximately 35-37 laps.
NASCAR has run 7,825.96 miles so far this year. Austin Dillon has completed 99.90% of them, the most of any driver.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Watkins Glen:
| Erik Jones | 6.33 over 3 races |
| Chase Elliott | 7.00 over 4 races |
| Daniel Suarez | 8.00 over 3 races |
| Kyle Busch | 9.47 over 15 races |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 10.64 over 14 races |
Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Watkins Glen:
| Josh Bilicki | 34.00 over 2 races |
| Corey LaJoie | 33.50 over 2 races |
| Ross Chastain | 29.50 over 2 races |
| Austin Dillon | 27.83 over 6 races |
| Michael McDowell | 27.10 over 10 races |
Watkins Glen is a Road Course.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Road Courses:
| Chase Elliott | 6.18 over 14 races |
| Joey Logano | 10.19 over 28 races |
| Denny Hamlin | 11.70 over 34 races |
| Kurt Busch | 13.13 over 44 races |
| Brad Keselowski | 14.47 over 26 races |
Tony Stewart has the most wins at Watkins Glen with 5, followed by Jeff Gordon with 4. For current drivers, both Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott have 2 wins.
Notable drivers who have not won at Watkins Glen:
| Kurt Busch | (has won at 17 other tracks) |
| Brad Keselowski | (has won at 17 other tracks) |
| Ryan Newman | (has won at 12 other tracks) |
| Kyle Larson | (has won at 8 other tracks) |
| Alex Bowman | (has won at 5 other tracks) |
Chase Elliott scored his first Cup Series win at Watkins Glen, in his 99th start.
Erik Jones lists Watkins Glen as his BEST track, while Corey LaJoie lists Watkins Glen as his WORST.
Milestone Watch!
| Kyle Busch | Currently has 224 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 | +320 pts |
| Daniel Suarez | +303 pts |
| Tyler Reddick | +196 pts |
| Christopher Bell | +170 pts |
| Michael McDowell | +142 pts |
Drivers Faring Worse than in 2020
| Aric Almirola | -379 pts |
| Kevin Harvick | -307 pts |
| Erik Jones | -278 pts |
| Matt DiBenedetto | -170 pts |
| Brad Keselowski | -133 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 | 8.64 |
| Kyle Larson | 10.27 |
| William Byron | 11.91 |
| Ryan Blaney | 13.09 |
| Austin Dillon | 13.36 |
| Alex Bowman | 13.95 |
| Chris Buescher | 17.36 |
| Michael McDowell | 18.23 |
| Bubba Wallace | 20.05 |
| Ryan Preece | 22.09 |
| Corey LaJoie | 25.41 |
Drivers Having their WORST Career Year
| Ryan Newman | 21.82 |
| Erik Jones | 20.95 |
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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 | 250 pts |
| Kyle Larson | 238 pts |
| William Byron | 176 pts |
| Chase Elliott | 168 pts |
| Kyle Busch | 160 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 | 812 |
| Ford | 758 |
| Toyota | 757 |
Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:
Chartered Team Standings
| Hendrick | 795 |
| Joe Gibbs | 755 |
| Penske | 707 |
| Stewart-Haas | 652 |
| Richard Childress | 584 |
| Chip Ganassi | 560 |
| JTG-Daugherty | 504 |
| Roush-Fenway | 489 |
| Front Row | 424 |
| Wood Brothers | 423 |
| Trackhouse | 378 |
| 23XI | 376 |
| Richard Petty | 356 |
| Spire | 310 |
| Rick Ware | 197 |
| Live Fast | 144 |
| StarCom | 96 |
The race is Sunday, August 8that 3:00pm EST (12:00pm PST) – Enjoy the races everyone!
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