StatChat - NASCAR Cup Series @ Bristol Night Race
After last week’s race at Richmond, this Saturday the NASCAR Cup Series will return to another short track. Bristol Motor Speedway is a 0.533-mile oval, known for its high banking in the corners, and all-concrete surface. It was built in 1960 and held its first NASCAR race one year later. Only 19 of the 42 cars that started the race finished it.
This weekend’s race is called the “Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race,” and is set to be 500 laps (266.5 miles). Stage breaks will occur at 125 – 250 – 500, with a competition caution at lap 40. The fuel window is approximately 165-180 laps, though teams will likely want to pit sooner due to tire wear.
NASCAR has run 9,892.35 miles so far this year. Denny Hamlin has completed 99.91% of them, the most of any driver.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Bristol:
| Chase Elliott | 11.91 over 11 races |
| Erik Jones | 12.56 over 9 races |
| Kyle Busch | 12.91 over 32 races |
| Kevin Harvick | 13.49 over 41 races |
| Daniel Suarez | 14.00 over 9 races |
Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Bristol:
| Josh Bilicki | 34.67 over 3 races |
| BJ McLeod | 32.25 over 4 races |
| Ross Chastain | 31.00 over 5 races |
| Corey LaJoie | 30.22 over 9 races |
| Michael McDowell | 29.09 over 22 races |
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Bristol is a Short Track
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks:
| Denny Hamlin | 11.58 over 152 races |
| Kyle Busch | 11.91 over 158 races |
| Chase Elliott | 12.45 over 54 races |
| Brad Keselowski | 12.61 over 115 races |
| Joey Logano | 12.96 over 123 races |
Darrell Waltrip is by far the winningest driver at Bristol, having won 12 races. Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace all each have 9. The Busch brothers have won the most out of any current drivers, with Kyle having 8 and Kurt having 6 wins.
Notable drivers who have not won at Bristol:
| Martin Truex Jr. | (has won at 15 other tracks) |
| Ryan Newman | (has won at 12 other tracks) |
| Chase Elliott | (has won at 11 other tracks) |
| Kyle Larson | (has won at 9 other tracks) |
| Ryan Blaney | (has won at 6 other tracks) |
Kurt Busch scored his first Cup Series win at Bristol, his 48th start.
No current drivers list Bristol as their BEST track. Anthony Alfredo lists it as his WORST, though he has only had one prior race there, and it was covered in dirt at the time.
Milestone Watch!
| Denny Hamlin | Currently has 299 Career Top 10s |
| Kyle Busch | This will be his 598th Cup Series Start |
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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
| Daniel Suarez | +268 pts |
| William Byron | +204 pts |
| Tyler Reddick | +201 pts |
| Christopher Bell | +173 pts |
| Denny Hamlin | +137 pts |
Drivers Faring Worse than in 2020
| Aric Almirola | -337 pts |
| Kevin Harvick | -307 pts |
| Erik Jones | -258 pts |
| Brad Keselowski | -222 pts |
| Matt DiBenedetto | -137 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 | 8.54 |
| Kyle Larson | 9.32 |
| Chase Elliott | 11.50 |
| Ryan Blaney | 12.07 |
| William Byron | 14.04 |
| Austin Dillon | 14.79 |
| Chris Buescher | 17.82 |
| Bubba Wallace | 19.68 |
| Michael McDowell | 20.57 |
| Ryan Preece | 21.82 |
| Corey LaJoie | 24.46 |
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Drivers Having their WORST Career Year
| Erik Jones | 20.61 |
| Ryan Newman | 20.57 |
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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 | 320 pts |
| Kyle Larson | 313 pts |
| Chase Elliott | 212 pts |
| Kyle Busch | 198 pts |
| William Byron | 198 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 | 1,029 |
| Ford | 967 |
| Toyota | 962 |
Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:
Chartered Team Standings
| Hendrick | 996 |
| Joe Gibbs | 953 |
| Penske | 907 |
| Stewart-Haas | 814 |
| Chip Ganassi | 738 |
| Richard Childress | 720 |
| JTG-Daugherty | 645 |
| Roush-Fenway | 637 |
| Wood Brothers | 557 |
| Front Row | 499 |
| 23XI | 488 |
| Trackhouse | 462 |
| Richard Petty | 462 |
| Spire | 427 |
| Rick Ware | 272 |
| Live Fast | 206 |
| StarCom | 133 |
The race is Saturday, September 18that 7:30pm EST (4:30pm PST) – Enjoy the races everyone!
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