StatChat - NASCAR Cup Series @ Darlington 2
This weekend’s race will take place at Darlington Raceway. It is a 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval. With each corner being completely different, it is an extremely challenging course. The track opened in 1950, and has been a staple on the NASCAR schedule ever since.
Sunday’s race is a crown jewel event, called the “Cookout Southern 500,” and is set to be 367 laps (500 miles). Stage breaks will occur at 115 – 230 – 367, with a competition caution at lap 25. The fuel window is approximately 69-73 laps.
NASCAR has run 9,091.03 miles so far this year. Denny Hamlin has completed 99.90% of them, the most of any driver.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Darlington:
| Kyle Larson | 6.00 over 7 races |
| Erik Jones | 7.00 over 7 races |
| Denny Hamlin | 7.39 over 18 races |
| Kyle Busch | 10.74 over 19 races |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 11.17 over 18 races |
Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Darlington:
| BJ McLeod | 36.50 over 4 races |
| Quin Houff | 30.75 over 4 races |
| Corey LaJoie | 29.29 over 7 races |
| Michael McDowell | 28.33 over 12 races |
| Daniel Suarez | 25.43 over 7 races |
While Darlington is a uniquely-shaped track, we will consider it an intermediate track for this article.
Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks:
| Kevin Harvick | 11.18 over 369 races |
| Kyle Busch | 12.38 over 300 races |
| Kyle Larson | 12.39 over 123 races |
| Joey Logano | 13.29 over 230 races |
| Brad Keselowski | 13.34 over 221 races |
David Pearson is the winningest driver at Darlington, having won 10 times. Dale Earnhardt won 9 times, and Jeff Gordon won 7. As far as current Cup drivers, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin have each won 3 races at Darlington.
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 11 other tracks) |
| Kyle Larson | (has won at 9 other tracks) |
No current drivers earned their first Cup Series win at Darlington.
Erik Jones lists Darlington as his BEST track. No current drivers list it as their worst.
Milestone Watch!
| Martin Truex Jr. | Currently has 124 Career Top 5s |
| Kyle Larson | This will be his 250th Cup Series Start |
| Chris Buescher | Currently has 24 Career Top 10s |
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 | +260 pts |
| Daniel Suarez | +255 pts |
| Tyler Reddick | +212 pts |
| Christopher Bell | +149 pts |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | +133 pts |
Drivers Faring Worse than in 2020
| Aric Almirola | -358 pts |
| Kevin Harvick | -329 pts |
| Erik Jones | -240 pts |
| Brad Keselowski | -224 pts |
| Joey Logano | -126 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 | 9.73 |
| Chase Elliott | 11.04 |
| Ryan Blaney | 11.77 |
| William Byron | 13.08 |
| Alex Bowman | 14.12 |
| Austin Dillon | 15.12 |
| Ross Chastain | 18.65 |
| Bubba Wallace | 19.15 |
| Michael McDowell | 19.65 |
| Ryan Preece | 22.08 |
| Corey LaJoie | 24.65 |
Drivers Having their WORST Career Year
| Ryan Newman | 20.85 |
| Erik Jones | 20.15 |
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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 | 283 pts |
| Kyle Larson | 280 pts |
| Chase Elliott | 200 pts |
| William Byron | 198 pts |
| Kyle Busch | 189 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 | 960 |
| Ford | 902 |
| Toyota | 882 |
Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:
Chartered Team Standings
| Hendrick | 928 |
| Joe Gibbs | 873 |
| Penske | 845 |
| Stewart-Haas | 753 |
| Chip Ganassi | 674 |
| Richard Childress | 667 |
| JTG-Daugherty | 606 |
| Roush-Fenway | 592 |
| Wood Brothers | 524 |
| Front Row | 475 |
| 23XI | 467 |
| Richard Petty | 441 |
| Trackhouse | 418 |
| Spire | 395 |
| Rick Ware | 257 |
| Live Fast | 189 |
| StarCom | 124 |
The race is Sunday, September 5that 6:00pm EST (3:00pm PST) – Enjoy the races everyone!
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