StatChat - NASCAR Cup Series @ Texas

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The NASCAR Cup Series visits Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.  It is a 1.5-mile quad-oval, a layout similar to Atlanta and Charlotte.  The track opened in 1996, and hosted its first Cup Series race in 1997 which was won by Jeff Burton. 

 

This weekend’s race is called the “AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500,” and is set to be 334 laps (501 miles).  Stage breaks will occur at 105 – 210 – 334, with a competition caution at lap 25.  The fuel window is approximately 60-63 laps.

 

NASCAR has run 11,119.09 miles so far this year.  Denny Hamlin has completed 99.92% of them, the most of any driver.

 

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Texas:

Tyler Reddick

8.50 over 2 races

Erik Jones

10.33 over 9 races

Kevin Harvick

10.39 over 36 races

Kyle Busch

10.97 over 30 races

Chase Elliott

12.00 over 10 races

 

Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Texas:

Timmy Hill

37.38 over 8 races

Joey Gase

35.43 over 7 races

Quin Houff

33.33 over 3 races

BJ McLeod

32.00 over 2 races

Corey LaJoie

31.14 over 7 races

 

 

Texas is an Intermediate Track.

 

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks:

Kevin Harvick

11.15 over 371 races

Kyle Larson

12.36 over 125 races

Kyle Busch

12.44 over 302 races

Joey Logano

13.27 over 232 races

Brad Keselowski

13.31 over 223 races

 

Jimmie Johnson is the winningest driver at Texas, having won 7 times.  Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch are tied for 2nd, with 4 each, followed by Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin who each have 3.

 

Notable drivers who have not won at Texas:

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)

Kyle Larson

(has won at 11 other tracks)

Ryan Blaney

(has won at 6 other tracks)

 

No one has won their first Cup Series race at Texas.

 

 

Milestone Watch!

Denny Hamlin

This will be his 575th Cup Start

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

This will be his 325th Cup Start

Brad Keselowski

Currently has 224 Top 10s

Kyle Larson

Currently has 124 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

Daniel Suarez

+273 pts

Tyler Reddick

+203 pts

William Byron

+175 pts

Christopher Bell

+175 pts

Denny Hamlin

+150 pts

 

Drivers Faring Worse than in 2020

Aric Almirola

-349 pts

Kevin Harvick

-296 pts

Erik Jones

-233 pts

Brad Keselowski

-176 pts

Matt DiBenedetto

-136 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

8.16

Kyle Larson

9.69

Ryan Blaney

11.59

William Byron

14.41

Austin Dillon

14.63

Chris Buescher

17.38

Ross Chastain

18.38

Bubba Wallace

18.69

Michael McDowell

20.44

Ryan Preece

22.09

Corey LaJoie

24.94

 

 

 

Drivers Having their WORST Career Year

Ryan Newman

21.69

Erik Jones

19.91

 

 

 

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

361 pts

Kyle Larson

347 pts

Chase Elliott

254 pts

Kyle Busch

235 pts

William Byron

216 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

1,177

Toyota

1,105

Ford

1,103

 

Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:

 

Chartered Team Standings

Hendrick

1,130

Joe Gibbs

1,088

Penske

1,037

Stewart-Haas

925

Chip Ganassi

837

Richard Childress

837

Roush-Fenway

733

JTG-Daugherty

724

Wood Brothers

642

23XI

593

Front Row

576

Richard Petty

550

Trackhouse

537

Spire

462

Rick Ware

310

Live Fast

224

StarCom

164

 

 

 

The race is Sunday, October 17that 2:00pm EST (11:00am PST) – Enjoy the races everyone!

 

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @StatChat_RR

Or you can email directly: acarabine@racingrefresh.com

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Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!

 

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