NASCAR Bristol Sunday, March 31, 2019

NASCAR Bristol Sunday, March 31, 2019

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES BRISTOL STATS HIGHLIGHTS

  • 5 Won first career race at Bristol – Earnhardt, R. Wallace, Irvan, E. Sadler & Kurt Busch
  • Dale Earnhardt only Rookie of the Year contender to win Bristol (4/1/79)
  • Dale Earnhardt won in his first 2 races at Bristol (4/1/79 & 3/30/80) – 1st & 3rd career wins
  • Most Bristol wins by active drivers: 7 Kyle Busch & 6 Kurt Busch
  • Bristol 8/18: Lap 3 – 15 Involved in crash (9 Cautions – 6 For spins & crashes) – 9 Failed to finish due to crashes
  • Bristol 4/18: Lap 4 – 9 Involved in crash (13 Cautions – 8 For crashes) – 8 Failed to finish due to crashes
  • 4 Red flags last Bristol April race – First 204 laps run Sunday, concluded Monday
  • Kyle Busch: 4 Wins last 6 Bristol NASCAR National Touring Series races
  • 42 Different winners in 116 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bristol races
  • 21 Different winners in 53 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bristol concrete races
  • Kyle Busch: 21 Bristol wins (Most all-time) – 7 MENCS (Leads active drivers), 9 NXS (Most) & 5 NGOTS (Most)
  • Kyle Busch leads all with 7 wins on Bristol concrete – Passed Rusty Wallace last Bristol spring race
  • 23 Champions won Bristol races – Only 3 champions since 1961 haven’t won (Bobby Isaac, Bobby Labonte & Martin Truex Jr.)
  • Kevin Harvick’s second Bristol win came 23 races after first – 4/05-8/16
  • Jimmie Johnson’s second Bristol win came 14 races after first – 3/10-4/17
  • Kyle Busch ended 11-race Bristol winless streak by winning 2 straight Bristol races (8/17 & 4/18)
  • Kurt Busch’s 6th Bristol win came 25 races after previous win – Longest stretch between Bristol wins (3/06 & 8/18)
  • Kurt Busch won Bristol at 23-years-old & 40-years-old
  • Kurt Busch: 1 Win last 25 Bristol races – 5 Wins previous 9 races
  • A Busch won last 3 Bristol races – Kyle 2 & Kurt 1
  • Kyle Busch: 3 Straight wins last season – Texas, Bristol & Richmond
  • Kurt Busch: 6 Bristol wins (Most of all tracks) – 4 Roush Ford, 1 Penske Dodge & 1 Stewart-Haas Ford
  • Kurt Busch: 1 Win last season – Bristol Aug.
  • Kyle Larson only driver to finish top 5 both Bristol races in 2018 (Only top 5s in 10 races) – Finished 2nd each race
  • 6 Finished top 10 both Bristol races last season:
  • Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer & Joey Logano
  • Kevin Harvick: 7 Straight Bristol top 10 finishes – Longest current streak
  • Jimmie Johnson best finish last season – 3rd Bristol April (1 of 2 top 5 finishes – Charlotte May)
  • Jimmie Johnson: Last 2 wins came on concrete tracks – Bristol 4/17 & Dover 6/17
  • Erik Jones: Only Joe Gibbs Racing driver in top 10 at Bristol 8/18 – Finished 5th
  • Brad Keselowski: Finished 16th or worse last 6 Bristol races – Average finish: 25.5
  • Ryan Blaney: Bristol 4/18 led 100 of first 117 laps & lap 118 crashed out of race
  • Ryan Blaney: 221 Total laps led at Bristol last season (100 April & 121 Aug.) – Led all drivers
  • Martin Truex Jr.: Crashed out both Bristol races last season – After Bristol 8/18 crash: “That hurt”
  • Martin Truex Jr.: Crashed out in 3 of 4 April races last season – Texas, Bristol & Talladega
  • Aric Almirola: Finished 6th at Bristol 4/18 (Best SHR finisher) – Finished 31st at Bristol 8/18 (Only SHR driver outside top 10)
  • Alex Bowman first MENCS top 5 finish: 5th – Bristol 4/18
  • Only race last season Hendrick Motorsports had multiple drivers in top 5 (April) – Jimmie Johnson 3rd & Alex Bowman 5th
  • *Hendrick only team to have 2 finish in top 5
  • 3 of 4 Hendrick drivers finished top 10 at Bristol 8/18 – Elliott 3rd, Bowman 8th, Johnson 9th, Byron 23rd
  • Top 5 Bristol 8/18 finishers from different teams – Stewart-Haas, Ganassi, Hendrick, Penske & Gibbs
  • Toyota had 2 top 5 finishers total in 2 races at Bristol – Kyle Busch winner (April) & Erik Jones 5th (Aug.)
  • 15 Pit road speeding penalties total at Bristol last year – 7 by 6 drivers in April & 8 by 7 drivers in August
  • Laps led Bristol 8/18 – Ford: 370 / Chevrolet: 130 / Toyota: 0
  • Champion drivers won last 5 Bristol races – Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch (2), Kevin Harvick & Jimmie Johnson
  • 8 or more cautions last 13 Bristol races
  • 13 Cautions for 114 laps Bristol 4/18 (Most last season) – 8 Due to crashes (4 Red flags)
  • 22 Cautions for 184 laps total in Bristol races last season
  • Each Bristol race had 2018 season-high caution laps – 114 in April & 70 in August
  • 4 of last 5 Bristol races won from pit stalls on backstretch – Harvick (36), Johnson (27), Kyle Busch (32) & Kurt Busch (34)
  • Drivers pitting in stall 1 finished 6th or better last 8 races – 3 Wins
  • 1 Joe Gibbs Racing top 10 finisher last Bristol spring race – Kyle Busch winner
  • 3 Stewart-Haas Racing top 10 finishers last Bristol spring race
  • Team Penske leads active teams with 12 Bristol wins (Team Penske won more races at Bristol than any other track)
  • All 3 Team Penske drivers involved in crashes Bristol 4/18
  • Hendrick, Gibbs & Roush 11 Bristol wins each
  • Kyle Larson started 1st in 2 of last 4 Bristol races – 3 Front-row starts last 4 races
  • 3 of last 8 Bristol races won from pole – Pole failed to win previous 12 races
  • 3 of last 4 Bristol spring races won from pole – Last previous spring race won from pole: 1999 Rusty Wallace
  • Kyle Busch: 7 Bristol wins – Only 1 win from pole (4/18)
  • Worst start position of Bristol winner: 38th – Elliott Sadler 3/01 (Wood Brothers Racing Ford)
  • Darrell Waltrip (Bristol) & Richard Petty (Richmond) hold record of 7 straight wins at 1 track
  • 15 Bristol wins streaks (Back-to-back wins)
  • Last back-to-back spring winner: Kurt Busch 2002, ’03 & ’04 (Kyle Busch won last spring race)
  • Joe Gibbs Racing won 3 of last 4 Bristol spring races with 3 different drivers (Kyle Busch, Edwards & Kenseth)
  • Kyle Busch: 7 Bristol wins with 4 crew chiefs (Alan Gustafson, Steve Addington, Dave Rogers & Adam Stevens)
  • Kyle Busch won as points leader last Bristol spring race – Last previous points leader to win: Dale Earnhardt 8/87
  • In 2018, Joey Logano first to finish top 10 in both Bristol races & win championship since Jimmie Johnson in 2009
  • Last 65 Bristol NASCAR National Touring Series races: Kyle Busch 21 wins & 22 other drivers with 5 or fewer
  • 4 of 116 Bristol Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Races settled by last lap pass
  • Leader of most laps failed to win last 5 Bristol races
  • Leader of most laps won only 5 of last 26 Bristol races
  • Kyle Larson led most laps last 2 Bristol April races – Finished 6th & 2nd
  • Ryan Blaney led most laps at Bristol 8/18 (121) – Finished 7th
  • Jimmie Johnson led most laps only 1 Bristol race – 3/11
  • Joe Gibbs Racing #20 (3), #11 (1), #18 (1) & #20 (1) led most laps 6 of last 13 Bristol races – 2 Wins (8/13 & 4/16)
  • 5 Bristol Overtime finishes – Kyle Busch won 2
  • First win of season for 6 of last 8 Bristol spring winners
  • Kurt Busch: 6 Bristol wins – First win of season 5 times
  • Chevrolet won 2 of last 5 Bristol races – Winless previous 6 Bristol races
  • Ford won 4 of last 10 Bristol races – Winless previous 10 Bristol races
  • Toyota won 10 of last 20 Bristol races
  • Bristol weather issues each of last 5 years: 3/14, 4/15, 8/16, 4/17 & 4/18
  • Joe Gibbs Racing won 10 of last 20 Bristol Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races with 4 different drivers
  • Hendrick Motorsports won 1 of last 11 Bristol Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races – Jimmie Johnson 4/17
  • Roush Fenway Racing: 1 Win last 20 Bristol races – 8 Wins previous 14 races
  • Team Penske: 4 Wins last 15 Bristol races
  • Car #2 won 12 Bristol races – Roger Penske owned #2 won 10 times
  • Car #11 won 19 Bristol races – Junior Johnson prepared #11 won 17 Bristol races
  • #11 Won 7 straight 3/81-4/84 with Darrell Waltrip driving
  • Brad Keselowski won Stage 1 & 2 last Bristol spring race – Finished 23rd
  • Kyle Busch led 415 consecutive laps 8/08 – Finished 2nd
  • Relief drivers involved in 7 Bristol wins
  • Drivers swept both Bristol races & championship in same season 7 times – Last: Dale Earnhardt 1987
  • Richard Petty led 442 laps 7/26/64 – Most ever by a driver in a MENCS race without winning
  • Cale Yarborough is only driver to lead all 500 laps at Bristol 3/25/73 (Most laps ever led in a MENCS race)
  • First Bristol Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner on concrete: Darrell Waltrip 8/29/92
  • (Also Darrell Waltrip’s last career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series short track win)
  • First time 3 brothers competed in the same Bristol Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race was 7/29/61
  • Dub (Finished 29th), Layman (Finished 42nd) & Sherman (Finished 9th) Utsman
  • Oldest ever pole winner: Harry Gant (54 Years, 7 Months, 17 Days) – Bristol 8/27/94
  • Youngest Bristol pole winner: Joey Logano (19 Years, 9 Months, 25 Days) – 3/21/10
  • Most MENCS laps run under green: 500 – Dover 6/71 & Bristol 7/71
  • Kyle Busch
  • Last 6 Bristol
  • NASCAR National Touring Series Races
  • Date
  • Race
  • Start
  • Finish
  • Laps Led
  • 8/17
  • NGOTS
  • 1st
  • 1st
  • 109
  • 8/17
  • NXS
  • 1st
  • 1st
  • 186
  • 8/17
  • MENCS
  • 18th
  • 1st
  • 156
  • 4/18
  • MENCS
  • 1st
  • 1st
  • 117
  • 8/18
  • NXS
  • 1st
  • 36th
  • 69
  • 8/18
  • MENCS
  • 3rd
  • 20th
  • 0

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES BRISTOL STATS HIGHLIGHTS

  • Christopher Bell: 3 Short track wins in 6 races last season – Only driver with multiple short track wins
  • *Finished top 2 last 5 short track races
  • Justin Allgaier: Only driver to finish top 5 both Bristol races last season
  • Justin Allgaier: 3 Straight Bristol top 5 finishes – Average finish: 2.7
  • Justin Allgaier: 1 Bristol Xfinity Series win (3/10) – First career NXS win (43rd career race, 23-years-old, started 30th, 27 laps led)
  • 4 Finished top 10 both Bristol races last season – Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick & Elliott Sadler
  • Brandon Jones: 106 Laps led Bristol 4/18 (Most) – Passed for final lead change (Finished 6th)
  • Tyler Reddick: Finished 11th or better all 3 Bristol races – 2 Straight top 10 finishes
  • Cole Custer: 3 Straight Bristol top 10 finishes – Started top 10 all 4 Bristol races
  • All 4 JR Motorsports drivers finished top 10 Bristol 8/18
  • 3 JR Motorsports drivers finished 7th or better Bristol 4/18
  • 5 Different teams finished top 5 at Bristol 8/18 – Ganassi, Gibbs, JR Motorsports, Stewart-Haas & Penske
  • Richard Childress Racing: 8 Bristol NXS wins – Most of all tracks
  • 46 Different winners in 73 NASCAR Xfinity Series Bristol races
  • 3 Won Bristol in first try – Phil Parsons, Darrell Waltrip & Rick Wilson
  • Most tries before first Bristol win: 18 – Jeff Green & Dale Jarrett
  • 8 Won first Bristol race in 1st or 2nd try
  • 23 Won first Bristol race in 5 or fewer tries
  • 7 Won Bristol for first time in 4th try
  • 6 Won first career race at Bristol
  • Final lead change with 10 or fewer laps to go 5 of last 9 Bristol races
  • Joe Gibbs Racing: 12 Wins last 17 Bristol races
  • #22 Passed for final lead change 2 of last 5 Bristol races – Finished 12th & 2nd
  • Pole won 11 of 73 Bristol Xfinity Series races
  • Worst start position of Bristol winner: 38th – Kevin Harvick 4/4/05
  • 1 Bristol Xfinity Series race settled by a last lap pass – 4/94 (Mark Martin pitted while leading race)
  • 6 Sweeps of Bristol Xfinity Series race and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on same weekend
  • *Kyle Busch also won Gander Outdoors Truck Series race (8/10 & 8/17)
  • Stage 2 winner won last 3 Bristol races
  • Kyle Larson won Stage 1, 2 & race last Bristol race