NASCAR Darlington Sunday, August 18, 2019

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES DARLINGTON STATS HIGHLIGHTS

Brad Keselowski:

• 2018 Darlington winner – First win of season & first of 3 straight wins (Darlington, Indianapolis & Las Vegas)
• 2018 Darlington winner – 1st in final race off pit road, led 24 laps including final 22
• Kyle Larson:
• Finished 3rd at 2018 Darlington – Started 2nd, Stage 1 & 2 winner, 284 laps led, 2 Playoff points scored (1st of season)
• Kyle Larson led 284 of 367 laps (77%) & passed for final lead change last Darlington race (Finished 3rd)
• 2018 Darlington: Team Penske finished 1-2 – Brad Keselowski winner & Joey Logano 2nd
• 2018 Darlington:
• 3 Commitment line violations – Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth & Jamie McMurray
• 4 Uncontrolled tire penalties – Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones & Martin Truex Jr.
• 3 Pit road speeding penalties – Derrike Cope, Matt DiBenedetto & Ryan Newman
• Jimmie Johnson: 3 Darlington wins – Leads active drivers
• Ryan Newman: 13 Darlington top 10 finishes – Leads active drivers
• Kyle Busch: 598 Darlington laps led – Leads active drivers
• 9/1/52: Fonty Flock won Southern 500 wearing Bermuda shorts
• 9/1/58: 3 Cars went through or over rail in Southern 500 – Eddie Pagan, Eddie Gray & Jack Smith
• 9/1/69: LeeRoy Yarbrough won Southern 500 by last lap pass – 1969 Daytona 500, World 600 & Southern 500 winner
• 9/1/75: Bobby Allison won Southern 500 driving a Matador after being down by nearly 2 laps
• 9/1/80: Terry Labonte led only final 2 laps of Southern 500 winning for the first time in his career
• 9/1/85: Bill Elliott won Southern 500 & million dollar bonus making him “Million Dollar Bill”
• 1974 Rookie of the Year runner-up Richie Panch killed in plane crash in South Carolina after leaving Darlington
• 9/1/91: Southern 500 was first of 4 straight wins Mr. September Harry Gant – Oldest Darlington winner at 51
• 9/1/96: 3rd straight Darlington win for Jeff Gordon – Dale Earnhardt only other driver to win 3 straight Darlington races
• 9/1/02: Jeff Gordon tied Cale Yarborough for most all-time Southern 500 wins with 5 – Gordon took all-time lead in 2007
• 50 Different winners in 115 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Darlington races
• 40 Different winners in 69 Southern 500s
• 22 Champions won Darlington races
• 8 Different winners last 8 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Darlington races
• Teammates finished 1-2 five times at Darlington including last 2 seasons – Gibbs (2017) & Penske (2018)
• Martin Truex Jr. won Stage 1 & 2 in 2017 – Finished 8th
• Kyle Larson won Stage 1 & 2 in 2018 – Finished 3rd
• Denny Hamlin only repeat winner last 13 Darlington races (2 Wins) – 11 Others 1 win each
• First Darlington victory for 5 of last 6 winners –
• Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr. & Brad Keselowski
• Drivers won first race of season 35 times at Darlington
• 5 Darlington races settled by last lap pass
• Closest Darlington finish: .002 seconds – 3/03 Ricky Craven over Kurt Busch
• 6 Won first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington
• 3 Won Darlington in first try – Johnny Mantz, Dick Rathmann & Herb Thomas
• Ricky Rudd won Darlington for first time in 29th try – Most of all drivers
• Tim Richmond won for the first time in his last Darlington race
• No Rookie of the Year contender won Darlington
• 1 of last 29 Darlington races won by driver starting first – Last winner from pole: Kevin Harvick 2014
• Worst starting position of Darlington winner: 43rd – Johnny Mantz 1950
• Last to win back-to-back Darlington races: Greg Biffle 5/05 & 5/06 (Brad Keselowski won last race)
• 15 Darlington win streaks (Back-to-back wins)
• Southern 500 won back-to-back 7 times – Brad Keselowski won last Southern 500
• Most consecutive Southern 500 wins: 4 – Jeff Gordon 1995-’98 (Jeff Burton won in 1999)
• Last back-to-back Southern 500 winner: Greg Biffle 2005 & ’06 – Brad Keselowski won last Southern 500
• Only 1 won Southern 500 & championship in same year last 18 years – Kevin Harvick 2014
• Last defending champion to win Darlington race –Jeff Gordon 2001 champ & 9/02 winner
• Southern 500 winners went on to win championship 13 times – Last: Kevin Harvick 2014
• Chevrolet leads all with 27 Southern 500 wins
• Toyota won 4 of last 6 Southern 500s
• Ford won only 1 of last 12 Southern 500s – 2018 Brad Keselowski
• 5 Won Daytona 500 & Southern 500 in same year – Last: Jeff Gordon 1997
• 9 Times driver won Coca-Cola 600 & Southern 500 in same year
• Jeff Burton won 2 shortened Darlington races
• 4 Darlington Overtime finishes – Leader at scheduled distance won 2
• 9/6/65: Ned Jarrett won Southern 500 by 14 laps over 2nd-place Buck Baker
• 5/13/67: At Darlington, Richard Petty passed Lee Petty for all-time wins with 55th career victory
• 9/6/71: Bobby Allison started streak of 39 straight races led winning Southern 500
• 4/13/75 & 9/1/75: Team Penske’s first Darlington wins – Bobby Allison driving Matador
• 9/6/76: David Pearson won final race in triple-crown – 1976 Daytona 500, 1976 World 600 & 1976 Southern 500
• 9/2/84: Southern 500 run on Sunday instead of Labor Day
• 9/1/91: Harry Gant’s Darlington win was first of 4 straight victories for Mr. September
• 9/6/92: Darlington was 84th and final career win for Darrell Waltrip
• 9/5/93: Mark Martin won 4 straight races in 1993 with the final win of streak coming in Southern 500
• 9/5/99: Jeff Burton won 50th Southern 500 with brother Ward Burton finishing 2nd
• 3/16/03: Ricky Craven edged Kurt Busch by .002 seconds winning Darlington
• 5/12/12: Jimmie Johnson’s Darlington win was 200th win for Hendrick Motorsports
• DARLINGTON TEAM WINS
• Hendrick Motorsports
• 14
• 8/86, 4/91, 9/95, 3/96, 9/96, 8/97, 9/98, 9/02, 8/03, 3/04, 11/04, 5/07, 5/09 & 5/12
• Richard Childress Racing
• 8
• 4/86, 3/87, 9/87, 9/89, 4/90, 9/90, 3/93 & 3/94
• Wood Brothers Racing
• 8
• 9/68, 4/72, 4/73, 4/74, 4/76, 9/76, 9/77 & 9/81
• Joe Gibbs Racing
• 6
• 9/00, 5/08, 5/10, 5/13, 9/15 & 9/17
• Roush Fenway Racing
• 5
• 9/93, 3/99, 9/99, 5/05 & 5/06
• Team Penske
• 3
• 4/75, 9/75 & 9/18
• Stewart-Haas Racing
• 1
• 4/14
• HENDRICK MOTORPORTS DARLINGTON WINS
• Jeff Gordon
• 7
• 9/95, 3/96, 9/96, 8/97, 9/98, 9/02 & 5/07
• Jimmie Johnson
• 3
• 3/04, 11/04 & 5/12
• Terry Labonte
• 1
• 8/03
• Mark Martin
• 1
• 5/09
• Tim Richmond
• 1
• 8/86
• Ricky Rudd
• 1
• 4/91

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES DARLINGTON STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• 30 Different winners in 58 Darlington Xfinity Series races
• 4/13/85: Harry Gant relieved Jack Ingram and drove to the win
• 5 Darlington Xfinity Series & Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series weekend sweeps including last 2 (Hamlin & Keselowski)
• Denny Hamlin only driver to sweep Darlington NXS & MENCS races more than once (2010 & ’17)
• All 5 of Denny Hamlin’s Darlington wins came after starting on pole
• Worst starting position of Darlington winner: 36th – Larry Pearson 3/95
• 3 Scored first career win at Darlington – Last: Ron Bouchard 4/84 (Both career wins came at Darlington)
• 4 Won Darlington & championship in same season – Last: Chase Elliott 2014
• NASCAR Xfinity Series regular won 2 of last 5 Darlington races – Chase Elliott (2014) & Elliott Sadler (2016)
• Cole Custer best Xfinity Series regular last Darlington race – Finished 2nd
• Joe Gibbs Racing #20 won 6 of last 13 Darlington races
• Joe Gibbs Racing won 9 of last 13 Darlington races
• Driver starting first won 7 of last 13 Darlington races – Denny Hamlin 5 & Kyle Busch 2
• Final lead change with 3 or fewer laps to go 4 of last 7 Darlington races
• Final green flag run 5 or fewer laps 6 of last 11 Darlington races
• 1 Darlington race settled by last lap pass: 2014 – Chase Elliott passed Elliott Sadler
• 3 Won Darlington in first try: Geoffrey Bodine, Neil Bonnett & Chase Elliott
• Chase Elliott only Rookie to win Darlington (2014)
• Todd Bodine won Darlington in 19th try – Most of all drivers
• Kevin Harvick won Stage 1 & 2 in 2017 – Finished 3rd
• Ross Chastain won Stage 1 & 2 in 2018 – Finished 25th