NASCAR Information Sunday, October 14, 2018

2018 MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• 5 Different winners in 5 Playoff races this season
• 8 Different winners last 8 Playoff races
• Playoff race wins this season: Kyle Busch 1, Kevin Harvick 0 & Martin Truex Jr. 0 (Combined to win last 5 Kansas races)
• Leader of most laps failed to win last 8 races
• Kurt Busch led 53 of final 54 laps at Talladega – Passed on final lap (Finished 14th)
• Aric Almirola: 9th in Playoff standings into Talladega (-10)
• Clint Bowyer: 10th in Playoff standings into Talladega (-10) – 7th now (+21)
• 3 of 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford drivers led at Talladega – 155 of 193 laps led (80%)
• Talladega laps led – Ford: 184 of 193 (95%), Chevrolet 8 & Toyota 1 (Kyle Busch)
• Aric Almirola best Stewart-Haas Racing finisher in 2 Playoff races this season – 3 Teammates best finisher only 1 time each
• Aric Almirola passed for final lead change 2 races this season – Daytona 500 & Dover Oct. (Talladega Oct. winner)
• Last 3 Playoff race winners won a Playoff race for first time in career – Blaney (Charlotte Roval), Elliott (Dover) & Almirola (Talladega)
• Last 3 winners won their 2nd career race – Ryan Blaney (Charlotte Roval), Chase Elliott (Dover) & Aric Almirola (Talladega)
• 4 Different teams won last 4 races – Gibbs, Penske, Hendrick, Stewart-Haas
• All 4 Stewart-Haas Racing drivers won this season – Harvick 7, Bowyer 2, Almirola 1 & Kurt Busch 1
• Stewart-Haas Racing won 11 of 31 races this season (Season high) – 3 Wins all of last season
• Stewart-Haas Racing swept top finishing positions 6 times including 3 this season – Finished 1, 2, 3 at Michigan June
• Only 1 not running at Talladega finish – J.J. Yeley
• 4 Races settled by last lap pass this season – Winner led only final lap 3 races
• First or 2nd career victory for all 4 drivers winning races settled by last lap pass this season
• 2 of last 3 races settled by last lap pass
• 6 Winless streaks of 50 races or longer ended this season including 4 in last 10 races
• Clint Bowyer ended career-long 190-race winless streak at Martinsville March
• Aric Almirola ended career-long 149-race winless streak at Talladega Oct.
• Aric Almirola best Ford finisher at Talladega (Winner) – First time best Ford finisher this season
• 7 Overtime races this season including last 2 races – Leader at scheduled distance lost 3
• 4 Different winners from 4 different teams in 4 restrictor-plate races this season
• Closest margin-of-victory this season: .105 Seconds – Talladega Oct. (Aric Almirola over Clint Bowyer)
• Jimmie Johnson best Hendrick Motorsports finisher at Talladega (Finished 7th) – First time best HMS finisher in last 17 races
• Jimmie Johnson finished 7th at Talladega – Other 3 teammates finished 20th or worse
• Denny Hamlin best Joe Gibbs Racing finisher 6 races this season including last 3
• Aric Almirola best Stewart-Haas Racing finisher 4 races this season including 2 of last 5 races
• Joey Logano only Team Penske driver in top 25 at Talladega – Finished 5th
• Clint Bowyer raced into Round of 12 this season – Before Charlotte Roval 13th (-4) After Charlotte Roval 9th (+7)
• Kevin Harvick won Stage 2 last 2 races – Finished 6th at Dover & 28th at Talladega
• Kurt Busch: Talladega Stage 1 winner last week – First Stage win since ISM Raceway March
• Kurt Busch: 3 Career Stage wins – No wins in races with Stage wins
• Kyle Larson: Finished 39th in 2017 Kansas Playoff race (Engine) – Eliminated from 2017 Playoffs
• Brad Keselowski & Martin Truex Jr. eliminated Round of 12 in 2016 (Talladega)
• Kyle Busch eliminated Round of 12 in 2014 (Talladega)
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. best non-Playoff finisher in 2 Playoff races this season – Richmond & Talladega
• Martin Truex Jr.: Winless last 12 races – Longest winless streak since 2016
• Chase Elliott: 2 Wins last 10 races – Winless previous 98 races
• Kyle Busch finished 2nd in 4 races this season – All to Stewart-Haas Racing drivers (3 To Kevin Harvick)
• Chevrolet: Only 3 wins this season – 2 Wins by Chase Elliott
• Ford: 16 Wins this season (11 by Stewart-Haas Racing & 5 by Team Penske) – 10 Wins all of last season
• Toyota: 1 Win last 10 races – Kyle Busch at Richmond
• 12 Different winners in 31 races this season
• Worst Playoff finisher last race: Alex Bowman – Finished 33rd
• Kevin Harvick leads all with 15 Stage wins this season – Drove for the Cycle three times
• Martin Truex Jr. 19 Stage wins last season (Most) – 10 Stage wins this season (Drove for the Cycle twice)
• Kyle Larson: 4 Stage wins this season – Winless
• Kurt Busch ended career-long Stewart-Haas Racing 58-race winless streak at Bristol Aug.
• Martin Truex Jr. led most laps 2 of 5 Playoff races this season – Finished 3rd at Las Vegas & Richmond
• Kyle Busch passed for final lead change 6 times this season – Twice by Kevin Harvick
• Kyle Larson failed to win last 5 races after leading most laps – 4 Times this season
• Denny Hamlin best Toyota finisher 5 races this season including last 3
• AJ Allmendinger best Chevrolet finisher 2 races this season – Daytona July (3rd) & Talladega Oct. (6th)
• Youngest winners: Erik Jones 22Y, 1M, 7D & Chase Elliott 22Y, 8M, 8D
• Oldest winner: Kevin Harvick – 42
• Martin Truex Jr. won 2 races with largest margin-of-victory this season (Both in California) – Sonoma & Auto Club
• Only 2 top 5 finishes for Richard Childress Racing this season – Daytona 500 & Michigan Aug.
• Only 3 top 5 finishes for Roush Fenway Racing this season – Bristol April, Talladega April & Talladega Oct.
• No Hendrick Motorsports driver finished top 10 in 6 races this season
• Most Playoff race top 5 finishes this season: 3 Joey Logano
• Most Playoff race top 10 finishes this season: 4 Joey Logano
• Best Playoff race average finish this season: 7.2 Joey Logano
• Most Playoff race laps led this season: 386 Kevin Harvick
• Most Playoff races led this season: 5 Brad Keselowski (Every race)
• Most wins this season: 7 Kyle Busch (Career high: 8 2008) & Kevin Harvick (Career high)
• Most 2nd-place finishes this season: 6 Kyle Larson (Winless)
• Most top 3 finishes this season: 15 Kyle Busch
• Most top 5 finishes this season: 20 Kevin Harvick
• Most top 10 finishes this season: 25 Kevin Harvick
• Best average finish this season: 8.7 Kyle Busch
• Best average finish of winless drivers this season: 12.3 Denny Hamlin
• Most laps led this season: 1606 Kevin Harvick (3rd most laps led in a season)
• Most laps led by non-winner this season: 737 Kyle Larson (4th most behind Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch & Martin Truex Jr.)
• Most races led this season: 22 Kevin Harvick
• Most poles this season: 5 Kurt Busch

2018 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most wins this season: 6 Christopher Bell
• Most 2nd-place finishes this season: 5 Justin Allgaier
• Most top 3 finishes this season: 15 Justin Allgaier
• Most top 5 finishes this season: 17 Christopher Bell
• Most top 10 finishes this season: 23 Cole Custer
• Most laps led this season: 635 Justin Allgaier
• Most laps led by non-winner this season: 278 Cole Custer
• Most races led this season: 18 Christopher Bell
• Most poles this season: 5 Cole Custer
• Christopher Bell: Only driver to finish top 5 in all 3 Playoff races this season – 2 Wins
• 2 Drivers finished top 10 all 3 Playoff races this season – Christopher Bell & Daniel Hemric
• Justin Allgaier: 16.7 Playoff race average this season – Worst of Playoff drivers
• 14 Different winners in 29 races this season
• 2 Winners in 3 Playoff races this season – Christopher Bell 2 wins
• Christopher Bell: 3 Career Playoff race wins – Most all-time (2017 Kansas, Richmond Sept. & Dover Oct.)
• 6 Different winners in 7 races on 1.5-mile tracks this season – Kyle Larson 2 wins
• 1 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota win on 1.5-mile track this season – Christopher Bell (Kentucky)
• Austin Cindric raced into Round of 8 – 9th in Playoffs -9 pre-race & 7th in Playoffs +3 post-race
• Ross Chastain eliminated at Dover – 8th in Playoffs +9 pre-race & 9th in Playoffs -9 post-race
• Worst Playoff finisher last race: Ryan Reed – Finished 16th
• Best non-Playoff finisher last race: Ryan Preece – Finished 4th
• Daniel Hemric: No career wins – 7 Stage wins this season (Tied for most – Kyle Larson)
• Daniel Hemric won Stages in 5 of last 7 races – Winless
• Daniel Hemric won Stages in first 3 Playoff races this season
• Justin Allgaier: 10 Career wins – 5 Wins this season (Only 2nd multiple-win season – 2 Wins last year)
• Justin Allgaier: 7 Wins last 2 seasons – 3 Wins previous 6 full-time seasons
• Christopher Bell: 2 Wins last 3 races – Winless previous 7 races
• 7 Races won by Rookie of the Year contenders this season – 6 by Christopher Bell (Most all-time)
• Christopher Bell best Joe Gibbs Racing finisher 4 of last 5 races
• Daniel Hemric best Richard Childress Racing finisher 4 of last 5 races
• Daytona 2/17/18 – Closest margin-of-victory ever .0004 (Tyler Reddick over Elliott Sadler)
• Daytona July – 2nd closest margin-of-victory this season .005 (Kyle Larson over Elliott Sadler)
• Elliott Sadler 2nd in 2 closest finishes this season – Daytona Feb. & Daytona July
• Stages 1, 2 & race won 6 times this season –
• Kevin Harvick (Atlanta), Joey Logano (Auto Club), Justin Allgaier (Iowa June),
• Kyle Larson (Daytona July), Kyle Larson (Bristol Aug.) & Ross Chastain (Las Vegas Sept.)
• 2 Won consecutive NXS races this season – Christopher Bell (3 Straight) & Kyle Larson (2 Straight)
• 3 Won first career race this season –
• Spencer Gallagher (Talladega), Ross Chastain (Las Vegas Sept.) & Chase Briscoe (Charlotte Roval)
• 2 Winners started rear of field this season & won – Kyle Larson Chicagoland & Christopher Bell Kentucky
• First-time winners 2 of last 4 races – Ross Chastain Las Vegas & Chase Briscoe Charlotte Roval
• Brandon Jones passed for final lead change 4 times this season including last race
• 1 Race settled by last lap pass this season (Talladega) – Spencer Gallagher passed Tyler Reddick
• Ford: 8 Wins this season – #22 Team Penske Ford won 6
• Toyota: 2 Wins last 3 races – Winless previous 7 races
• Last 5 Toyota wins all by Christopher Bell
• 6 Overtime races this season – Daytona Feb., Talladega, Charlotte May, Daytona July, Iowa July & Bristol Aug.
• *Daytona 2/17/18 – 5 Overtimes
• Youngest winner: Tyler Reddick – 22
• Oldest winner: Kevin Harvick – 42