NASCAR Bristol Thursday, May 28, 2020
NASCAR CUP SERIES BRISTOL STATS HIGHLIGHTS
| Joe Gibbs Racing 2019 Short Track Performance | |||||||
| Races | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Avg. Fin. | Races Led | Laps Led | |
| Denny Hamlin | 6 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 3.8 | 3 | 116 |
| Kyle Busch | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5.3 | 4 | 404 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6.8 | 4 | 811 |
| Erik Jones | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24.7 | 2 | 33 |
Bristol Active Leaders:
Wins: 8 Kyle Busch & 6 Kurt Busch
Top 10 finishes: 21 Jimmie Johnson
Laps led: 2334 Kyle Busch
Average finish: 11.5 Chase Elliott
Kyle Busch & Denny Hamlin only drivers to finish top 5 each Bristol race in 2019
6 Finished top 10 each 2019 Bristol race – Blaney, Bowyer, Kurt & Kyle Busch, Hamlin & Suarez
Brad Keselowski & Joey Logano only drivers to finish top 5 Bristol 4/19 Stage 1 & 2
1-Kurt Busch: 6 Bristol wins (Most of all tracks) – 4 Roush Ford, 1 Penske Dodge & 1 Stewart-Haas Ford
1-Kurt Busch’s 6th Bristol win came 25 races after previous win – Longest stretch between Bristol wins (3/06 & 8/18)
1-Kurt Busch won Bristol at 23-years-old & 40-years-old
1-Kurt Busch: 6 Bristol wins – First win of season 5 times
1-Kurt Busch: Bristol 8/19 Stage 2 winner – Finished 9th
1-Kurt Busch finished 9th or better last 3 Bristol races – 2 top 2 finishes
2-Brad Keselowski finished 7th or better last 4 short track races – 3 straight top 5 finishes
2-Brad Keselowski average finish last season – short tracks: 6.0 / all others: 14.2
4-Kevin Harvick: 63 Short track top 10 finishes – Leads active drivers
4-Kevin Harvick’s second Bristol win came 23 races after first – 4/05-8/16
4-Kevin Harvick worst finish last season: 39th – Bristol Aug. (Won previous race at Michigan)
9-Chase Elliott finished 11th or better last 3 Bristol races – 2 Top 5 finishes
10-Aric Almirola: Average Bristol finish: 24.8 – Worst track
11-Denny Hamlin: Bristol 8/19 winner – Pole, 67 of first 83 laps led, lap 80 damage, lap 186 lost 2 laps pitting,
lap 214 wave around, free pass end of Stage 2, lap 380 pits loose wheel, final 12 laps led
11-Denny Hamlin’s second Bristol win came 14 races after first – 8/12-8/19
11-Denny Hamlin: Only driver to finish top 5 all 6 short track races last season – 3.8 Average finish (Best)
11-Denny Hamlin: 7 Straight short track top 5 finishes – Average finish: 3.6
12-Ryan Blaney 3 straight Bristol top 10 finishes
12-Ryan Blaney led most laps 2 of last 3 Bristol races – 121 (Finished 7th 8/18) & 158 (Finished 4th 4/19)
12-Ryan Blaney 100 or more laps led in 6 races – 3 at Bristol (Winless)
13-Ty Dillon: Bristol 4/19 Stage 1 winner – Finished 15th
14-Clint Bowyer: Best Stewart-Haas Racing finisher each Bristol race last season
14-Clint Bowyer: 4 Straight Bristol top 10 finishes – Longest current streak
14-Clint Bowyer: 5 Top 10 finishes last 6 short track races – Finished 35th at Martinsville 10/19
18-Kyle Busch:
Bristol 4/19 winner – Started 17th, lap 2 spin with damage, dropped to 36th, finished top 10 in Stage 1 & 2, first lead on lap 384, final 19 laps led
18-Kyle Busch: 22 Bristol wins (Most all-time) – 8 NCS (Leads active drivers), 9 NXS (Most) & 5 NTS (Most)
18-Kyle Busch: Tied Hall of Fame driver Lee Petty for 10th all-time in career wins at Bristol 4/19 – 54th career win
50th win with Joe Gibbs Racing
18-Kyle Busch won 3 of last 5 Bristol races (Finished 20th 8/18 & 4th 8/19)
18-Kyle Busch ended 11-race Bristol winless streak by winning 2 straight Bristol races (8/17 & 4/18)
18-Kyle Busch leads all with 8 wins on Bristol concrete – Passed Rusty Wallace 4/18
18-Kyle Busch: 8 Bristol wins – Only 1 win from pole (4/18)
18-Kyle Busch started outside top 10 in 7 of 8 Bristol wins
18-Kyle Busch led 415 consecutive laps Bristol 8/08 – Finished 2nd
18-Kyle Busch won last 2 Bristol spring races – Last to win 3 straight: Kurt Busch 2002, ’03 & ’04
18-Kyle Busch: 8 Bristol wins with 4 crew chiefs (Alan Gustafson, Steve Addington, Dave Rogers & Adam Stevens)
18-Kyle Busch short track: 16 Wins, 13 2nd-place, 32 top 3, 46 top 5, 5242 laps led, avg. finish: 10.8 – Leads active drivers
18-Kyle Busch: 7 Top 10 finishes last 8 short track races – Finished 14th at Martinsville 10/19
19-Martin Truex Jr.: 2 Straight short track wins – Last to win 3 straight short track races: Rusty Wallace 1993
19-Martin Truex Jr. only repeat winner last 7 short track races (3 Wins) – 4 others 1 win each
19-Martin Truex Jr.: 3 Wins last 4 short track races – Winless previous 80 short track races
19-Martin Truex Jr.: 3 Short track wins last season – Only driver to win more than once
19-Martin Truex Jr.: 811 Short track laps led last season – Most
19-Martin Truex Jr.: 4 Straight short track races led – 811 Laps led (464 Laps led at Martinsville 10/19)
21-Matt DiBenedetto: Finished 2nd at Bristol 8/19 – Rocky theme intro, led laps 396-488,
career-high 93 laps led (most of all drivers) & passed for final lead change
21-Matt DiBenedetto led most laps at Bristol 8/19 (93) – Finished 2nd
22-Joey Logano:
Finished 3rd at Bristol 4/19 – Started 7th, finished 4th in Stage 1 & Stage 2 winner, 146 laps led, pitted from lead last caution
“You know everyone is going to make their decision off of what you do”
“It stinks when you have the fastest car and don’t win”
24-William Byron: 12 Short track races – 0 Laps led
42-Matt Kenseth: 6 Short track wins – 4 Bristol wins
43-Bubba Wallace: Pit road speeding penalties each Bristol race last season
47-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: 42 Short track races – 2 Laps led
48-Jimmie Johnson: Last 2 wins came on concrete tracks – Bristol 4/17 & Dover 6/17
48-Jimmie Johnson’s second Bristol win came 14 races after first – 3/10-4/17
48-Jimmie Johnson led most laps only 1 Bristol race – 3/11
88-Alex Bowman: 24 Short track races – 1 Lap led
95-Christopher Bell: Jason Ratcliff 2 Bristol NCS wins & 4 Bristol NXS wins
42 Different winners in 118 NASCAR Cup Series Bristol races
21 Different winners in 55 NASCAR Cup Series Bristol concrete races
23 Champions won Bristol races – Only 3 champions since 1961 haven’t won (Bobby Isaac, Bobby Labonte & Martin Truex Jr.)
Fewest lead lap finishers last season: 7 Bristol Aug.
Kyle Busch & Kurt Busch finished 1-2 at Bristol 4/19
A Busch won 4 of last 5 Bristol races – Kyle 3 & Kurt 1 (Denny Hamlin won 8/19)
Bristol 4/19 qualifying – First 2 rows drivers 25-years-old or younger
11 Pit road speeding penalties in each Bristol race in 2019 – Tied for most last season (Dover Oct. & Talladega Oct.)
22 Total pit road speeding penalties at Bristol in 2019
Bristol pit road speeding penalties – 8/19: 11 / 4/19: 11 / 8/18: 8 / 4/18: 7 / 8/17: 6 / 4/17: 8
Stage 1 winner winless in last 4 Bristol races
Stage 2 winner winless at Bristol
4 Uncontrolled tire penalties at Bristol 4/19
5 Loose wheels suffered by 4 drivers at Bristol 4/19
8 or more cautions last 15 Bristol races
5 of last 7 Bristol races won from pit stalls on backstretch –
Harvick (36), Johnson (27), Kyle Busch (32), Kurt Busch (34) & Kyle Busch (29)
Drivers pitting in stall 1 finished 6th or better 9 of last 10 races (4 Wins) – Chase Elliott finished 11th 4/19
Joe Gibbs Racing lead active teams with 13 Bristol wins
All 4 Joe Gibbs Racing drivers led at Bristol 8/19 – 184 Total laps led
4 of last 10 Bristol races won from pole – Pole failed to win previous 12 races
Pole won 26 of 118 Bristol races
Pole failed to lead any laps in 9 of 118 races
Pole failed to finish 24 of 118 races
3 of last 5 Bristol spring races won from pole – Last previous spring race won from pole: 1999 Rusty Wallace
Rusty Wallace & Cale Yarborough lead all with 4 Bristol wins from pole
Worst start position of Bristol winner: 38th – Elliott Sadler 3/01 (Wood Brothers Racing Ford)
Last to win 3 straight Bristol races: Kurt Busch 3/03, 8/03 & 3/04 (Finished 8th 8/04)
Darrell Waltrip (Bristol) & Richard Petty (Richmond) hold record of 7 straight wins at 1 track
15 Bristol wins streaks (Back-to-back wins) – Denny Hamlin won 8/19
Joe Gibbs Racing won 4 of last 5 Bristol spring races with 3 different drivers (Kyle Busch, Edwards & Kenseth)
Relief drivers involved in 7 Bristol wins – All 500-lap races
Drivers swept both Bristol races & championship in same season 7 times – Last: Dale Earnhardt 1987
Last 70 Bristol NASCAR National Touring Series races: Kyle Busch 22 wins & 27 other drivers with 5 or fewer
4 of 118 Bristol NASCAR Cup Series Races settled by last lap pass
Richard Petty led 442 laps 7/26/64 – Most ever by a driver in a NCS race without winning
Leader of most laps failed to win last 7 Bristol races
Leader of most laps won only 5 of last 28 Bristol races
Cale Yarborough is only driver to lead all 500 laps at Bristol 3/25/73 (Most laps ever led in a NCS race)
8/27/83 & 3/31/96 Rain shortened Bristol races – D. Waltrip (8/83) & Jeff Gordon (3/96)
5 Bristol Overtime finishes – Kyle Busch won 2
Longest Bristol race: 4/15 – 511 Laps
First win of season for 6 of last 9 Bristol spring winners
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
Toyota won 12 of last 22 Bristol races including both 2019 races
First Bristol NASCAR Cup Series winner on concrete: Darrell Waltrip 8/29/92
(Also Darrell Waltrip’s last career NASCAR Cup Series short track win)
First time 3 brothers competed in the same Bristol 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
First 35 Bristol races run on Sunday
First Saturday night race: 8/26/78 Cale Yarborough winner
Race scheduled March 11, 1973 raced March 25, 1973
Race scheduled March 31, 1985 raced April 6, 1985
August 20, 2016: First 48 laps run / August 21, 2016: Race completed
Race scheduled April 23, 2017 raced April 24, 2017 – First Monday race
April 15, 2018: First 204 laps run / April 16, 2018: Race completed
April 5, 2020 rescheduled for May 31, 2020
Recent Bristol weather issues: 3/14, 4/15, 8/16, 4/17 & 4/18
Joe Gibbs Racing won 12 of last 22 Bristol NASCAR Cup Series races with 4 different drivers
Hendrick Motorsports won 1 of last 13 Bristol NASCAR Cup Series races – Jimmie Johnson 4/17
Roush Fenway Racing: 1 Win last 22 Bristol races – 8 Wins previous 14 races
Last Roush short track win: Bristol 3/14 – Carl Edwards
Chase Elliott only Hendrick Motorsports driver to lead at 2019 Bristol – 38 in April & 33 in Aug.
Team Penske led 344 of 500 laps at Bristol 4/19 – Blaney 158, Logano 146 & Keselowski 40
Car #2 won 12 Bristol races – Roger Penske owned #2 won 10 times
Car #11 won 20 Bristol races – Junior Johnson prepared #11 won 17 Bristol races
#11 Won 7 straight 3/81-4/84 with Darrell Waltrip driving
Most NCS laps run under green: 500 – Dover 6/71 & Bristol 7/71
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES BRISTOL STATS HIGHLIGHTS
48 Different winners in 75 NASCAR Xfinity Series Bristol races
1-Michael Annett: 3 Straight Bristol top 10 finishes – Average finish: 8th
7-Justin Allgaier: 1 Bristol win (3/10) – First career NXS win (43rd career race, 23-years-old, started 30th, 27 laps led)
8-Daniel Hemric: Finished 7th or better 3 of 4 Bristol races – Finished 24th (8/18)
9-Noah Gragson: Finished 17th at Bristol 8/19 – Finished top 10 in next 7 races last season
10-Ross Chastain: 1 Top 10 finish in 9 Bristol races – Finished 9th (4/18)
11-Justin Haley: Worst finish last season: 34th – Bristol 8/19
19-Brandon Jones: Passed for final lead change 2 of last 4 Bristol races
20-Harrison Burton: First career NXS race: Bristol 4/19 – Finished 10th
22-Austin Cindric: Finished 14th or better all 4 Bristol races – Finished top 10 each Bristol race last season
98-Chase Briscoe: Finished top 5 in each Bristol race last season – 4th (3/19) & 2nd (8/19)
34 Different winners in 55 NASCAR Xfinity Series Bristol concrete races
Final lead change with 11 or fewer laps to go 6 of last 11 Bristol races
Joe Gibbs Racing: 13 Wins last 19 Bristol races
Joe Gibbs Racing won last 4 Bristol spring races
Jason Ratcliff won 4 Bristol Xfinity Series races
6 Won first career race at Bristol
Only 3 won back-to-back spring races: Morgan Shepherd (1986 & ’87), Kyle Busch (2013 & ’14) & Erik Jones (2016 & ’17)
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
25 Won first Bristol race in 5 or fewer tries
Pole failed to lead any laps in 5 of 75 Bristol races
Pole failed to finish 13 of 75 Bristol Xfinity Series races
Pole won 11 of 75 Bristol Xfinity Series races
Worst start position of Bristol winner: 38th – Kevin Harvick 4/4/05 & Tyler Reddick 8/16/19
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 NASCAR Cup Series race on same weekend
*Kyle Busch also won Truck Series race (8/10 & 8/17)
First Bristol Xfinity Series winner on concrete: Todd Bodine 8/28/92
Stage 1 & 2 winner failed to win each Bristol race last season
Stage 2 winner failed to finish each Bristol race last season
Justin Allgaier won Bristol 4/19 Stage 1 & 2 – Finished 30th (Crash)
Brandon Jones Bristol 8/19 Stage 1 winner – Finished 11th
Kyle Busch Bristol 8/19 Stage 2 winner – Finished 29th (Engine)
Justin Allgaier: 269 Bristol laps led last season (45%) – 132 More than 2nd-most Kyle Busch