NASCAR Darlington Sunday, August 20, 2017

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES DARLINGTON STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most Darlington wins (Active): 3 Jimmie Johnson (Only active driver to win more than once)
• Most Darlington poles (Active): 4 Kasey Kahne (Winless)
• Most Darlington laps led (Active): 592 Kyle Busch
• Most Darlington lead lap finishes (Active): 17 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
• Most Darlington races: 65 Richard Petty
• Most Darlington poles: 12 David Pearson
• Most Darlington wins: 10 David Pearson
• Most Darlington top 5 finishes: 25 Richard Petty
• Most Darlington top 10 finishes: 35 Bill Elliott
• Most Darlington laps led: 2648 Dale Earnhardt
• Most Darlington lead lap finishes: 29 Mark Martin
• Best Darlington average finish (Drivers with more than 2 races): 6.3 Denny Hamlin
• JEFF BURTON WON 50TH SOUTHERN 500 IN 1999 WITH BROTHER WARD BURTON FINISHING 2ND
• 49 Different winners in 113 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Darlington races
• 39 Different winners in 67 Southern 500s
• 11 Different winners last 11 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Darlington races
• 1984: Southern 500 moved from Labor Day Monday to Sunday
• Martin Truex Jr.: 2016 Darlington winner – Only 28 laps led
• Kevin Harvick: 4 Straight Darlington top 5 finishes – 2014 Winner
• Kyle Larson: 7 Top 10 finishes in 7 NASCAR National Touring Series Darlington races
• Denny Hamlin: Finished 6th or better 6 of last 7 Darlington races – 4 Top 3 finishes
• Joey Logano: 2 Straight Darlington top 5 finishes – Only top 5 finishes in 8 Darlington races
• Matt Kenseth: 2013 Darlington winner – Darlington record 141.383mph average speed
• Kasey Kahne: Finished 7th at Darlington last year – Best Hendrick Motorsports finisher
• Brad Keselowski: Winless at Darlington – Wins on next 8 tracks on schedule
• 20 Champions won Darlington races
• First Darlington victory for last 4 winners – Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards & Martin Truex Jr.
• 2016 Southern 500 was longest race of season 3 Hours, 57 Minutes, 54 Seconds
• Most laps led from start of race last season: Kevin Harvick led first 93 laps in 2016 Southern 500
• Ryan Newman: Failed post-race Laser Inspection Station 2016 Southern 500
• 7 Points out of Playoff before penalty / 22 Points out of Playoff after penalty
• Kevin Harvick passed for final lead change last Darlington race
• Leader of most laps failed to win 6 of last 8 Darlington races
• Kevin Harvick led most laps last Darlington race (214) – Finished 2nd
• Kevin Harvick led most laps 2 of last 3 Darlington races – 1 Win (2014)
• Driver starting first finished top 2 in last 3 Darlington races – 1 Win (2014 Kevin Harvick)
• 1 of last 27 Darlington races won from pole – Last winner from pole: Kevin Harvick 2014
• Worst starting position of Darlington winner: 43rd – Johnny Mantz 1950
• Drivers won first race of season 34 times at Darlington
• Drivers won first race of season 14 times in Southern 500
• 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
• Last to win back-to-back Darlington races: Greg Biffle 5/05 & 5/06 (Martin Truex Jr. won last race)
• 3 Won Darlington in first try – Johnny Mantz, Dick Rathmann & Herb Thomas
• 3 Drivers won Southern 500 in first try – Last: Nelson Stacy 1961
• Ricky Rudd won Darlington for first time in 29th try – Most of all drivers
• Tim Richmond is only driver to win 1st race in last Darlington start
• No Rookie of the Year contender won Darlington
• 2014 Kevin Harvick was first to win Darlington & championship in same season since Bobby Labonte in 2000
• Last defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 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
• Mid-race leader failed to win last 11 Darlington races
• 4 Darlington overtime finishes including 3 of last 6 races – Leader at scheduled distance won 2
• Teammates finished 1-2 three times at Darlington – Last: 2013 (Joe Gibbs Racing)
• 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 including last 2 seasons
• Chevrolet leads all with 27 Southern 500 wins
• Toyota won 3 of last 4 Southern 500s
• Ford winless last 10 Southern 500s
• Jeff Gordon leads all with 6 Southern 500 wins
• 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 only 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
• 9/1/91: 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
• 3/16/03: Ricky Craven edged Kurt Busch by .002 seconds winning Darlington
• 5/11/12: Jimmie Johnson’s Darlington win was 200th win for Hendrick Motorsports
• 14 Hendrick Motorsports Darlington wins (Most all-time) by 6 drivers –
• J. Gordon 7, Johnson 3, T. Labonte 1, Martin 1, Richmond 1 & Rudd 1
• 8 Richard Childress Racing Darlington wins – All by Dale Earnhardt 1986-‘94
• 8 Wood Brothers Racing Darlington wins – David Pearson 6, Neil Bonnett 1 & Cale Yarborough 1
• 5 Joe Gibbs Racing Darlington wins by 5 drivers – Kyle Busch, Edwards, Hamlin, Kenseth & B. Labonte
• 5 Roush Fenway Racing Darlington wins – Greg Biffle 2, Jeff Burton 2 & Mark Martin 1
• 2 Furniture Row Racing Darlington wins – Regan Smith 2011 & Martin Truex Jr. 2016
• 2 Team Penske Darlington wins – Both races in 1975 with Bobby Allison driving a Matador
• 1 Stewart-Haas Racing Darlington win – Kevin Harvick 2014

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES DARLINGTON STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most Darlington races: 29 Jason Keller & Mark Martin
• Most Darlington poles: 8 Mark Martin
• Most Darlington wins: 8 Mark Martin
• Most Darlington top 5 finishes: 14 Mark Martin
• Most Darlington top 10 finishes: 18 Mark Martin
• Most Darlington laps led: 972 Mark Martin
• Most Darlington lead lap finishes: 18 Jason Keller
• 29 Different winners in 56 Darlington Xfinity Series races
• 12 of last 14 Darlington Xfinity Series winners competed in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race
• 2 of last 3 Darlington NXS winners didn’t compete in MENCS race – 2014 Chase Elliott & 2016 Elliott Sadler
• 3 Darlington Xfinity Series & Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series weekend sweeps – Last: 2010 Denny Hamlin
• NASCAR Xfinity Series regular won 2 of last 3 Darlington races – Chase Elliott (2014) & Elliott Sadler (2016)
• Elliott Sadler best Xfinity Series regular 3 of last 6 Darlington races
• Joe Gibbs Racing #20 won 6 of last 11 Darlington races
• Joe Gibbs Racing won 8 of last 11 Darlington races
• Driver starting first won 6 of last 11 Darlington races – Denny Hamlin 4 & Kyle Busch 2
• Elliott Sadler passed for final lead change 2 of last 6 Darlington races – 2016 Winner
• Denny Hamlin passed for final lead change last Darlington race – Finished 2nd
• Final lead change with 3 or fewer laps to go 3 of last 5 Darlington races
• Final green flag run 5 or fewer laps 5 of last 9 Darlington races
• 1 Darlington race settled by last lap pass: 2014 – Chase Elliott passed Elliott Sadler
• Fastest Darlington race: 141.355 mph (9/15) – Only 2 cautions
• All 4 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
• 3 Won Darlington in first try: Geoffrey Bodine, Neil Bonnett & Chase Elliott
• Todd Bodine won Darlington in 19th try – Most of all drivers