NASCAR Darlington Sunday, August 29, 2021

DARLINGTON NASCAR CUP SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS

Fuel window May: 70-74 Laps

Darlington May

Martin Truex Jr.

Darlington May winner – Started 4th, Stage 1 & 2 winner, 7 times led for 248 laps including final 105

Winner pit stops: Martin Truex Jr. (8 Stops) – Lap 25, 61 (Green), 93, 111, 145 (Green), 188, 226 (Green), 257 (Green)

Longest green flag run: 100 Laps (194-293)

Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Martin Truex Jr. (1st & 1st), Kyle Larson (4th & 5th), Denny Hamlin (2nd & 4th)

Speeding: Kyle Larson 2nd, Joey Logano 13th, Christopher Bell 14th, Anthony Alfredo 28th

Rear of field: Chase Elliott 7th, Aric Almirola 37th

Best Hendrick: Kyle Larson 2nd

Best Gibbs: Martin Truex Jr. 1st

Best Stewart-Haas: Kevin Harvick 6th

Best Team Penske: Ryan Blaney 8th

5-Kyle Larson: 3 Straight Darlington top 3 finishes – Finished 2nd last 2 Darlington races

5-Kyle Larson: Finished 2nd at Darlington May – First of 6 straight top 2 finishes this season

12-Ryan Blaney: 1 Top 10 finish in 9 Darlington races – Finished 8th in May

18-Kyle Busch: Finished 7th or better last 3 Darlington races – 2 Top 3 finishes last 3 Darlington races

19-Martin Truex Jr.: Darlington May winner – 3rd win this season (Winless last 14 races)

19-Martin Truex Jr.: 3 Darlington top 5 finishes – 2 Wins

19-Martin Truex Jr.: 248 of 293 laps led at Darlington May (84%) / 2nd-most laps led: 10 (Ross Chastain & Kevin Harvick)

24-William Byron: Finished 4th at Darlington May – 10th of 11 straight top 10 finishes this season

51 Different winners in 120 NASCAR Cup Series Darlington races

41 Different winners in 71 Southern 500s

Martin Truex Jr.: 3 Wins last 5 Playoff openers

4 Won first Playoff race & championship in same season

New Hampshire first Playoff race 2004-’10 (7 Years)

Chicagoland first Playoff race 2011-’17 (7 Years)

Las Vegas first Playoff race 2018-‘19 (2 Years)

Darlington first Playoff race 2020 & ’21 (2 Years)

Jeff Gordon leads all with 6 Southern 500 wins 

Kevin Harvick only repeat winner last 6 Darlington races (2 Wins) – 4 Others 1 win each

Kevin Harvick: 2 Wins last 4 Darlington races – Finished 6th or better last 6 Darlington races

Denny Hamlin: 3 Darlington wins with 3 different crew chiefs – Mike Ford (2010), Michael Wheeler (2017) & Chris Gabehart (5/20/20)

Erik Jones only under-25 driver to win in last 15 Darlington races (23-Years-old)

Three 23-year-olds won Darlington: Kyle Busch 23-0-8 (2008), Erik Jones 23-3-2 (2019) & Terry Labonte 23-9-16 (1980)

Oldest Darlington winners: Harry Gant – 51 & Mark Martin – 50

1 of last 34 Darlington races won by driver starting first – Last winner from pole: Kevin Harvick 2014

Worst starting position of Darlington winner: 43rd – Johnny Mantz 1950

Only 6 Darlington races won from outside top 20 starting position

Last to win back-to-back Darlington races: Greg Biffle 2005 & ‘06 (Martin Truex Jr. won last Darlington race)

Southern 500 won back-to-back 7 times – Kevin Harvick 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 – Kevin Harvick won last Southern 500

Only 1 won Southern 500 & championship in same season last 20 years – Kevin Harvick 2014

Last defending NASCAR Cup Series champion to win Darlington race – Jeff Gordon 2001 champ & 9/02 winner

Martin Truex Jr. led most laps last 2 Darlington races (444 of 660 laps led – 67%) – Finished 22nd (9/20) & Winner (5/21)

Joe Gibbs Racing led final 147 laps at Darlington 5/20 – 3 Drivers (Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch & Martin Truex Jr.)

Most laps led by Darlington winner: 351 – Johnny Mantz (1950)

Most Darlington laps led to finish: 351 – Johnny Mantz (1950)

Most laps led by Darlington non-winner: 284 – Kyle Larson (2018)

8 Darlington winners led 10 or fewer laps

Fewest laps led by Darlington winner: 1 (Ricky Craven 3/03) & 2 (Terry Labonte 9/80 & Harry Gant 4/83)

Final lead change with 10 or fewer laps to go in 25 Darlington races

4 Darlington Overtime finishes – Leader at scheduled distance won 2

Teammates finished 1-2 six times at Darlington – Joe Gibbs Racing finished 1-2 three times (2013, ’17 & 5/20/20)

Drivers won first race of season 37 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 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington

Southern 500 winners went on to win championship 13 times – Last: Kevin Harvick 2014

Chevrolet leads all with 27 Southern 500 wins – Winless last 6 Southern 500s

Chevrolet winless last 8 Darlington races

Martin Truex Jr. won Darlington Stage 1, 2 & race 5/21

Pit Road Speeding Penalties: 2017: 0 / 2018: 3 / 2019: 0 / 5/17/20: 4 / 5/20/20: 3 / 9/6/20: 4 / 5/9/21: 5

Commitment Line Violations: 2017: 3 / 2018: 3 / 2019: 0 / 5/17/20: 0 / 5/20/20: 0 / 9/6/20: 0 / 5/9/21: 0

22 of the 34 NASCAR Cup Series champions won at Darlington (76 Total wins)

12 Champions winless at Darlington

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

4/16/72: David Pearson won in first race with Wood Brothers

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

4/8/79: Darrell Waltrip & Richard Petty each swapped lead final 4 laps

4/13/80: David Pearson won in first race with Hoss Ellington

9/6/82: 10th straight Buick win in 1982 – Cale Yarborough Southern 500

9/2/84: Southern 500 run on Sunday instead of Labor Day

9/1/85: Bill Elliott wins million-dollar bonus

3/29/87: First of 4 straight wins for Dale Earnhardt (Darlington, North Wilkesboro, Bristol & Martinsville)

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

8/31/97: Dale Earnhardt blacked out twice during 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 leading only final lap

3/21/04: 100th Darlington race – Jimmie Johnson winner

5/12/12: Jimmie Johnson’s Darlington win was 200th win for Hendrick Motorsports

5/17/20 & 5/20/20: Darlington race added to schedule & run without fans due to COVID-19

5/17/20: Kevin Harvick 50th career win

DARLINGTON NASCAR XFINITY SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS

Fuel window May: 60-62 Laps

34 Different winners in 62 Darlington Xfinity Series races

7 Different winners last 7 Darlington races – Sadler, Hamlin, Keselowski, Custer, Briscoe, Jones & Allgaier

Last 5 Darlington winners all first-time Darlington winners

First Joe Gibbs Racing NXS win: Darlington 3/98 (Bobby Labonte)

2 Darlington races settled by last lap pass:

2014 – Chase Elliott passed Elliott Sadler & 5/20 – Chase Briscoe passed Kyle Busch

5 Darlington Xfinity Series & Cup Series weekend sweeps

Denny Hamlin only driver to sweep Darlington NXS & NCS races more than once (2010 & ’17)

All 5 of Denny Hamlin’s Darlington wins came after starting on pole

Fastest Darlington race: 141.355 mph (9/15) – Only 2 cautions (1:25:14)

No Stage 1 or Stage 2 winner went on to win Darlington race

Ford won 3 of last 5 Darlington races – Ford won 7 straight Darlington races from 9/99-8/02

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