NASCAR Darlington Sunday, May 2, 2021
DARLINGTON NASCAR CUP SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
One-third of season complete after Darlington – 12th of 36 races
Darlington first race of Playoffs in September
Clint Bowyer: 17 Darlington races – Best finish: 6th (2019)
Jeff Gordon: 7 Darlington wins – 3rd all-time
Jamie McMurray: 18 Darlington races – Best finish: 2nd (2010)
Larry McReynolds: Best Darlington finish: 2nd (4/91) – Davey Allison
Regan Smith: 2011 Southern 500 champion
May 8: Bobby Labonte birthday
May 10: Sherry Pollex birthday
5/9/64: Fred Lorenzen won Darlington – Holman-Moody finished 1-2 with Fireball Roberts 2nd
5/9/70: David Pearson won Darlington – #17 Holman-Moody Ford (Only 1970 win)
5/9/09: Mark Martin won Darlington – 50-Years-old (#5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
Darlington wins: 6 Drivers – 10 Wins
Denny Hamlin 3, Kevin Harvick 3
Kyle Busch 1, Erik Jones 1, Brad Keselowski 1, Martin Truex Jr. 1
3 Champions winless at Darlington – Kurt Busch (0 for 26), Chase Elliott (0 for 8), Joey Logano (0 for 14)
Kevin Harvick:
Darlington 5/17/20 winner – Finished 4th in Stage 1 & 2, 159 laps led (most), avg. running pos. 2.5 (best)
Denny Hamlin:
Darlington 5/20/20 winner – Finished top 10 in Stage 1 & 2, only final 12 laps led
Kevin Harvick:
Darlington 9/6/20 winner – Finished 10th in Stage 1 & 3rd in Stage 2, 32 laps led
Kevin Harvick: 2 Wins last 3 Darlington races – 3 Straight Darlington top 3 finishes
Kevin Harvick: Only driver to finish top 5 all 3 Darlington races last season
Kevin Harvick: Only driver to lead all 3 Darlington races last season – 201 Laps led
Kevin Harvick & Erik Jones only drivers to finish top 10 all 3 Darlington races last season
Martin Truex Jr. finished top 5 in Stage 1 & 2 last 2 Darlington races
Martin Truex Jr.: Most Darlington laps led last season – 212 Total laps led
Pit Road Speeding Penalties: 2017: 0 / 2018: 3 / 2019: 0 / 5/17/20: 4 / 5/20/20: 3 / 9/6/20: 4
Commitment Line Violations: 2017: 3 / 2018: 3 / 2019: 0 / 5/17/20: 0 / 5/20/20: 0 / 9/6/20: 0
1-Kurt Busch: Best Darlington finish: 2nd (3/03) – Lost to Ricky Craven by two-thousandths of a second
2-Brad Keselowski: Finished 11th at Darlington 9/20 – Lap 81 damage, 107 laps 1-lap down, avg. running pos.: 17th
3-Austin Dillon: Finished 2nd at Darlington 9/20 – Started rear of field, lap 64 unscheduled stop, avg. running pos.: 13th
4-Kevin Harvick only repeat winner last 5 Darlington races (2 Wins) – 3 Others 1 win each
4-Kevin Harvick: 10 Straight Darlington top 10 finishes – Longest current streak
*Bill Elliott finished top 10 in 12 straight Darlington races (1985-’90)
4-Kevin Harvick: Finished 9th or better all 9 races with Stewart-Haas Racing at Darlington
4-Kevin Harvick: Finished 4th or better last 5 Darlington races – 2 Wins (5/17/20 & 9/20)
5-Kyle Larson: 5 Top 10 finishes in 6 Darlington races – 3 Top 3 finishes & 500 laps led
9-Chase Elliott: Finished 20th at Darlington 9/20 – Started 1st, finished 3rd in Stage 1 & 13th in Stage 2, 114 laps led (2nd most)
9-Chase Elliott: Finished 20th at Darlington 9/20 – Lap 353 in wall after Martin Truex Jr. contact going for lead
11-Denny Hamlin: 3 Wins last 13 Darlington races – 6 Top 3 finishes last 13 Darlington races
11-Denny Hamlin: 3 Darlington wins with 3 different crew chiefs – Mike Ford (2010), Michael Wheeler (2017) & Chris Gabehart (5/20/20)
11-Denny Hamlin led only final 12 laps winning Darlington 5/20/20
18-Kyle Busch: 2008 Darlington winner – Winless last 14 Darlington races
19-Martin Truex Jr.
Finished 22nd at Darlington 9/20 – Stage 1 & 2 winner, 196 laps led (most), passed for final lead change, 2nd worst Playoff finisher
19-Martin Truex Jr.
Finished 22nd at Darlington 9/20 – Lap 353 took lead from Chase Elliott contact put both in wall, lap 355 flat tire pit
22-Joey Logano: Finished 3rd at Darlington 9/20 – Stage 2 conclusion tire down & lap 236 restart damage
24-William Byron: 2019 Darlington pole winner – Youngest ever (21-Years-old)
24-William Byron: 1 Top 10 finish in 5 Darlington races – Finished 5th (9/20)
43-Erik Jones: 2019 Darlington winner – 2nd youngest ever (23-Years-old)
43-Erik Jones: Finished 8th or better all 6 Darlington races – 4 Top 5 finishes & 106 laps led
43-Erik Jones only under-25 driver to win in last 14 Darlington races (23-Years-old)
48-Alex Bowman:
Finished 2nd at Darlington 5/17/20 – Started 2nd, finished 3rd in Stage 1 & 2nd in Stage 2, 41 laps led
48-Alex Bowman:
Finished 18th at Darlington 5/20/20 – Finished 4th in Stage 1 & 8th in Stage 2, avg. running pos.: 8th
48-Alex Bowman:
Finished 6th at Darlington 9/20 – Started 4th, finished 6th in Stage 1 & 4th in Stage 2, lap 247 slow stop
51 Different winners in 119 NASCAR Cup Series Darlington races
Jeff Gordon leads all with 6 Southern 500 wins
Last defending NASCAR Cup Series champion to win Darlington race – Jeff Gordon 2001 champ & 9/02 winner
22 of the 34 NASCAR Cup Series champions won at Darlington (75 Total wins)
12 Champions winless at Darlington
Last to win back-to-back Darlington races: Greg Biffle 2005 & ‘06 (Kevin Harvick won last Darlington race)
15 Darlington win streaks (Back-to-back wins)
No Stage 1 or Stage 2 winner went on to win Darlington race
Most laps led by Darlington winner: 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)
Most Darlington laps led to finish: 351 – Johnny Mantz (1950)
Final lead change with 10 or fewer laps to go in 25 Darlington races
1 of last 33 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
Youngest Darlington winners: Kyle Busch, Erik Jones & Terry Labonte – 23
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
6 Won first career NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington
3 Won Darlington in first try – Johnny Mantz, Dick Rathmann & Herb Thomas
No Rookie of the Year contender won Darlington
2 Rookies finished top 10 at Darlington 5/17/20 – Tyler Reddick (7th) & John Hunter Nemechek (9th)
Drivers won first race of season 37 times at Darlington
Teammates finished 1-2 six times at Darlington – Joe Gibbs Racing finished 1-2 three times (2013, ’17 & 5/20/20)
4 Darlington Overtime finishes – Leader at scheduled distance won 2
5 Darlington races settled by last lap pass
Closest Darlington finish: .002 seconds – 3/03 Ricky Craven over Kurt Busch
Chevrolet winless last 8 Darlington races
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
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
33 Different winners in 61 Darlington Xfinity Series races
5 Darlington Xfinity Series & Cup Series weekend sweeps
2 Darlington races settled by last lap pass:
2014 – Chase Elliott passed Elliott Sadler & 5/20 – Chase Briscoe passed Kyle Busch
4 Won Darlington & championship in same season – Last: Chase Elliott 2014
No Stage 1 or Stage 2 winner went on to win Darlington race
3 Scored first career win at Darlington – Last: Ron Bouchard 4/84 (Both career wins came at Darlington)
3 Won Darlington in first try: Geoffrey Bodine, Neil Bonnett & Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott only Rookie to win Darlington (2014)
Joe Gibbs Racing won 10 of last 16 Darlington races
First Joe Gibbs Racing NXS win: Darlington 3/98 (Bobby Labonte)
Ford won 3 of last 4 Darlington races – Ford won 7 straight Darlington races from 9/99-8/02
All 5 of Denny Hamlin’s Darlington wins came after starting on pole
Worst starting position of Darlington winner: 36th – Larry Pearson 3/95
Joe Gibbs Racing: 11 Darlington wins