NASCAR Information Sunday, November 5, 2017

2017 MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most Playoff wins this season: 3 Kyle Busch & Martin Truex Jr. (6 Wins in 8 Playoff races)
• Most Playoff race 2nd-place finishes this season: 3 Chase Elliott (Winless)
• Most Playoff race top 2 finishes this season: 5 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most Playoff race top 5 finishes this season: 7 Martin Truex Jr. (Finished 23rd at Talladega)
• Most Playoff race top 10 finishes this season: 7 Martin Truex Jr.
• Best Playoff race average finish this season: 4.9 Martin Truex Jr. (Brad Keselowski 2nd with 7.3)
• Most Playoff race laps led this season: 631 Kyle Busch (Martin Truex Jr. 2nd with 529)
• Fewest Playoff race laps led this season among Playoff drivers: 29 Jimmie Johnson
• Most Playoff races led this season: 8 Kyle Busch (Every race)
• Most wins this season: 7 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most 2nd-place finishes this season: 8 Kyle Larson (4 Wins)
• Most top 3 finishes this season: 14 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most top 5 finishes this season: 17 Martin Truex Jr. (Career-high)
• Most top 10 finishes this season: 24 Martin Truex Jr. (Career-high)
• Most poles this season: 8 Kyle Busch (Career-high)
• Most front-row starts this season: 11 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most top 6 starts this season: 23 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most top 12 starts this season: 28 Kyle Busch
• Best average start this season: 7.0 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most laps led this season: 2175 Martin Truex Jr. (Career-high)
• Most laps led by winless drivers this season: 526 Chase Elliott (884 Career laps led – Winless)
• Most races led this season: 29 Kyle Busch
• 14 Different winners in 34 races this season
• Best Playoff finisher last race: Kevin Harvick – Winner
• Worst Playoff finisher last race: Jimmie Johnson – 27th (Worst Playoff finisher 2016 Phoenix Playoff race)
• Best non-Playoff finisher last race: Matt Kenseth – 4th
• 4 Different winners 8 Playoff races this season – Kyle Busch 3, Martin Truex Jr. 3, Kevin Harvick 1 & Brad Keselowski 1
• 4 Different winners from 4 different teams last 4 Playoff races – Keselowski, Truex Jr., Kyle Busch & Harvick
• Martin Truex Jr. won first race in Round of 16 & Round of 12 this season
• Kyle Busch won first race in Round of 8 this season
• Kyle Busch raced into Round of 8 at Kansas – 9th (-7) pre-race & 7th (+13) post-race
• Kyle Busch passed for final lead change 6 races this season
• Kyle Busch: 17 Straight races led (1234 Laps led) – Career-long streak (Bobby Allison all-time record 39 straight)
• Kyle Busch led most laps 10 races this season – 3 Wins in those races (Pocono July, New Hampshire Sept. & Martinsville Oct.)
• 13 Drivers won Stages this season – 4 Have yet to win a race (Bowyer, Elliott, Kenseth & Suarez)
• Martin Truex Jr. leads all with 19 Stage wins – 7 Race wins
• Martin Truex Jr. led with 10 to go 9 races this season – 5 Wins
• Martin Truex Jr. passed for final lead change 5 of last 12 races
• Martin Truex Jr. passed 3000 career laps led on 1.5-mile tracks at Texas Nov.
• Martin Truex Jr. led most laps 9 races this season – 4 Wins
• Kevin Harvick won back-to-back races 4 times
• including 2014 Phoenix, Miami & 2015 Las Vegas, Phoenix
• Brad Keselowski leads all with 4 Stage wins in Playoff races this season
• Jimmie Johnson only Playoff driver with no Stage wins in Playoff races this season
• Martin Truex Jr. started 3rd or better 6 of 7 wins this season – Started 17th in Charlotte Playoff race
• Final lead change with 10 or fewer laps to go 19 of 34 races this season (56%)
• Leader of most laps won only 10 of 34 races this season – Truex Jr. 4, Kyle Busch 3, Larson 2 & Hamlin 1
• 10 To go leader failed to win 17 races this season including 4 of last 6 races
• Chase Elliott best Chevrolet finisher 5 of 8 Playoff races this season
• Kevin Harvick best Ford finisher 7 races this season – 3 Times in Playoff races
• Martin Truex Jr. best Toyota finisher 12 of 34 races this season (35%)
• 3 of last 4 Chevrolet wins by Kyle Larson
• Chevrolet winless in Playoff races this season
• Ford: 10 Wins in 34 races this season – 2 Wins in last 4 races
• Toyota: 12 Wins last 17 races – Only 2 wins previous 17 races this season
• Toyota won 6 of 8 Playoff races this season (Hamlin 6th at Talladega & Truex Jr. 2nd at Texas)
• Joe Gibbs Racing: 7 Wins last 16 races – Winless previous 20 races
• 11 Overtime races this season – Leader at scheduled distance won 6
• Kyle Larson: 4 Wins this season – 3 Overtime wins (Auto Club, Michigan Aug. & Richmond Sept.)
• 25 Wins this season by drivers 32-years-old or older
• Joe Gibbs Racing: 7 Wins this season – 12 Wins all of last season (Led all teams)
• Denny Hamlin best Joe Gibbs Racing finisher 4 of last 5 races
• Chase Elliott best Hendrick Motorsports finisher 6 of 8 Playoff races
• Jimmie Johnson hasn’t been best Hendrick Motorsports finisher in Playoff races this season
• Kevin Harvick best Stewart-Haas Racing finisher 4 of 8 Playoff races this season
• Martin Truex Jr. only driver to sweep every Stage in MENCS race – 2017 Las Vegas & 2017 Kentucky
• Martin Truex Jr. won Stage 1 & 2 five times
• Stage 1 winner went on to win race 7 times
• Stage 2 winner went on to win race 3 times – Martin Truex Jr. (Las Vegas & Kentucky) and Kyle Busch (New Hampshire Sept.)
• Jimmie Johnson: 3 Wins this season – 1 Stage win (Sonoma Stage 1)
• 10 Won Stage 1 & Stage 2 – Twice went on to win race (Martin Truex Jr. Las Vegas & Kentucky)
• Jimmie Johnson: 5 Wins starting rear of field – 3 of last 4 wins came starting rear of field
• Jimmie Johnson started rear of field 7 races this season – Most of all drivers
• Best finisher dropping to rear of field this season:
• Winner – Jimmie Johnson (Texas April & Dover June) & Joey Logano (Richmond April)
• Last winner in backup car: Denny Hamlin – New Hampshire 7/17
• Last winner after free-pass: Martin Truex Jr. – 2016 Chicagoland
• 3 Won after pit road speeding penalty this season:
• Kurt Busch Daytona 500, Brad Keselowski Martinsville April & Martin Truex Jr. Chicagoland
• No pit road speeding penalties at Indianapolis, Watkins Glen & Darlington
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. pit road speeding penalties in 8 races this season – Most
• Kyle Larson passed Martin Truex Jr. for final lead change last 2 wins – Michigan Aug. & Richmond Sept.
• Kyle Larson took lead for final time with 6 or fewer laps to go in 3 of 4 wins this season – 5 of fewer last 2 wins
• Jimmie Johnson led 18 or fewer laps 3 of last 4 wins
• 6 Wins from pole this season – 4 By drivers named Kyle (Kyle Busch 2 & Kyle Larson 2)
• 4 Races settled by last lap pass this season – Daytona 500, Talladega May, Talladega Oct. & Martinsville Oct.
• Erik Jones best Rookie finisher last race – First time best Rookie finisher last 6 races
• Closest margin-of-victory this season: .095 Seconds – Talladega May (Ricky Stenhouse Jr. over Jamie McMurray)
• Largest margin-of-victory this season: 7.179 Seconds – Chicagoland (Martin Truex Jr. over Chase Elliott)
• 6 Winning crew chiefs were suspended this season –
• Paul Wolfe, Rodney Childers, Todd Gordon, Adam Stevens, Chad Johnston & Mike Wheeler
• 3 Won first career race this season – Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon & Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

2017 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most Playoff race top 3 finishes this season: 4 Ryan Blaney
• Most Playoff race top 5 finishes this season: 4 Ryan Blaney
• Most Playoff race top 10 finishes this season: 5 Elliott Sadler & Matt Tifft
• Most Playoff race laps led this season: 335 Erik Jones (William Byron leads Playoff drivers – 85)
• Most Playoff races led this season: 4 Ryan Blaney
• Most wins this season: 5 Kyle Busch
• Most 2nd-place finishes this season: 6 Ryan Blaney (2 Wins)
• Most top 3 finishes this season: 10 Ryan Blaney
• Most top 5 finishes this season: 12 Elliott Sadler (Winless)
• Most top 10 finishes this season: 24 Elliott Sadler
• Best average finish this season (Drivers competing every race): 9.2 Elliott Sadler
• Most laps led this season: 731 Kyle Busch
• Most races led this season: 12 Justin Allgaier & Elliott Sadler
• Most poles this season: 7 Kyle Busch
• Most top 6 starts this season: 16 William Byron
• Most top 12 starts this season: 27 Daniel Hemric
• 17 Different winners in 31 races this season
• Record for most different winners in a season: 18 (1988)
• 11 Different winners in last 11 races
• Hornish Jr., Kyle Busch, Clements, Hamlin, Keselowski, Allgaier, Reddick, Blaney, Bowman, Bell, E. Jones
• 3 Racing #22: Hornish Jr., Keselowski & Blaney; 3 Racing #18: Kyle Busch, Hamlin & Bell; 2 Racing #42: Reddick & Bowman
• Record for most consecutive different winners: 13 (1988)
• 6 Won first career NXS race this season – Bell, Bowman, Byron, Clements, Reddick & Preece
• First career win for 3 of last 5 winners – Tyler Reddick (Kentucky), Alex Bowman (Charlotte) & Christopher Bell (Kansas)
• Best Playoff finisher last race: Elliott Sadler 4th – First time best Playoff finisher this season
• Worst Playoff finisher last race: Ryan Reed 23rd
• Best non-Playoff NXS finisher last race: Erik Jones Winner
• Elliott Sadler leads full time NXS drivers with 5 Stage wins
• Erik Jones won Stage 1 last 3 races & Stage 2 last 2 races
• Brad Keselowski (Pocono June), Kyle Busch (Bristol Aug.) & Erik Jones (Texas Nov.) only drivers to win both Stages & race
• 2 NXS & MENCS weekend sweeps this season – Kyle Larson (Auto Club) & Kyle Busch (Bristol Aug.)
• 3 Won back-to-back races this season – Erik Jones, William Byron & Kyle Busch
• 9 Winners from pole this season – Kyle Busch 4, Denny Hamlin 1, Sam Hornish Jr. 1, Erik Jones 1, Kyle Larson 1 & Ryan Preece 1
• #22 passed for final lead change 5 races this season – Daytona Feb., Auto Club, Bristol April, Daytona June & Darlington
• Erik Jones led most laps 5 races this season – Failed to win 3
• Erik Jones led most laps last 2 races – 186 at Kansas & 142 at Texas (82%)
• #22 Best Ford finisher 19 races this season – 4 Wins
• #18 Best Toyota finisher 13 races this season – 7 Wins
• #42 Best Chevrolet finisher 9 races this season – 5 Wins
• #18 won 7 races this season – Kyle Busch (5), Christopher Bell (1) & Denny Hamlin (1)
• #20 won 5 races this season – Erik Jones (3), Denny Hamlin (1) & Ryan Preece (1)
• #22 won 4 races this season – Brad Keselowski (2), Ryan Blaney (1) & Sam Hornish Jr. (1)
• #42 won 5 races this season – Kyle Larson (3), Alex Bowman (1) & Tyler Reddick (1)
• Joe Gibbs Racing: 2 Straight wins – Winless previous 5 races
• 5 Different teams finished top 5 at Texas last week – Gibbs, Penske, Ganassi, JR Motorsports & Stewart-Haas
• Cole Custer best Rookie of the Year contender 3 of last 5 races
• 9 Won first pole this season – Bell, Benjamin, Byron, Hemric, B. Jones, Koch, Poole, Preece & Reddick
• 23 Won Stages this season – 12 Winless in races
• 2 Winners from rear of field this season: Ryan Blaney (Charlotte May) & William Byron (Daytona June)
• Final lead change with 10 or fewer laps to go 12 races this season
• 10 To go leader failed to win 8 races this season including last 2 races
• 2 Races settled by last lap pass this season – Pocono & Michigan
• 5 Overtime races this season – Daytona Feb., Richmond April, Daytona June, Iowa July & Darlington
• Closest margin-of-victory this season: Michigan .012 seconds (Denny Hamlin over William Byron)
• Largest margin-of-victory this season: Kentucky Sept. 14.540 (Tyler Reddick over Brennan Poole)