NASCAR Information Sunday, October 22, 2017

2017 MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most Playoff wins this season: 3 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most Playoff race 2nd-place finishes this season: 3 Chase Elliott (Winless)
• Most Playoff race top 5 finishes this season: 5 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most Playoff race top 10 finishes this season: 5 Martin Truex Jr.
• Best Playoff race average finish this season: 5.8 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most Playoff race laps led this season: 440 Kyle Busch (Martin Truex Jr. 2nd with 422)
• Most Playoff races led this season: 6 Kyle Busch
• 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: 12 Kyle Larson & Martin Truex Jr.
• Most top 5 finishes this season: 15 Martin Truex Jr. (Career-high)
• Most top 10 finishes this season: 22 Martin Truex Jr. (Ties career-high – 2015)
• Most poles this season: 8 Kyle Busch (Career-high)
• Most front-row starts this season: 10 Kyle Busch & Martin Truex Jr.
• Most top 6 starts this season: 22 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most top 12 starts this season: 27 Kyle Busch
• Best average start this season: 7.1 Kyle Busch & Martin Truex Jr.
• Most laps led this season: 2068 Martin Truex Jr. (Career-high – Passed 2000 at Kansas Oct.)
• Most laps led by winless drivers this season: 402 Chase Elliott
• Most races led this season: 27 Kyle Busch
• 14 Different winners in 32 races this season
• 5 Different winners in 5 short track races this season – 4 Different teams (Ganassi, Gibbs, Hendrick & Penske)
• 3 Different winners 6 Playoff races this season – Martin Truex Jr. 3, Kyle Busch 2 & Brad Keselowski 1
• Martin Truex Jr. leads Playoffs followed by 4 champions – Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick & Jimmie Johnson
• Martin Truex Jr. won all 3 Playoff races on 1.5-mile tracks this season
• Martin Truex Jr. won first race in Round of 16 & Round of 12 this season – Winless in 23 races at Martinsville
• Martin Truex Jr.: 14 Career wins – Never won back-to-back races
• Martin Truex Jr. leads all with 19 Stage wins this season – 7 Race wins
• Martin Truex Jr. won Stage 1 & 2 in same race five times
• Martin Truex Jr. started 3rd or better 6 of 7 wins this season – Started 17th in Charlotte Playoff race
• Martin Truex Jr. 14 Career wins – Only 2 from pole (Charlotte 5/16 & Kansas 10/17)
• Martin Truex Jr. led with 10 to go 6 of last 10 races – 3 Wins (Chicagoland, Charlotte & Kansas)
• Martin Truex Jr. best Toyota finisher 11 of 32 races this season (34%)
• Martin Truex Jr. passed for final lead change 4 of last 10 races – Won 3 of last 10 races
• Martin Truex Jr. passed 2000 laps led this season at Kansas Oct.
• Martin Truex Jr. 0 for 71 in short track races
• 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 including Kansas Oct.
• Kyle Busch: 15 Straight races led (1043 Laps led) – Career-long streak (Bobby Allison led 39 straight races)
• Kyle Busch: 1789 Laps led this season – Career-high
• Kyle Busch led most laps 9 races this season – 2 Wins in those races (Pocono July & New Hampshire Sept.)
• Kyle Busch passed 4000 career laps led on 1.5-mile tracks at Kansas Oct.
• Kyle Larson fell out of Playoff contention at Kansas – 3rd (+29) pre-race & 9th (-9) post-race
• 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
• 13 Drivers won Stages this season – 4 Have yet to win a race (Bowyer, Elliott, Kenseth & Suarez)
• Jimmie Johnson started rear of field 6 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)
• Kurt Busch finished 2nd at Kansas last week after free-pass 2nd caution
• 3 Won after pit road speeding penalty this season:
• Kurt Busch Daytona 500, Brad Keselowski Martinsville April & Martin Truex Jr. Chicagoland
• Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 8 Pit road speeding penalties this season – Most
• Final lead change with 10 or fewer laps to go 17 of 32 races this season
• Leader of most laps won only 9 of 32 races this season – Truex Jr. 4, Kyle Busch 2, Larson 2 & Hamlin 1
• 10 To go leader failed to win 15 races this season including all 4 restrictor-plate races
• Chase Elliott best Chevrolet finisher 4 of 6 Playoff races this season
• 3 of last 4 Chevrolet wins by Kyle Larson
• Ford: 8 Wins in 32 races this season – 1 Win in last 15 races (Talladega Oct.)
• Toyota: 11 Wins last 15 races – Only 2 wins previous 17 races this season
• Toyota won 5 of 6 Playoff races this season (6th-place Denny Hamlin best Toyota finisher at Talladega)
• Joe Gibbs Racing: 6 Wins last 14 races – Winless previous 20 races
• Kyle Larson: 4 Wins this season – 3 Overtime wins (Auto Club, Michigan Aug. & Richmond Sept.)
• 23 Wins this season by drivers 32-years-old or older (72%)
• Furniture Row Racing: 13 Wins – 7 This season
• Denny Hamlin best Joe Gibbs Racing finisher 4 of 6 Playoff race this season including last 3
• Chase Elliott best Hendrick Motorsports finisher 5 of 6 Playoff races this season
• Top 6 finishers from Kansas all from different teams – Furniture Row, Stewart-Haas, Wood Brothers, Hendrick, Gibbs & JTG-Daugherty
• Best Playoff finisher last race: Martin Truex Jr. – Winner
• Worst Playoff finisher last race: Kyle Larson – 39th
• Best non-Playoff finisher last race: Kurt Busch – 2nd

2017 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most Playoff race top 5 finishes this season: 3 Justin Allgaier, Ryan Blaney & Brennan Poole
• Most Playoff race top 10 finishes this season: 4 Elliott Sadler & Matt Tifft
• Most Playoff race laps led this season: 193 Erik Jones (William Byron leads Playoff drivers – 69)
• Most Playoff races led this season: 3 Ryan Blaney
• Most wins this season: 5 Kyle Busch
• Most 2nd-place finishes this season: 5 Ryan Blaney (2 Wins)
• Most top 3 finishes this season: 9 Ryan Blaney
• Most top 5 finishes this season: 11 Elliott Sadler (Winless)
• Most top 10 finishes this season: 23 Elliott Sadler
• Best average finish this season (Drivers competing every race): 9.3 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: 26 Daniel Hemric
• 17 Different winners in 30 races this season
• Record for most different winners in a season: 18 (1988)
• 8 Different winners in 9 races on 1.5-mile tracks this season
• 10 Different winners in last 10 races – Hornish Jr., Kyle Busch, Clements, Hamlin, Keselowski, Allgaier, Reddick, Blaney & Bowman, C. Bell
• 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 4 winners – Tyler Reddick (Kentucky), Alex Bowman (Charlotte) & Christopher Bell (Kansas)
• First career win for last 3 winners on 1.5-mile tracks
• 9 Won first pole this season – Bell, Benjamin, Byron, Hemric, B. Jones, Koch, Poole, Preece & Reddick
• Erik Jones led most laps 4 races this season – Failed to win 3
• Erik Jones most laps led in a race: 186 Kansas Oct. (Finished 15th)
• Erik Jones passed for final lead change 5 races this season
• #22 Best Ford finisher 18 races this season – 4 Wins
• #18 Best Toyota finisher 13 races this season – 7 Wins
• #42 Best Chevrolet finisher 8 races this season – 5 Wins
• #18 won 7 races this season – Kyle Busch (5), Christopher Bell (1) & Denny Hamlin (1)
• #20 won 4 races this season – Erik Jones (2), 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: 1 Win last 6 races (Christopher Bell at Kansas) – 4 Wins previous 6 races
• Best Playoff finisher last race: William Byron 5th
• Worst Playoff finisher last race: Cole Custer 19th
• Best non-Playoff NXS finisher last race: Christopher Bell Winner
• 23 Won Stages this season – 13 Winless in races
• Elliott Sadler leads full time NXS drivers with 5 Stage wins
• 7 Won Stage 1 & went on to win race this season
• 6 Won Stage 2 & went on to win race this season
• Brad Keselowski (Pocono June) & Kyle Busch (Bristol Aug.) 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
• 8 Winners from pole this season – Kyle Busch 4, Denny Hamlin 1, Sam Hornish Jr. 1, Kyle Larson 1 & Ryan Preece 1
• 2 Winners from rear of field this season: Ryan Blaney (Charlotte May) & William Byron (Daytona June)
• William Byron finished 4th at Kansas after starting rear of field
• Last 2 wins after free-pass: Kyle Busch (2014 & ‘16 Kansas)
• Last winner after speeding penalty: Kyle Busch (Bristol 8/17)
• #22 passed for final lead change 5 races this season – Daytona Feb., Auto Club, Bristol April, Daytona June & Darlington
• Final lead change with 10 or fewer laps to go 11 races this season
• 10 To go leader failed to win 7 races this season
• 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
• William Byron best Rookie of the Year 2 of last 3 races
• 1 Rookie of the Year contender won this season – William Byron at Iowa June, Daytona June & Indianapolis
• Last to win in first NASCAR Xfinity Series race – Kurt Busch (Texas 4/06)
• Youngest winner: William Byron – 19
• Oldest winner: Sam Hornish Jr. – 38
• 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)
• 78-Martin Truex Jr. 37 Years old (6/29/80) Mayetta, NJ
• Furniture Row Racing Toyota (Home track: Kansas Speedway)
• (Since 12/3/14) Crew Chief: Cole Pearn Age: 35 (10/13/82) London, Ontario, Canada
• Car Owner: Barney Visser (Vietnam veteran)
• Playoff standings leader – 3 Wins in 6 Playoff races this season
• 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular season champion
• 2-Time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion (2004 & ’05)
• 12th full season (First full season: 2006) – 4th with Furniture Row Racing (First race: 2014 Daytona 500)
• 438th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race
• 14 Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins
• 7 Wins this season – Las Vegas, Kansas May, Kentucky, Watkins Glen, Chicagoland, Charlotte Oct. & Kansas Oct.
• 7 Wins this season – 6 Wins on 1.5-mile tracks (2 Races on 1.5-mile tracks remaining this season)
• 7 Wins this season – Winless on remaining 4 tracks
• Best championship finish: 4th (2015)
• 5th Playoff appearance (2007, ’12, ’15, ’16 & ‘17) – Advanced to Championship 4 in 2015 (4th in Championship)
• 3 Wins in 6 Playoff races this season
• Won all 3 Playoff races on 1.5-mile tracks this season – Chicagoland, Charlotte & Kansas
• 3 Playoff race wins this season – All-time high: 5 (Tony Stewart – 2011)
• Won opening race in Round of 16 & Round of 12 this season – Winless in 23 Martinsville races (Best finish: 5th)
• 5 Playoff race wins – 3 Wins in 6 Playoff races this season
• 5 Wins last 16 Playoff races – Winless previous 105 races
• Led 91 laps including final 57 in 2017 Charlotte Playoff race and 2017 Kansas Playoff race
• Advanced to 2015 Championship 4 racing Chevrolet – Finished 12th in race & 4th in points
• 8 Wins on 4 Playoff tracks – Dover (6/07 & 10/16), Charlotte (5/16 & 10/17), Chicagoland (2016 & 2017) & Kansas (5/17 & 10/17)
• 2 Straight Chicagoland Playoff race wins – Free pass in 2016 & speeding penalty in 2017
• 2017 Chicagoland winner – Failed pre-race inspection several times, lap 39 too fast exiting & lap 83 3 loose lugs right rear
• Finished 5th in 2017 New Hampshire Playoff race – Stage 1 winner, 112 laps led & lap 150 crash
• Finished 4th in 2017 Dover Playoff race – Started on pole, free pass 1st caution & 51 laps led
• 2017 Charlotte Playoff race winner – Started 17th, finished 12th in Stage 1, 4th in Stage 2, 91 laps led including final 57
• Finished 23rd in 2017 Talladega Playoff race – Finished 22nd in Stage 1, 14th in Stage 2 & lap 172 involved in crash
• 2017 Kansas Playoff race winner – Loss of Jim Watson, started on pole, lap 35 restart violation & lap 91 vibration
• 69 Playoff points – Leads all drivers
• 5 Top 5 finishes in 6 Playoff races this season – Finished 23rd at Talladega (Crash)
• 5 Playoff race top 5 finishes this season – Leads all drivers
• 5 Playoff race top 10 finishes this season – Leads all drivers
• 422 Playoff laps led this season (2nd to Kyle Busch) – 24%
• Average Playoff race finish this season: 5.8 (Best)
• 4th Playoff appearance by Furniture Row Racing (2013, ’15, ’16 & ‘17)
• Cole Pearn: 3rd Playoff appearance (All with Martin Truex Jr.) – 2015, ’16 & ‘17
• 14 Career Wins – 7 Wins this season
• 14 Career Wins – Never won back-to-back races
• 14 Career Wins – Only 2 wins from pole (Charlotte 5/16 & Kansas 10/17)
• 14 Career wins – 3 Different teams (DEI, MWR & FRR)
• 14 Career wins – 10 Different tracks
• (Dover, Sonoma, Pocono, Charlotte, Darlington, Chicagoland, Las Vegas, Kansas, Kentucky & Watkins Glen)
• 14 Career wins – 5 Different seasons (2007, ’13, ’15, ’16 & ‘17)
• 14 wins – 10 Career 2nd-place finishes
• 14 Career wins – 12 Wins last 3 seasons (2 Wins previous 9 full-time seasons)
• 14 Career wins – 5 Playoff race wins
• 2 Straight multiple-win seasons – 4 Wins last season & 7 this season
• 3rd straight season with a win – Career-long streak (2015, ’16 & ’17)
• 19 Stage wins this season – Leads all drivers
• Won Stage 1 & 2 in same race five times
• 78-Martin Truex Jr.
• 7 Wins this season – Leads all drivers
• 7 Wins this season – Career-high
• 7 Wins last 30 races – 15 Top 5 finishes
• 5 Wins last 15 races – 8 Top 3 finishes
• 11 Wins last 56 races – Leads all drivers
• 15 Top 5 finishes this season – Career-high
• 15 Top 5 finishes this season – Leads all drivers
• 22 Top 10 finishes this season – Leads all drivers
• 22 Top 10 finishes this season – Ties career-high (2015)
• 22 Top 6 starts this season – Leads all drivers
• 2068 Laps led this season (2nd straight 1000+ lap led season) – Leads all drivers
• 2068 Laps led this season (Passed 2000 at Kansas Oct.) – Career-high
• Started 3rd or better 6 of 7 wins this season – Started 17th in Charlotte Playoff race
• Winless streaks ended: 57, 218, 69, 34, 11, 1, 1, 9, 7, 6, 3, 4, 2, 1
• First to win every Stage in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race – Las Vegas March & Kentucky July
• Passed for final lead change 4 of last 10 races – 3 Wins
• 10 To go leader 6 of last 10 races – 3 Wins (Chicagoland, Charlotte & Kansas)
• Led most laps 7 of last 22 races – 1636 Laps led 19 of last 22 races (No laps led Daytona July, Bristol Aug. & Talladega Oct.)
• Best Toyota finisher 11 races this season (34%)
• Led at mid-race 8 times this season – Failed to win 5
• 588 Miles led in 2016 Coca-Cola 600 – Most miles led in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race all-time
• Ended 218-race winless streak at 2013 Sonoma – 2nd longest streak between wins (Bill Elliott 226)
• Furniture Row Racing: 13 Wins (7 Wins this season) – 12 by Martin Truex Jr.
• 14 Career MENCS wins – No short track wins (71 Short track races)
• Best short track finish: 2nd – Bristol 8/11
• 1 Top 5 finish last 33 short track races – Finished 3rd at Richmond 9/16
• Average finish this season – Short track: 15.0 / All others: 9.5
• 909 Short track laps led – Winless
• 24th Martinsville MENCS race – Best finish: 5th (3/10 & 4/12)
• Best Martinsville Playoff race finish: 6th (2015) – 2 Straight top 10 finishes
• Finished 7th in 2016 Martinsville Playoff race – Started on pole & led 6 times for 147 laps (147 of first 180 laps led)
• Finished 16th at Martinsville April – Stage 1 winner & lap 431 crash
• Average Martinsville finish: 20.4 – Worst of remaining Playoff tracks
• Started 3rd or better 4 of last 5 Martinsville races – 2016 Playoff race pole winner
• 239 Laps led in 4 of last 5 Martinsville races – 1 Lap led in previous 18 races
• Furniture Row Racing best Martinsville finish: 6th (Martin Truex Jr. 3/15 & 11/15)
• Martin Truex Jr. Foundation benefits pediatric cancer research
• Sherry Pollex & Martin Truex Jr. together since 2005
• Sherry’s birthday May 10
• August 2014 Sherry diagnosed with ovarian cancer
• Doctor thought ovarian cysts
• Sherry continued not feeling well
• CT scan discovered tumors, very late stage; without scan, Sherry gone 6 months later
• Surgery 4 or 5 days later spent 8 hours picking out cancer
• Removed spleen, appendix, fallopian tubes, ovaries, part of stomach
• 1/11/16: After 17 months, received final chemo treatment
• 7/14/17: 6 More rounds of chemo according to Sherry Pollex twitter post
• 8/3/17: Jacob Damen death (Cole Pearn’s best friend)
• 10/21/17: Jim “Wildman” Watson death (Furniture Row Racing crew member)
• Dad: Martin
• Mom: Linda