NASCAR Information Sunday, October 8, 2017

2017 MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most Playoff wins this season: 2 Kyle Busch & Martin Truex Jr.
• Most Playoff race 2nd-place finishes this season: 3 Chase Elliott (Winless)
• Most Playoff race top 5 finishes this season: 4 Martin Truex Jr. (Every race)
• Most Playoff race top 10 finishes this season: 4 Kyle Larson & Martin Truex Jr.
• Best Playoff race average finish this season: 2.8 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most Playoff race laps led this season: 331 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most Playoff races led this season: 4 Kyle Busch & Martin Truex Jr.
• Most wins this season: 6 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most 2nd-place finishes this season: 8 Kyle Larson (4 Wins)
• Most top 3 finishes this season: 12 Kyle Larson
• Most top 5 finishes this season: 14 Kyle Larson & Martin Truex Jr. (Career-high for each)
• Most top 10 finishes this season: 21 Martin Truex Jr. (Career-high: 22 – 2015)
• Most poles this season: 8 Kyle Busch (Career-high)
• Most front-row starts this season: 10 Kyle Busch
• Most top 6 starts this season: 21 Martin Truex Jr.
• Most top 12 starts this season: 26 Kyle Busch
• Best average start this season: 6.8 Kyle Busch
• Most laps led this season: 1977 (23 from 2000) Martin Truex Jr. (Career-high)
• Most laps led by winless drivers this season: 376 Chase Elliott
• Most races led this season: 25 Kyle Busch
• 14 Different winners in 30 races this season
• 2 Different winners 4 Playoff races this season – Kyle Busch 2 & Martin Truex Jr. 2
• Same top 4 finishers 2017 Chicagoland Playoff race & 2017 Charlotte Playoff race
• 10 To go leader failed to win 14 races this season including all 3 restrictor-plate races
• 2 Races settled by last lap pass this season – Daytona 500 & Talladega May
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took lead for last time on final lap at Talladega May & with 2 laps to go at Daytona July
• 2 Different winners in 3 restrictor-plate races this season – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won twice
• Ford won last 6 restrictor-plate races – 3 Different teams (Penske 3, Roush 2 & Stewart-Haas 1)
• Closest margin-of-victory this season: .095 Seconds – Talladega May (Ricky Stenhouse Jr. over Jamie McMurray)
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won 2 of the 3 closest races this season – Talladega May & Daytona July
• Roush Fenway Racing ended 101-race winless streak at Talladega May
• Top 5 Charlotte finishers all from different teams – Furniture Row, Hendrick, Stewart-Haas, Gibbs & Ganassi
• Best Playoff finisher last race: Martin Truex Jr. – Winner
• Worst Playoff finisher last race: Kyle Busch – 29th
• Best non-Playoff finisher last race: Daniel Suarez – 6th
• Martin Truex Jr. won first race in Round of 16 & Round of 12
• Martin Truex Jr.: 4 Straight top 5 finishes (Career-long streak) – 2 Wins (6 Straight races led – 605 Laps led)
• Chase Elliott: 6 Career 2nd-place finishes (Winless) – Bill Elliott finished 2nd in 8 races before first win (Riverside 11/20/83)
• Chase Elliott: 6 Career 2nd-place finishes – 3 2nd-place finishes in 4 races this season
• Kevin Harvick: Led most laps in 3 races this season including Charlotte (149) – Winless all 3
• Jamie McMurray: Best finish in last 15 races: 5th – Charlotte
• Daniel Suarez: Finished 12th or better last 5 races – 3 Straight top 10 finishes (6th at Charlotte after speeding penalty)
• Ryan Blaney: Best finish last 8 races: 8th – Charlotte
• Kasey Kahne: 1 Top 10 finish last 10 races – Finished 9th at Charlotte
• Kyle Larson: 5 Straight top 10 finishes – Ties career-long streak (2014)
• Kyle Busch: 2 Wins last 3 races – Finished 29th at Charlotte
• Kyle Busch: 13 Straight races led (927 Laps led) – Career-long streak
• Kevin Harvick won Stage 1 & 2 at Charlotte last week – First Stage wins in last 28 races (Since Atlanta March)
• Martin Truex Jr. started 3rd or better 5 of 6 wins this season – Started 17th in Charlotte Playoff race
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ended 157-race winless streak this season (Talladega May)
• Kyle Larson passed Martin Truex Jr. for final lead change last 2 wins – Michigan Aug. & Richmond Sept.
• Kevin Harvick passed for final lead change 2 of last 4 races
• Chase Elliott best Chevrolet finisher 5 races this season including 3 of last 4 races
• Martin Truex Jr. best Toyota finisher 10 of 30 races this season
• 3 of last 4 Chevrolet wins by Kyle Larson
• Ford: 8 Wins in 30 races this season (Winless last 13 races) – 8 Wins all of last season
• Toyota: 10 Wins last 13 races – Only 2 wins previous 17 races this season
• Toyota: 4 Straight wins – Longest streak this season
• Joe Gibbs Racing: 6 Wins last 12 races – Winless previous 20 races
• Joe Gibbs Racing: 6 Wins this season – 12 Wins all of last season (Led all teams)
• Kyle Larson: 4 Wins this season – 3 Overtime wins (Auto Club, Michigan Aug. & Richmond Sept.)
• Chase Elliott best Hendrick Motorsports finisher 8 of last 10 races including last 4
• 21 Wins this season by drivers 32-years-old or older
• Furniture Row Racing: 12 Wins – 6 This season
• Martin Truex Jr. only driver to sweep every Stage in MENCS race – 2017 Las Vegas & 2017 Kentucky
• Stage 1 winner went on to win race 5 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)
• 9 Won Stage 1 & Stage 2 – Twice went on to win race (Martin Truex Jr. Las Vegas & Kentucky)
• 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 – 6 Race wins
• Martin Truex Jr. won Stage 1 & 2 five times
• 5 Wins from pole this season – 4 By drivers named Kyle (Kyle Busch 2 & Kyle Larson 2)
• Jimmie Johnson: 5 Wins starting rear of field – 3 of last 4 wins came starting rear of field
• 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)
• 3 Won after pit road speeding penalty this season:
• Kurt Busch Daytona 500, Brad Keselowski Martinsville April & Martin Truex Jr. Chicagoland
• Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 7 Pit road speeding penalties this season – Most
• Martin Truex Jr. led with 10 to go 5 of last 8 races – 2 Wins (Chicagoland & Charlotte)
• Martin Truex Jr. led at mid-race 8 times this season – Failed to win 5
• Martin Truex Jr. passed for final lead change 4 of last 8 races
• 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
• Kyle Busch passed for final lead change 5 races this season
• Kyle Larson passed for final lead change 4 races this season
• Brad Keselowski passed for final lead change 3 races this season
• Kyle Busch led most laps 8 races this season – 2 Wins in those races (Pocono July & New Hampshire Sept.)
• Jimmie Johnson led 18 or fewer laps 3 of last 4 wins
• Final lead change with 5 or fewer laps to go 6 of last 11 races
• Final lead change with 10 or fewer laps to go 16 of 30 races this season
• Leader of most laps won only 9 of 30 races this season – Truex Jr. 4, Kyle Busch 2, Larson 2 & Hamlin 1
• Daniel Suarez best Rookie finisher 3 of last 4 races
• 10 Overtime races this season – Leader at scheduled distance won 6
• 9 Different teams won this season
• 4 Crew chiefs won first race this season: Justin Alexander, Jeremy Bullins, Luke Lambert & Keith Rodden
• Chad Johnston: 6 Career wins (1 Martin Truex Jr. & 5 Kyle Larson)
• 6 Winning crew chiefs were suspended this season –
• Paul Wolfe, Rodney Childers, Todd Gordon, Adam Stevens, Chad Johnston & Mike Wheeler
• Youngest winner: Ryan Blaney – 23
• 3 Won first career race this season – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Talladega, Austin Dillon Charlotte & Ryan Blaney Pocono
• Largest margin-of-victory this season: 7.179 Seconds – Chicagoland (Martin Truex Jr. over Chase Elliott)

2017 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most Playoff race top 5 finishes this season: 3 Brennan Poole (Every race)
• Most Playoff race laps led this season: 174 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: 8 Ryan Blaney
• Most top 5 finishes this season: 11 Elliott Sadler (Winless)
• Most top 10 finishes this season: 22 Elliott Sadler
• Best average finish this season (Drivers competing every race): 9.4 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: 15 William Byron
• Most top 12 starts this season: 25 Daniel Hemric
• 16 Different winners in 29 races this season
• 7 Different winners in 8 races on 1.5-mile tracks this season
• 3 Different winners in 3 Playoff races this season
• 9 Different winners in last 9 races – Hornish Jr., Kyle Busch, Clements, Hamlin, Keselowski, Allgaier, Reddick, Blaney & Bowman
• 3 Racing #22: Hornish Jr., Keselowski & Blaney; 2 Racing #18: Kyle Busch & Hamlin; 2 Racing #42: Reddick & Bowman
• 8 Won first pole this season – Bell, Benjamin, Byron, Hemric, B. Jones, Koch, Poole & Preece
• Best Playoff finisher 2 of 3 races this season: Brennan Poole (2nd at Kentucky & 5th at Charlotte)
• Worst Playoff finisher last race: Justin Allgaier 33rd
• Best non-Playoff NXS finisher last race: Alex Bowman Winner
• Brendan Gaughan, Michael Annett, Blake Koch & Jeremy Clements eliminated Round of 12 this season
• Elliott Sadler leads full time NXS drivers with 5 Stage wins
• 5 Won first career NXS race this season
• Last 2 wins after free-pass: Kyle Busch (2014 & ‘16 Kansas)
• #22 passed for final lead change 5 races this season – Daytona Feb., Auto Club, Bristol April, Daytona June & Darlington
• Daniel Suarez passed for final lead change 4 races this season
• William Byron passed for final lead change 2 races this season including Charlotte Oct.
• Cole Custer best Ford finisher 4 of last 11 races
• Matt Tifft best Toyota finisher 5 of last 12 races
• #22 Best Ford finisher 17 races this season – 4 Wins
• #18 Best Toyota finisher 12 this season – 6 Wins
• #42 Best Chevrolet finisher 7 races this season – 5 Wins
• Cole Custer best Rookie of the Year contender 2 of last 3 races
• #18 won 6 races this season – Kyle Busch (5) & Denny Hamlin (1)
• #20 won 4 races this season – Erik Jones (2), Denny Hamlin 1 & Ryan Preece (1)
• #42 won 5 races this season – Kyle Larson (3), Alex Bowman (1) & Tyler Reddick (1)
• Joe Gibbs Racing winless last 5 races – 6 Wins previous 9 races
• Matt Tifft best Joe Gibbs Racing finisher 6 of last 15 races
• No JR Motorsports finisher in top 5 at Charlotte – First time no JRM finisher in top 5 in last 8 races
• 23 Won Stages this season – 13 Winless in races
• Brad Keselowski leads all with 8 Stage wins – 2 Wins (Pocono & Richmond Sept.)
• 7 Won Stage 1 & went on to win race this season
• 6 Won Stage 2 & went on to win race
• 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)
• Last winner after speeding penalty: Kyle Busch (Bristol 8/17)
• Final lead change with 10 or fewer laps to go 10 races this season
• 10 To go leader failed to win 6 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
• 1 Rookie of the Year contender won this season – William Byron at Iowa June, Daytona June & Indianapolis
• 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. (Tyler Reddick over Brennan Poole)