NASCAR Sunday, April 2, 2017

NASCAR TEXAS STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most Texas races: 30 Jeff Gordon
• Most Texas wins: 6 Jimmie Johnson (Carl Edwards 2nd with 4)
• Most Texas 2nd-place finishes: 5 Jimmie Johnson
• Most Texas top 3 finishes: 12 Jimmie Johnson
• Most Texas top 5 finishes: 14 Jimmie Johnson
• Most Texas top 10 finishes: 20 Jimmie Johnson
• Most Texas laps led: 1023 Jimmie Johnson
• Most Texas Playoff race wins: 5 Jimmie Johnson
• Most Texas Playoff race top 3 finishes: 6 Jimmie Johnson
• Most Texas Playoff race top 5 finishes: 7 Jimmie Johnson & Matt Kenseth
• Most Texas Playoff race top 10 finishes: 10 Kevin Harvick

• 18 Different winners in 32 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Texas races
• Both Texas races last season started Green-Yellow (First 5 laps April & first 6 laps November)
• Texas 4/16 start delayed 1 hour & 49 minutes
• 5 Different winners in 12 Texas Playoff races – Jimmie Johnson won 4 of last 5
• Jimmie Johnson won 5 of last 9 Texas races
• Carl Edwards ended 15-race Texas winless streak in 2016 Playoff race – Longest streak between Texas wins
• Jimmie Johnson only repeat winner last 7 Texas races (4 Wins) – 3 Others 1 win each
• Jimmie Johnson: 5 Wins last 9 Texas races – 1 Win previous 18 Texas races
• All 4 Hendrick Motorsports drivers finished 8th or better 2016 Texas spring race – 3 Finished top 5
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 6th or better in his last 4 Texas races – Did not compete in 2016 Texas Playoff race
• Martin Truex Jr. finished 9th or better last 4 Texas races – Finished 3rd in 2016 Texas Playoff race
• Chase Elliott finished top 5 both Texas races – Best Hendrick finisher in 2016 Texas Playoff race (4th)
• Kyle Busch: 5 Straight Texas top 5 finishes – 2016 Texas spring race winner
• Kevin Harvick: 5 Straight Texas top 10 finishes – Pit road speeding & uncontrolled tire in 2016 Texas spring race
• Kevin Harvick: 0 for 28 at Texas
• Austin Dillon & Kevin Harvick lap 263 crash 2016 Texas Playoff race – Harvick apologized, Dillon not happy
• Matt Kenseth: Only 1 top 10 finish last 4 Texas races – Finished 7th in 2016 Texas Playoff race
• Kasey Kahne: Finished 8th in 3 of last 4 Texas races
• Denny Hamlin: Finished 13th or better 6 of last 7 Texas races – 3 Top 10 finishes
• Ryan Newman: 1 Top 10 finish last 6 Texas races – Finished 10th in 2016 Texas Playoff race
• 10 Different winners last 11 Texas spring races – Kyle Busch only repeat winner (2 Wins last 4 races)
• 3 Texas races won from pole – Only 2 in last 21 races
• 6 Different pole winners last 6 Texas races
• 3 Different manufacturers won last 3 Texas poles
• 25 of 32 Texas winners came from top 10 starting position
• Last 3 Texas winners led 36 or fewer laps
• Joe Gibbs Racing swept both races last season – Kyle Busch (April) & Carl Edwards (Nov.)
• Jeff Burton & Dale Earnhardt, Jr. only drivers to win Texas in first try
• Jeff Gordon won Texas for first time in 17th try – Most of all drivers
• Worst official starting position of winner: 31st – Matt Kenseth 2002 (Started from rear of field)
• *Matt Kenseth started from back of field in 2002 after engine change & Greg Biffle won from the back 4/05 in a backup
• Texas race & championship won in same season 3 times – Jimmie Johnson (11/07 & 11/13) and Tony Stewart (11/11)
• No driver won Texas spring race & championship in same season
• Kyle Busch only driver to miss a Texas race & win championship in same season (2015)
• 10 Scored first win of season at Texas
• 2 Won first career race at Texas – Jeff Burton 1997 & Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 2000
• Dale Earnhardt, Jr. only driver to win first career Xfinity Series & Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Texas
• Mid-race leader won only 9 of 32 Texas races – 4 in last 8 races (3 by Jimmie Johnson)
• 2 Texas races settled by last lap pass
• Jimmie Johnson led most laps 5 of last 10 Texas races
• Most laps led in a Texas race: 312 – Brad Keselowski 11/15 (Finished 2nd)
• Martin Truex Jr. led most laps last Texas spring race (141) – Finished 6th
• Joey Logano led most laps last Texas Playoff race (178) – Finished 2nd
• Leader of most laps failed to win last 3 Texas races – 2 Penske drivers (Keselowski & Logano)
• Last 4 Texas winners took lead for first time at lap 109 or later
• Jeff Burton led only final lap at Texas (4/07)
• 3 Led first lap & won Texas
• Most consecutive laps led in a Texas race: 196 – Brad Keselowski 11/15
• Joey Logano led 110 consecutive laps last Texas Playoff race – Finished 2nd
• Youngest winner: 23 Years old – Joey Logano 4/14
• Oldest winner: 44 Years old – Dale Jarrett 2001
• Dale Earnhardt, Jr. only Rookie contender to win – 2000
• Chase Elliott best Rookie finisher both Texas races last season – Finished 5th & 4th
• 5 Texas overtime finishes – Leader at scheduled distance won all 5
• Longest Texas race: 341 Laps (11/14)
• 3 Rescheduled Texas races – All spring races
• Carl Edwards won only shortened Texas race (11/16)
• Closest Texas finish: .028 Seconds – Elliott Sadler over Kasey Kahne (2004)
• Roush Fenway Racing: 9 Texas wins – Most all-time
• Hendrick Motorsports: 8 Texas wins – 3 Wins last 5 races
• Joe Gibbs Racing: 6 Texas wins – Swept 2016
• Team Penske: 3 Texas wins with 3 different drivers (Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman & Joey Logano)
• Stewart-Haas Racing: 1 Texas win – Tony Stewart (11/11)
• Kyle Busch only driver to win Texas NCWTS, NXS & MENCS races

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES TEXAS STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most Texas wins: 8 Kyle Busch
• Most Texas 2nd-place finishes: 4 Kyle Busch & Brad Keselowski
• Most Texas top 3 finishes: 13 Kyle Busch
• Most Texas top 5 finishes: 15 Kyle Busch
• Most Texas top 10 finishes: 17 Matt Kenseth
• Best Texas average finish: 2.8 Erik Jones
• Most Texas laps led: 1653 Kyle Busch (Kevin Harvick 2nd with 779)
• 16 Different winners in 32 NASCAR Xfinity Series Texas races
• 23 of last 26 Texas Xfinity Series winners competed in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race
• 3 of last 5 Texas NXS spring race winners did not compete in Texas MENCS race
• Kyle Busch only driver to sweep Texas NXS & MENCS races on same weekend (4/13 & 4/16)
• 7 Different pole winners last 7 Texas races
• Texas pole led 10 or fewer laps 11 times
• 4 Texas races won from pole – 2 of last 4 races won from pole
• Last 10 Texas winners started 6th or better – Last 17 winners started top 10
• Kyle Busch tied record of consecutive wins at 1 track – Won 5 straight at Texas
• Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chase Elliott, Erik Jones & Mark Martin all won Texas in first try
• Kurt Busch won in first career Xfinity Series race
• Brad Keselowski won Texas for first time in 14th try (11/13) – Most of all drivers
• Worst official starting position of Texas winner: 31st – Kyle Busch 4/08
• *Joe Nemechek started from back of field in 2003 after engine change
• Kyle Busch only driver to sweep both Texas races & championship in same season – 2009
• Texas spring race winner went on to win championship 3 of last 8 seasons
• 11 Scored first win of season at Texas
• 5 Won first career NXS race at Texas – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 1998, Kurt Busch 4/06, Trevor Bayne 11/11, Chase Elliott 4/14 & Erik Jones 4/15
• Dale Earnhardt, Jr. only driver to win first career Xfinity Series & Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Series races at Texas
• Mid-race leader failed to win 10 of last 13 Texas races
• Matt Kenseth led Texas at mid-race 4 times – Failed to win all 4
• Brad Keselowski led mid-race 3 of last 4 Texas races – 1 Win (11/15)
• 10 To go leader failed to win 8 of 32 Texas races
• 1 Texas race settled by last lap pass – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. passed Joe Nemechek (1998)
• Leader of most laps failed to win 15 of 32 Texas races
• Most laps led in a Texas race: 179 – Kyle Busch 11/09
• Brad Keselowski led most laps 2 of last 3 Texas races – 1 Win (11/15)
• 6 Led lap 1 & went on to win Texas including 3 of last 4 races
• 6 Texas winners took lead for first time at lap 171 or later
• Most consecutive laps led in a Texas race: 120 – Brad Keselowski 11/15 (Finished 2nd)
• Youngest Texas winner: 18 Years old – Chase Elliott 18Y, 4M, 17D (4/14) & Erik Jones 18Y, 10M, 11D (4/15)
• Oldest Texas winner: 43 Years old – Jeff Purvis 2002
• 1 Rookie contender won Texas Xfinity Series race – Chase Elliott (4/14)
• Erik Jones best Rookie finisher both Texas races last season – Finished 2nd & 4th
• 2 Texas overtime finishes – Leader at scheduled distance won both
• 3 Eligible for championship points won Texas – Bayne 11/11, Stenhouse Jr. 4/12 & Elliott 4/14
• Erik Jones best finisher eligible for championship points both Texas races last season – Finished 2nd & 4th