Championship drivers rarely win final race: in the history of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series [1949 thru current], only one in the modern era [1972-present] and only six drivers in 61 season who won the Sprint Cup Series Championship also won the final race of the season:
the six drivers who won the season championship and final race of season
1998: Jeff Gordon won at Atlanta Motor Speedway
1971: Richard Petty won at Texas World Speedway
1965: Ned Jarrett won at Dog Track Speedway in Moyock, NC
1957: Buck Baker won at Greensboro Fairgrounds, Greensboro, NC
1956: Buck Baker won at Wilson Speedway, Wilson, NC
1955: Tim Flock won at Orange Speedway, Hillsboro, NC
(11-21-2009)
Johnson vs other drivers comparison: #48-Jimmie Johnson’s stats over the last eight years with five races reaming in his 8th year, compared to the 5 other greats with multiple wins and championships in their 1st full 8 seasons in the modern era [1972 to present]:
* Johnson’s Career 1st 8 years – 2002 to 2009
o 46 wins, 114 top fives, 176 top tens, three back to back championships
* Richard Petty’s Career 1st 8 years (modern era) – 1972 to 1979
o 50 wins, 156 top fives, 181 top tens, 4 championships
* Cale Yarborugh’s Career 1st 8 years (modern era) – 1973 to 1980
o 55 wins , 158 top fives, 172 top tens 3 back to back championships
* Darrel Waltrip’s Career – 1st 8 years – 1975 to 1982
o 51 wins, 129 top fives, 154 to tens, 2 Championships
* Dale Earnhardt’s Career 1st 8 years – 1979 to 1986
o 20 wins, 93 top fives, 143 top tens, 2 championships
* Jeff Gordon’s career 1st 8 years – 1993 to 2000
o 52 wins, 129 top fives, 166 to tens, 3 championships
(Stagged Special)(10-21-2009)
Top-35 in Owner Points and guaranteed a starting spot at Homestead:
No changes, the spread between 35th and 36th only dropped 3 points to 114 points (was 117)
34) #7-Gordon/Robby Gordon: 2744, +191
35) #34-Andretti/Earnhardt Ganassi: 2667, 114 points ahead of 36th
these teams/drivers must qualify by speed but are close to the top-35:
36) #82-Speed/Red Bull: 2553, 114 points out of 35th
(no other teams are within 500 owners points of 35th)
The teams are NOT locked in past the next race as the owners points change after each race.
For the owners points standings, see my Owners Points Standings.(11-15-2009)
Stewart has one-two punch at Watkins Glen: #14-Tony Stewart finished first or second in six straight starts at Watkins Glen. That hasn't happened much in Sprint Cup Series history, just 11 times, and only four times over the last 20 seasons:
Most consecutive top-two Cup finishes at a track since 1990
Seasons -- Driver -- Top-twos -- Track
2001-04 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 7 -- Talladega
2004-09 -- Tony Stewart -- 6 -- Watkins Glen
2004-06 -- Jimmie Johnson -- 6 -- Charlotte
1992-95 -- Rusty Wallace -- 6 -- Martinsville
The Record all-time? Richard Petty had 11 straight top-two finishes at Richmond from 1970-1975.(ESPN)(8-12-2009)
A Championship Outlook - champ usually wins in first six races: Only seven times in the modern era (1972-present, 37 seasons thru 2008) has the eventual champion not won at least one race within the first six races. When did a driver win the Championship and not win a race in the first six events?
1973-Benny Parsons (first win of season came in the 18th race)
1984 and 1996-Terry Labonte (13th & 7th)
1985-Darrell Waltrip (11th)
1999-Dale Jarrett (11th)
2005-Tony Stewart (16th)
2008-Jimmie Johnson (8th)
Plus there were seven seasons before 1972 where the drivers who won the Championship, didn't win in the first six races of the season. 1971 Bobby Issac, 1966 David Pearson, 1963 Joe Weatherly, 1961 Ned Jarrett, 1957 Buck Baker and 1951 Herb Thomas
The winners of the first six races in 2009 were: #17-Kenseth (2); #18-Kyle Busch (2), #-Kurt Busch and #48-Jimmie Johnson, Only Johnson and Kurt made the Chase.(4-6-2009)
Last race only 43 cars? The Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Speedway only had 43 drivers/cars entered, and all will start the race on Sunday. 43 cars is a full field and the most cars allowed to run a Sprint Cup race. The last time a Sprint Cup race only had 43 drivers/teams enter to attempt to qualify for a race was at California Speedway in May 2004.(7-31-2009)
The most career top-10s in Cup history:
Driver -- Top 10s -- Titles
Richard Petty -- 712 -- 7
Bobby Allison -- 446 -- 1
Dale Earnhardt -- 428 -- 7
Mark Martin -- 415 -- 0*
*Finished second in points four times.(11-15-2009)
13 wins by Kyle Busch, 13 tracks UPDATE: #18-Kyle Busch has 13 Sprint Cup Series wins, an interesting stat, he has won each race at a different race track, winng at: Atlanta, Bristol, Auto Club, Chicago, Darlington, Daytona, Dover, Las Vegas, New Hampshire, Phoenix, Infineon, Talladega and Watkins Glen. The nine tracks he has yet to win a CUP race: Homestead, Indy, Kansas, Lowe's, Martinsville, Michigan, Pocono, Richmond and Texas.(3-2-2009)
Only one other driver has ever done this, Lee Petty from 1949 thru 1954 when he won for the 2nd time at Rochester; The track Petty wion at [quite different then Busch]: Pittsburgh, Hillsboro, Rochester, Morristown, Macon, Langhorne, W. Palm Beach, Richmond, Martinsville, Shreveport, Spartanburg, Daytona Beach and Sharon.(Fox Coverage / Aflac Question)(3-8-2009)
UPDATE: with Busch's win at Bristol, the streak is broken, so he and Petty stay tied.(3-22-2009)
14: Busch won at Richmond, so he has 16 total wins at 14 different tracks.(8-22-2009)
Gordon down to one track with no win: #24-Jeff Gordon's win at Texas means there's only one track on the Sprint Cup circuit at which he has yet to win, that being Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the series runs only once a year, the season finale. Gordon has won on 23 of the 24 tracks he has raced at in the Cup Series, including two tracks that are no longer active, North Wilkesboro and Rockingham. He also draws just one win shy of Cale Yarborough for the fifth-most wins in Cup history, and a pair shy of tying Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for third. But how do those drivers shape up as far as number of tracks won at? Let's check out the numbers:
Driver -- Wins -- Tracks won at
Richard Petty -- 200 -- 51 of 84
David Pearson -- 105 -- 38 of 65
Bobby Allison -- 84 -- 28 of 47
Darrell Waltrip -- 84 -- 16 of 26
Cale Yarborough -- 83 -- 18 of 46
Jeff Gordon -- 82 -- 23 of 24
Of course, a disclaimer here is that in the old days of NASCAR, many tracks were raced at once or just a handful of times, but that's still pretty impressive.(ESPN.com)
Current Drivers: the active leaders with the most wins at the 22 different tracks currently on the NSCS schedule:
Rank, Driver, Number of Tracks
1. #24-Jeff Gordon, 21
2. #14-Tony Stewart, 19
3. #5-Mark Martin, 18
4. #48-Jimmie Johnson, 16
5. #18-Kyle Busch, 14
(NASCAR PR)(11-15-2009)
Top-10 Streaks:
The longest streaks of top 10 finishes since 1990:
Jeff Gordon, 21 races, 1998 race #14 - 1999 race #1
Dale Jarrett, 19 races, 1999 race #4 - 1999 race #22
Mark Martin, 16 races, 1996 race #17 - 1997 race #1
Dale Jarrett, 15 races, 2000 race #10 - 2000 race #24
Jeff Gordon, 14 races, 1995 race #14 - 1995 race #27
Mark Martin, 14 races, 1998 race #10 - 1998 race #23
Bobby Labonte, 14 races, 1999 race #25 - 2000 race #4
Jimmie Johnson, 13 races, 2004 race #31 - 2005 race #7
Tony Stewart, 13 races, 2005 race #15 - 2005 race #27
Dale Earnhardt, 12 races, 1990 race #14 - 1990 race #25
Dale Earnhardt, 12 races, 1995 race #22 - 1996 race #2
Morgan Shepherd, 12 races, 1989 race #29 - 1990 race #11
Dale Jarrett, 11 races, 1999 race #27 - 2000 race #3
Jeff Gordon, 10 races, 2007 race #13 - 2007 race #22
Mark Martin, 10 races, 1990 race #16 - 1990 race #25
Terry Labonte, 10 races, 1996 race #26 - 1997 race #4
Tony Stewart, 10 races, 2009 race #13 - 2009 race #22
Current: Jeff Burton, 3 races, 2009 race #33 - present
(11-15-2009)
Back-to-back champs: Only ten drivers have won back-to-back Cup championships:
Buck Baker (1956-57)
Lee Petty (1958-59)
Joe Weatherly (1962-63)
David Pearson (1968-69)
Richard Petty (1971-72 & ‘74-75)
Cale Yarborough (1976, 77, 78) [1 of 2 to win three in a row]
Darrell Waltrip (1981- 82)
Dale Earnhardt (1986-87, ‘90-91, ‘93-94)
Jeff Gordon (1997-98)
Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2007, 2008) [1 of 2 to win three in a row]
- Back to Back 2nd place Only five drivers ever in NASCAR history have scored back-to-back 2nd place finishes in the Points standings:
Richard Petty 1962-1963, 1976-77 [won seven champs]
James Hylton 1966-1967 [never won a championship]
Cale Yarborough 1973-1974 [won in 1976-77-78]
Bobby Allison 1981-1982 [won in 1983]
Jimmie Johnson 2003-2004 [won in 2006-2007]
- 43rd Fact: Last driver to win from the 43rd starting spot in a Cup Series race was Fonty Flock at Raleigh, NC in 1953, the only other driver to do so was Johnny Mantz in the 1950 Southern 500. A driver who falls to the rear after changing an engine, going to a backup, driver change, etc. does not count as a 43rd spot, they are credited with an official starting spot where they qualified.
- Car Number Wins:
Twenty-Five car numbers [two digits] have never won a points paying event in a Cup race:
02,03,04,05,08,35,36,39,50,57,61,63,65,67,68,69,70,74,76,79,82,84,93,94,95
See my Winners by Number/First Win/Last Win page for the rundown
(the car #'s in bold have a decent chance of winning in 2009)
- Logano young, but not the youngest: Joey Logano is young, but at 18 years, 3 months, 20 days, he'll not be even close to the youngest to make his Sprint Cup debut when he makes the big jump Sunday at New Hampshire. Driver, debut date and track listed with their ages:
Tommie Elliott Aug. 1, 1951 Altamont-Schenectady Fairgrounds 15 years, 7 months, 5 days
Darryl Sage July 10, 1982 Nashville Speedway 17 years, 2 months, 2 days
Bill Morton Oct. 9, 1955 Memphis-Arkansas Speedway 17 years, 2 months, 17 days
Donald Thomas May 21, 1950 Martinsville Speedway 17 years, 10 months, 11 days
Bobby Hillin Jr. April 18, 1982 North Wilkesboro Speedway 17 years, 10 months, 13 days
Chuck Bown Jan. 23, 1972 Riverside International Raceway 17 years, 11 months, 1 day
Jeff McDuffie April 20, 1980 North Wilkesboro Speedway 18 years, 0 months, 20 days
Joey Arrington Sept. 8, 1974 Richmond International Raceway 18 years, 1 months, 14 days
Buddy Baker April 4, 1959 Columbia Speedway 18 years, 2 months, 10 days
Joe Ruttman Jan. 20, 1963 Riverside International Raceway 18 years, 2 months, 23 days
(St Petersburg Times)
Kyle Busch is the youngest driver to ever win a Cup Series race at 20 years, 126 [4 months, 2 days], when he won at California [now Auto Club Speedway] in September 2005.(9-13-2008)
Oldest drivers to start Cup race (60 years or older)
Driver, Age, Date, Track, Start, Finish, Laps, Status
Hershel McGriff, 65, 5-16-1993, Sonoma, 42,43, 27/74, engine
Jim Fitzgerald, 65, 6-21-1987, Riverside, 37, 17, 93/95, running
Morgan Shepherd, 64, 9-17-2006, New Hampshire, 41, 42, 61/300, overheating
Dave Marcis, 61, 2-17-2002, Daytona, 14, 42, 79/200, engine
Dick Trickle, 60, 6-2-2002, Dover, 29, 42, 170/400, oil pump
(NASCAR.com)
Top 10 - Consecutive Races Finished on Lead Lap:[modern era?]
1) Jeff Gordon, 21 races, from June 14, 1998 thru Feb 14, 1999
2) Jimmie Johnson, 20, April 2, 2006 thru Sept 9, 2006
3) Matt Kenseth, 19, Oct 14, 2006 thru June 17, 2007
4) Jeff Burton, 18, Charlotte, Oct 13, 2007 thru Charlotte, May 25, 2008
5) Tony Stewart, 17, Martinsville, March 29, 2009 thru Michigan, August 16, 2009
Rusty Wallace, 17, May 29, 2005 thru Sept 25, 2005
Matt Kenseth 17, May 5, 2006 thru Sept 24, 2006
6) Jamie McMurray, 16, August 8, 2004 thru Nov 21, 2004
Denny Hamlin, 16, May 6, 2006 thru Sept 9, 2006
7) Rusty Wallace, 15, June 20, 1993 thru Oct 24, 1993
Jeff Gordon, 15, June 11, 1995 thru Oct 1, 1995
Dale Jarrett, 15, April 30, 2000 thru Sept 03, 2000
Kyle Busch, 15, Pocono, June 10, 2007 thru Sept 23, 2007
CURRENT:
Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, 2, Texas, Nov 8, 2009 thru current
(NASCAR Statistics)(11-15-2009)
Did Not Finish Streak and stats: #00-David Reutimann has the longest current streak of finishing races at 40 races of drivers who have ran all the races. The next driver with the most is: #42-Montoya with 37 and #07-Mears with 36 straight races without a DNF.
Three drivers have run all the 2009 races and not had a DNF: #42-Montoya, #00-Reutimann and #07-Mears
The all-time record for the longest streak of NOT having an DNF is 84 races held by Herman Beam from April 30, 1961 thru March 10, 1963 [Beam didn't run all the races, but did not have a DNF in 84 straight consecutive races that he ran].
Clint Bowyer holds the modern day (1972-present) at 83, next is Kevin Harvick at 81 [also had a 2nd streak of 58], then Jeff Gordon at 56 and Dale Earnhardt at 53.
The Most in 2009: #66-Blaney has the most DNF's in 2009 with 28 [in 30 starts], followed by #87-Nemechek who has 27 [in 30 starts]. Both of these teams are start-and-parkers for most races. The most DNF's among drivers who have run all the races in 2009: #77-Hornish Jr. with 8, followed by #96/#71-BLabonte with 7.(11-16-2009)
- September 16, 2007's Cup race at New Hampshire was the first time all 43 cars that started a Cup race finished it since NASCAR mandated the 43-car rule in 1998.
UPDATE: and on September 7, 2008, the Cup race at Richmond was the 2nd race that all 43 cars that started a Cup race finished it since NASCAR mandated the 43-car rule in 1998.(9-7-2008)
Team 1-2-3 finishes: Roush Fenway Racing had a 1-2-3 team finish, something that is not too common, see the list, from 1997 thru current.
Last 1-2-3 Finishes
2008: Dover, 9/21 - Roush Fenway Racing: #16-Biffle, #17-Kenseth, #99-Edwards
2008: Bristol, 3/16 - Richard Childress Racing: #31-Burton, #29-Harvick, #07-Bowyer
2005: Homestead, 11/20 - Roush*: #16-Biffle, #6-Martin, #17-Kenseth, #99-Edwards
2005: Texas, 11/6 - Roush: #99-Edwards, #6-Martin, #17-Kenseth
2005: Kansas, 10/9 - Roush: #6-Martin, #16-Biffle, #99-Edwards
2005: Richmond 9/10- Roush: #97-Busch, #17-Kenseth, #16-Biffle
1997: Daytona 500, Hendrick Motorsports: #24-Gordon, #5-Labonte, #25-Craven
*Finished 1-2-3-4.(9-21-2008)
GWC factoid: There have been 41 green-white-checkered [GWC] finishes in Sprint Cup history, and only seven times has the leader lost the lead on those final two laps.
A “green-white-checkered” finish [G-W-format will be used for the NASCAR Cup Series and Nationwide Series beginning with next weekend’s races at New Hampshire International Speedway, NASCAR officials announced today. “The green-white-checkered format is an attempt to achieve everyone’s goals – a green-flag finish,” NASCAR President Mike Helton said. “This change hopefully will provide competitive finishes in the relatively rare occasions it is warranted. This format has been successful in the Craftsman Truck Series, and considering the tight competition week in and week out in the other two national series, we feel the time is right to use the same procedure in all three national series.” The new procedure will consist of a restart of two laps – green flag for the first lap of the restart and the white flag signaling the final lap leading to the checkered flag. All additional laps will be counted and scored. The new format will not guarantee a green-flag finish. Only one restart under the “green-white-checkered” format will be attempted. If a caution comes out during that period, the race will be complete. This procedure will eliminate the need for a red flag in the final laps to immediately stop the race in an attempt to finish under green-flag conditions. The announcement expands the single attempt “green-white-checkered” format to all three of NASCAR’s national series, beginning next week.(NASCAR PR)(7-15-2004)
The 37 Sprint Cup G-W-C races:
2004 - 3 GWC races
Indianapolis 8/8/2004 [#24-Gordon won]
Phoenix 11/7/2004 [#8-Earnhardt Jr won]
Homestead 11/21/2004 [Stewart led at G-W-C, Biffle won]
2005 - 10 GWC races
Daytona 2/20/2005 [#24-Gordon won]
Talladega 5/1/2005 [#24-Gordon won]
Darlington 5/7/2005 [Newman led at G-W-C, Biffle won]
Pocono 6/12/2005 [#99-Edwards won]
Pocono 7/24/2005 [#97-Kurt Busch won]
Watkins Glen 8/14/2005 [#20-Tony Stewart won]
California 9/4/2005 [#5-Kyle Busch]
Dover 9/25/2005 [#48-Jimmie Johnson]
Talladega 10/2/2005 [Kenseth led at G-W-C, Jarrett won]
Charlotte 10/15/2005 [#48-Jimmie Johnson]
2006 - 7 GWC races
Daytona 2/19/2006 [#48-Jimmie Johnson won]
California 2/26/2006 [#17-Matt Kenseth won]
Las Vegas 3/12/2006 [#17-Kenseth led at G-W-C, #48-Johnson won]
Chicago 7/9/2006 [#24-Jeff Gordon won]
New Hampshire 7/16/2006 [#5 Kyle Busch won]
Texas 11/5/2006 [#20-Tony Stewart]
Homestead 11/19/2006
2007 - 7 GWC races
Daytona, 2/18/2007 [Martin led at G-W-C, Harvick won]
Bristol 3/25/2007 [#5-Kyle Busch]
Talladega 4/29/2007 [#24-Jeff Gordon won]
Michigan 8/21/2007 [#2-Kurt Busch won, two day rain delay]
Charlotte 10/13/207 [#24-Jeff Gordon won]
Martinsville 10/21/2007 [#48-Jimmie Johnson won]
Atlanta 10/28/2007 [#48-Jimmie Johnson won]
2008 - 8 GWC races
Bristol, 3/16/2008 [Hamlin led at G-W-C, Jeff Burton won]
Texas, 4/6/2008 [#99-Edwards won]
Richmond, 5/3/2008 [#07-Bowyer won]
Michigan, 6/15/2008 [#88-Earnhardt Jr. won]
Infineon, 6/22/2008 [#18-Busch won]
Daytona, 7/5/2008 [#18-Busch won]
Talladega, 10/5/2008 [#20-Stewart won]
Martinsville, 10/19/2008 [#48-Johnson won]
Phoenix, 11/9/2008 [#48-Johnson won]
2009 - 3 GWC races
Atlanta, 3/8/2009 [Edwards led at G-W-C, Kurt Busch won]
Bristol, 3/22/2009 [#18-Kyle Busch won]
Infineon, 6/21/2009 [#9-Kasey Kahne won]
Martinsville, 10/25/2009 [#11-Denny Hamlin won]
Talladega, 11/1/2009 [#26-McMurray won]
The SEVEN races where the leader changed after the G-W-C:
#99-Carl Edwards took 2 tires led with 2 to go, #2-Kurt Busch who led 234 laps, blew by before the white flag and won, Edwards finished 3rd.
#11-Denny Hamlin led with 2 to go, had a slow restart, #31-Jeff Burton passed him and won at Bristol, March 2008
#01-Mark Martin led in the 2007 Daytona 500, #29-Kevin Harvick passed him as a huge wreck took place behind them and beat Martin to the line by 2/1000th's of a second.
#17-Matt Kenseth led 146 laps at Las Vegas in 2006, #48-Jimmie Johnson passed him at the line and won by 1/2 a car length, only leading 1 lap to win.
#17-Matt Kenseth led at Talladega in Oct 2005, Dale Jarrett passed and win
#12-Ryan Newman led at Darlington in May 2005, #16-Greg Biffle won
#20-Tony Stewart led at Homestead in Nov 2004, had fuel problems, #16-Greg Biffle won
(11-15-2009)
All time laps led - top 40 + 1:
Rank, Driver, Racing Reference total
1 Richard Petty 52,194
2 Cale Yarborough 31,676
3 Bobby Allison 27,539
4 Dale Earnhardt 25,707
5 David Pearson 25,419
6 Darrell Waltrip 23,131
7 Jeff Gordon 20,738
8 Rusty Wallace 19,972
9 Bobby Isaac 13,229
10 Junior Johnson 12,651
11 Mark Martin 12,365
12 Bill Elliott 11,417
13 Tony Stewart 10,607
14 Buddy Baker 9,748
15 Jimmie Johnson 9,653
16 Ned Jarrett 9,468
17 Geoffrey Bodine 8,683
18 Harry Gant 8,445
19 Fred Lorenzen 8,131
20 Ricky Rudd 7,874
21 Dale Jarrett 7,050
22 Terry Labonte 7,036
23 Tim Flock 6,937
24 Benny Parsons 6,866
25 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 6,529
26 Neil Bonnett 6,382
27 Herb Thomas 6,197
28 Fireball Roberts 5,970
29 Jeff Burton, 5,823
30 Matt Kenseth, 5,679
31 Buck Baker 5,662
32 Kurt Busch, 5,492
33 Ernie Irvan, 5,471
34 Davey Allison, 4,978
35 Lee Petty, 4,787
36 Curtis Turner, 4,707
37 Fonty Flock, 4,681
38 Donnie Allison, 4,641
39 Jim Paschal, 4,591
40 Rex White, 4,583
41 Kyle Busch, 4,400
Drivers who have led a lap: 401
From two stats sources:
RacingReference.info / NASCAR Statistics, then compiled by Jayski.(11-15-2009)
Sprint Cup Series Record 28 Different Leaders At Talladega: There were 28 different leaders in Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, an all-time Sprint Cup Series record. The previous record of 26 was snapped on Lap 142 when Joe Nemechek crossed the start/finish line in first. Michael Waltrip later extended the record to 28, leading lap 165. The old record of 26 different leaders was originally set July 27, 1986, at Talladega. It was tied on April 22, 2001, again at Talladega. Sunday’s race also placed in the top five in terms of lead changes. There were 64 total lead changes, which is tied for fifth-most in NASCAR history.(NASCAR)(10-6-2008)
Top-5's, Top-10's: #24-Jeff Gordon leads all drivers after 35 races in 2009 with 16 Top-5 finishes, followed by #14-Tony Stewart and #48-Jimmie Johnson with 15. #24-Gordon has the most Top-10's after 35 races with 24 and #14-Stewart and #48-Johnson is next at 23.
One driver has run all the races in 2009 and have not scored a top-10 finish: #98-Menard. Five drivers have not scored a Top-5 and ran all the races: #98-Menard, #07-Mears, #43-Sorenson and #6-Ragan.(11-15-2009)
- 250 top 5's for Gordon: #24-Jeff Gordon made his 550th career start at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 500, March 2009, with his 4th place finish, Gordon now has 250 top-five finishes, which is 7th best all time. Next up is Cale Yarborough at 255. Richard Petty has the most with 555.(3-23-2009 then chart below updated since)
All-time Top fives:
1 Richard Petty, 555
2 Bobby Allison, 335
3 David Pearson, 301
4 Dale Earnhardt, 281
5 Darrell Waltrip, 276
6 Jeff Gordon, 263
7 Mark Martin, 257
8 Cale Yarborough, 255
9 Buck Baker, 246
10 Lee Petty, 231
11 Buddy Baker, 202
12 Rusty Wallace, 202
13 Benny Parsons, 199
14 Ricky Rudd, 194
15 Ned Jarrett, 185
16 Terry Labonte, 182
17 Bill Elliott, 175
18 Dale Jarrett, 163
19 Jim Paschal, 149
20 Tony Stewart, 144
21 James Hylton, 140
22 Bobby Isaac, 134
23 Harry Gant, 123
24 Herb Thomas, 122
25 Junior Johnson, 121
25 Jeff Burton, 121
27 Jimmie Johnson, 116
28 Bobby Labonte, 114
29 Rex White, 110
29 Joe Weatherly, 105
30 Tim Flock, 102
Matt Kenseth, 94
Dale Earnhardt Jr., 88
(11-15-2009)
Bobby Labonte could be 26th driver with 200th top 10: #71-Bobby Labonte could earn his 200th series top 10, becoming the 26th driver to do so. Those who have are:
Year: Date, Track, Driver
2008: 7/12, Chicago, Tony Stewart
2008: 4/12, Phoenix, Jeff Burton
2003: 6/15, Michigan, Sterling Marlin
2002: 6/16, Michigan, Jeff Gordon
2001: 6/17, Pocono, Dale Jarrett
1997: 8/31, Darlington, Mark Martin
1996: 7/21, Pocono, Rusty Wallace
1993: 10/3, N. Wilkesboro, Harry Gant
1992: 3/29, Darlington, Bill Elliott
1991: 8/24, Bristol, Ricky Rudd
1990: 8/25, Bristol, Terry Labonte
1989: 6/18, Pocono, Dale Earnhardt
1984: 10/21, Rockingham, Dave Marcis
1984: 2/26, Richmond, Darrell Waltrip
1979: 10/14, N. Wilkesboro, Benny Parsons
1978: 3/19, Atlanta, Cale Yarborough
1977: 10/9, Charlotte, Buddy Baker
1974: 7/20, Nashville Fairgrounds, Bobby Allison
1971: 7/18, Trenton, James Hylton
1969: 6/26, N.C. Fairgrounds, David Pearson
1966: 9/5, Darlington, Jim Paschal
1966: 4/9, Greenville, Richard Petty
1965: 5/15, Winston-Salem, Ned Jarrett
1958: 7/25, Monroe, Buck Baker
1957: 6/15, Tenn.-Carolina, Lee Petty
(NASCAR)(11-15-2009)
- Gordon breaks top-10 record: #24-Jeff Gordon finished the 2007 Cup season with 30 top-10 finishes - which breaks Dale Jarrett modern season record of 29 top-10 finishes during his 1999 championship run.[Since the schedule was reduced by NASCAR in 1972 - called the modern era](11-18-2007)
- Gordon hits 300...top-10's: #24-Jeff Gordon scored the 300th [and 301 at Sonoma) top-10 finish of his Cup career in Michigan on June 17, 2007. With 489 starts in the Cup series, the finish puts him in line with other legends of the sport in collecting 300 top-10's in fewer than 500 starts. Richard Petty accomplished the task in 1969 in his 439th career start; David Pearson picked up his 300th top-10 in 1976 in his 449th start; Dale Earnhardt's 300th came in 1994 in his 463rd start; Darrell Waltrip scored #300 in 1989 in his 470th start, while Bobby Allison accomplished the feat in 1980 in his 475th start. With competition as close as it is today, it remains to be seen whether another driver can get to 300 top-10's in fewer than 500 career starts. The most likely candidates would be Tony Stewart who has 179 top-10's in 300 races, and Jimmie Johnson who has accumulated 120 top-10 finishes in 199 races.(6-26-2007)
- Closest Cup Race Finishes:
Margin Winner Runner-up Track Date
.002 Ricky Craven, Kurt Busch, Darlington, March 16, 2003
.005 Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, Daytona, July 7, 2007
.005 Dale Earnhardt, Ernie Irvan, Talladega, July 25, 1993
.006 Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Atlanta, March 11, 2001
.008 Jimmy Spencer, Ernie Irvan, Daytona, July 2, 1994
.010 Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Labonte, Atlanta, March 12, 2000
.010 Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Rockingham, February 22, 2004
.017 Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Homestead, November 20. 2005
.020 Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Daytona, February 18, 2007
.025 Jimmy Spencer, Bill Elliott, Talladega, July 24, 1994
.027 Jimmie Johnson, Bobby Labonte, Charlotte, May 29, 2005
.028 Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Atlanta, March 20, 2005
.028 Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne, Texas, April 4, 2004
.029 John Andretti, Terry Labonte, Daytona, July 5, 1997
(since the advent of electronic scoring in 1993)(7-7-2007)
- Current Consecutive Cup Series Starts: Jeff Gordon is the current leader, Ricky Rudd was the all time leader with 788 before he took the 2006 season off, the list of current streaks:
(thru 11-22-2009)
Jeff Gordon, 581 [longest ever from the start of career, never missed a race] - started Atlanta 11/1992
Bobby Labonte, 580
Jeff Burton, 484
Tony Stewart, 393 [since start of his career]
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 359
Matt Kenseth, 358
Elliott Sadler, 349
Jimmie Johnson, 288
Ryan Newman, 288
Kevin Harvick, 280
Jamie McMurray, 256
Casey Mears, 252 [since start of his career]
Greg Biffle, 249
Kasey Kahne, 216 [since start of his career]
Carl Edwards, 185
Kyle Busch, 180
Denny Hamlin, 151 [since start of his career]
Kurt Busch, 144
Martin Truex Jr., 144
Clint Bowyer, 144
Juan Pablo Montoya, 109 [since start of his career]
David Ragan, 108
Paul Menard, 92
Brian Vickers, 76
David Reutimann, 72
Reed Sorenson, 56
A.J. Allmendinger, 42
Marcos Ambrose, 40
Mark Martin, 36 [from start of 2009 season]
Joey Logano, 36 [from start of 2009 season]
Sam Hornish Jr., 36 [from start of 2009 season]
Scott Speed, 30 [not in top-35 owners pts]
John Andretti, 24
Michael Waltrip, 14
Joe Nemechek, 14 [not in top 35 owners pts]
Robby Gordon, 10 [was at 81 before skipping Richmond 9-12-2009]
Brad Keselowski, 4
Erik Darnell, 4
David Gilliland, 3 [not in top 35 owners pts]
Michael McDowell, 3 [not in top 35 owners pts]
Dave Blaney, 2 [not in top-35 owners pts]
Regan Smith, 1 [not in top 35, not full time]
Bill Elliott, 1 [not in top 35 owners pts, can use past champ prov, not full time]
Travis Kvapil, 1 [running part-time, not in top-35 owners pts]
Terry Labonte, 1 [running part-time, not in top-35 owners pts]
(11-22-2009)
Top-10 All-time Consecutive Cup Starts:
1) Ricky Rudd, 788 [ended Nov 2005, retired]
2) Rusty Wallace, 697 [ended Nov 2005, retired]
3) Terry Labonte, 655 [ended Aug 2000 at Indy]
4) Dale Earnhardt, 648 [ended when he was killed at Daytona in 2001]
5) Mark Martin, 621 [ended March 18, 2006 after Atlanta]
6) Jeff Gordon, 581*
7) Bobby Labonte, 580*
8) Ken Schrader, 579 [ended Aug 2003 at Indy]
9) Richard Petty, 514
10) Darrell Waltrip, 499 [ended July 1990 at Daytona]
next active = Jeff Burton, 484*
* active streak.(11-22-2009)
All Time Cup Series Starts [wins]:
1) Richard Petty, 1184 [200, 16.9%]
2) Ricky Rudd, 906 [23]
3) Dave Marcis, 883 [5]
4) Terry Labonte, 867* [22]
5) Kyle Petty, 829 [8]
6) Darrell Waltrip, 809 [84, 10.4%]
7) Bill Elliott, 808* [44]
8) Michael Waltrip, 759* [4]
9) Mark Martin, 758* [40]
10) Sterling Marlin, 748 [10]
11) Ken Schrader, 732 [4]
12) Bobby Allison, 718 [84, 11.7%]
13) Rusty Wallace, 706 [55]
14) Buddy Baker, 699 [19]
15) Dale Earnhardt, 676 [76, 11.2%]
16) Dale Jarrett, 668 [32]
17) JD McDuffie, 653 [0]
18) Buck Baker, 636 [46]
19) James Hylton, 601 [2]
20) Bobby Labonte, 582* [21]
21) Jeff Gordon, 581* [82]
22) David Pearson, 574 [105, 18.3%]
23) Geoff Bodine, 570 [19]
24) Buddy Arrington, 560 [0]
24) Cale Yarborough, 560 [83]
26) Jeff Burton, 548* [20]
27) Elmo Langley, 536 [2]
28) Benny Parsons, 526 [21]
29) Joe Nemechek, 521* [4]
30) Morgan Shepherd, 513 [4]
31) Neil Castles, 498 [0]
32) Wendell Scott, 495 [1]
33) Brett Bodine, 480 [1]
34) Jimmy Spencer, 478 [2]
35) Harry Gant, 474 [18]
* = active drivers(unofficial - compiled from many sources)(11-22-2009)
Winners of both the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600:
2008-Kasey Kahne - 15th in the Sprint Cup Championship
2003-Jimmie Johnson - 2nd in the Sprint Cup Championship
1997-Jeff Gordon - won the Sprint Cup Championship
1993-Dale Earnhardt - won the Sprint Cup Championship
1991-Davey Allison - came in 3rd in Drivers points
1985-Darrell Waltrip - won the Cup Championship [first year of all-star race](11-16-2008)
- Daytona 500 and Championship in same year: only eight times by five drivers has the Daytona 500 and the Cup Championship been won in the same season:
1959: Lee Petty
1964, 1971, 1974, 1979: Richard Petty
1977: Cale Yarborough
1997: Jeff Gordon
2006: Jimmie Johnson
- First foreign born driver to win since 1974: #42-Juan Pablo Montoya of Colombia, is the first driver born outside the United States to win a race in the Cup series since Canadian Earl Ross triumphed at Martinsville in 1974. The other foreign born driver to win a Cup race is Mario Andretti, born in Italy, won the 1967 Daytona 500.(6-25-2007)
- Yes, there has been a first time winner who won back to back....plus: It was brought up during TNT's broadcast of the Citizens Bank 400 at Michigan [not the Michigan 400 as TNT called it]. it was mentioned that no driver has ever won his second race immediately after winning his first in NASCAR's top series. That's not true. Billy Wade won at Old Bridge Stadium in New Jersey on July 10, 1964, for his first career win. Two days later, he won again on a road course at Bridgehampton, N.Y. But Wade didn't stop there. He also won July 15 at Islip (N.Y.) Speedway and July 19 at Watkins Glen. So he won his first FOUR races in back-to-back-to-back-to-back events. All of those wins came in cars owned by Bud Moore.(David Poole/Thatsracin), so Wade is the last driver to do back-to-back after winning his first, the first driver to do so was Dick Linder in 1950 with back-to-back wins at Dayton and Hamburg.(Racing-reference.info)(6-18-2007)
- Triple Double in Cup-Nationwide-Trucks: While there were 3 weeks between Craftsman Truck Series races, this marks the first-time ever that all 3 national NASCAR series (Cup, Nationwide, & Truck) had back-to-back winners at the same time. Jimmie Johnson has won back-to-back Cup races (Atlanta & Las Vegas), Jeff Burton has won back-to-back Nationwide races (Atlanta & Las Vegas) and Mike Skinner has won back-to-back Craftsman Truck races (Atlanta & California).(3-19-2007)
- Did you know? All 10 drivers that started in the top 10 at Las Vegas failed to finish in the top 10. On average, between four and five drivers that start in the top 10, finish in the top 10, but not this weekend. So how long has it been since all 10 drivers failed to finish in the top 10 [in a Cup race]? How about 1,421 races ago. On July 4, 1965, all 10 drivers that started in the top 10 failed to finish in the top 10. Almost 42 years ago. It happened at Daytona. Marvin Panch was the pole sitter and would become the highest finisher among the top 10 starters. Marvin finished 12th and led 39 laps. He would retire from the race after 136 laps of the race's 160 laps [only 14 cars of 40 were running at the finish]. In fact, the top 10 starters that day led 130 laps. AJ Foyt (started 11th) would grab the win, leading the other 30 laps that day. Not only did the top 10 starters in 1965 finish outside the top 10, but all 10 posted a DNF, 3 engines, 3 crashes, 1 heating issue, 1 fuel pump, 1 rocker arm and even 1 driver [Junior Johnson] is listed as 'quit'. The top 10 starters at Vegas this weekend didn't fair that bad, only scoring 3 DNFs. But they all finished outside the top 10, ending a string of 1421 races
with at least top 10 starter finishing in the top 10.(LTPicks.com)(3-13-2007)
- The single largest Cup Series entry fields since 2000:
1. 2007 Daytona 500 - 61 cars
2. 2000 Daytona 500 - 59 cars
3. 2006 Daytona 500 – 58 cars
3. 2004 [Atlanta] Bass Pro Shops 500 – 58 cars
4. 2009 Daytona 500 - 57
4. 2005 Daytona 500 – 57 cars
5. 2006 [Homestead] Ford 400 – 56 cars
5. 2004 [Homestead] Ford 400 – 56 cars
6. 2001 Indianapolis - 54
The most ever?
86 at Indianapolis in 1994
82 at Darlington Raceway in 1951
Most Cars To Finish On Lead Lap Complete Race
Less than 400-Mile Race - 36 - Sonoma (June 21, 2009)
400-Mile Race - 35, Indianapolis (Aug. 6, 2006)
500-Mile Race - 32 Daytona (Feb. 17, 2008)
500-Mile Race - 31 Daytona (Feb. 19, 2006)
Shortened Race - 37, Michigan - June 18, 2006 (129 of 200 Laps)(6-21-2009)
- NASCAR Top Streaks of consecutive weeks in the top 10 in drivers points:
1. Dale Earnhardt (174 races): Earnhardt has three streaks in the NASCAR Top 10, including two of more than 100 consecutive weeks among the top 10 in the championship. His record-setting 174 weeks occurred over the course of seven seasons, beginning Feb. 23, 1986 at Richmond. The streak concluded March 1 in the second race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup season at Rockingham, where he finished 24th. During that span, he collected four of his record-tying seven NASCAR Winston Cup championships.
2. Darrell Waltrip (138 races): Waltrip previously held the No. 1 ranking before Earnhardt went on his run that began toward the tail end of Waltrip’s streak. Waltrip began his run May 7, 1983 with a win at Nashville and continued through the conclusion of the 1987 season. The streak ended with an 11th-place finish at the season-opening Daytona 500 in 1988. It took Waltrip five years to build the then-record streak, but Earnhardt overtook the top spot with 139 straight weeks less than three seasons later. However, Waltrip did earn one of his three NASCAR Winston Cup titles during that run, capturing the championship in 1985.
3. Earnhardt (123 races): In addition to his record streak, Earnhardt began another 100-plus week run in the top 10 in the championship almost a year to the day of his record streak ending. Earnhardt, whose record run went through the 1992 Daytona 500, began this one with the 1993 Daytona 500 and watched it also come to a close at the same event in 1997 when he finished 31st in the season opener. He captured two more NASCAR Winston Cup titles during that span, winning consecutive crowns in 1993 and ’94.
4. Bobby Allison (121 races): Allison began his streak on Feb. 17, 1980 at the season-opening Daytona 500 and it culminated in the lone NASCAR Winston Cup championship of his outstanding career. The run extended throughout the 1983 season in which he won the crown, but it came to an end the following year in the season-opening Daytona 500 when he finished 34th in the race.
5. Cale Yarborough (119 races): Yarborough’s streak is a tribute to his dominance during this period. His run began Feb. 29, 1976 at Rockingham and continued through the close of the 1979 season. During that span, he won three consecutive NASCAR Winston Cup titles (1976-78), a feat that remains unparalleled in the series. His streak ended Jan. 19, 1980 in the season opener at Riverside, where he finished 23rd.
6. Jimmie Johnson (105 races): Johnson's streak is current thru end of the 2006 season. The streak started at Atlanta in March 2004 and ended at Daytona in February 2007.
7. Richard Petty (90 races): Petty’s streak encompassed the last of his seven NASCAR Winston Cup championships, which came in 1979. This streak began March 11, 1979 and extended through the entire 1981 season before it ended with a 27th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 in 1982.
8. Bill Elliott (88 races): Elliott’s lone NASCAR Winston Cup championship came in 1988, but his NASCAR Top 10 streak came earlier in his career. It began Feb. 20, 1983 at the season-opening Daytona 500 and lasted through the 1985 season. A 13th-place finish in the 1986 Daytona 500 put an end to the run.
9. Waltrip (86 races): Waltrip’s second streak of 86 weeks joins him with Earnhardt as the only drivers with multiple streaks among the NASCAR Top 10. Waltrip’s streak began April 9, 1978 at Darlington and included the entire 1979 and ’80 seasons. The reigning NASCAR Winston Cup champion watched his streak come to an end in the 1981 season opener at Riverside when he finished 17th.
10. Matt Kenseth (71 races): started at Rockingham in February 2003 and ended at Daytona in 2005, maintaining the streak thru the end of 2004.
and a few more that fell out of the top 10 since I started keeping tabs on the streak
11. Jimmie Johnson (70 races): started at Atlanta in March 2002 [his rookie year] and ended at Rockingham in Feb 2004, the 2nd race of the season.
12. (tie) Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, Earnhardt (67 races): Earnhardt’s third and final streak among the NASCAR Top 10 lasted a modest 67 weeks for the Intimidator’s standards. His streak began Oct. 7, 1979 at Charlotte and lasted through the 1981 season. The Daytona 500 was the culprit once again as he finished 36th in the 1982 season opener to end his streak. He was tied for No. 9 simultaneously by Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin in 2000. The duo had their streaks begin and conclude at the same races to forge the tie. They opened their streaks Feb. 21, 1999 at Rockingham and concluded them at the 2001 season-opening Daytona 500. Labonte, who won the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup title, finished 40th in the 500 to end his streak while Martin’s was cut short by a 33rd-place finish.
13. Sterling Marlin (66 races): Marlin unseated Dale Jarrett (65 consecutive weeks) for the No. 10 position in 2002, but his streak ended shortly thereafter due to an injury. His run began Feb. 18, 2001 at the season-opening Daytona 500 and continued the streak into the 2002 season where he led the championship for 25 consecutive races. A neck injury that was the result of an accident in the Sept. 29 race at Kansas ended his season, but he did not officially fall out of the top 10 until the Oct. 13 race at Charlotte when he dropped to 12th in the championship.
CURRENT: Tony Stewart (37 races) started Homestead, Nov. 16, 2008 thru current
CURRENT: Jeff Gordon (35 races) started Auto Club Speedway, Feb 22, 2009 thru current
CURRENT: Kurt Busch (35 races) started Auto Club Speedway, Feb. 22, 2009 thru current
(11-22-2009)
An interesting note is that the season-opening race put a halt to all but two of the streaks, the exception being Earnhardt’s record streak and Sterling Marlin’s 10th-ranked run.(NASCAR PR and updated weekly)
- Comparing NASCAR's Three-Peats: When Jimmie Johnson won the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he joined Cale Yarborough as one of only two drivers to win three straight championships at NASCAR’s highest level. A comparison of the two feats shows a few similarities along with numerous differences.
The Similarities
* Adaptation to Change. Both drivers won their championships shortly after major changes to the sport. Yarborough won his after two different changes – the reduction of the number of races in 1972 and the implementation of the current point system in 1975. Johnson won his after the introduction of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2004 and during a period that saw the introduction of a new NASCAR Sprint Cup car (2007-08).
* Foreshadowing Success. Both drivers came up just short prior to their breakthrough. Yarborough finished second in the point standings in 1973 and 1974 before his first championship in 1976. Johnson finished second in 2003 and 2004 before his first title in 2006.
The Differences
* Varied Competition. Statistically, Johnson’s championships have come during a much more competitive era. Over the last three seasons, there have been more races, larger fields and more race and pole winners than during Yarborough’s championship era.
Though Johnson’s championships have come in seasons that had only six more races each, there were almost twice as many unique race winners (20) during his stretch as there were during Yarborough’s (11). Additionally, there were twice as many unique pole winners (30) during Johnson’s three-year run than there were during Yarborough’s (15).
| Yarborough |
Races |
Pole |
Win |
Top5 |
Top10 |
DNF |
| 1976 |
30 |
2 |
9 |
22 |
23 |
5 |
| 1977 |
30 |
3 |
9 |
25 |
27 |
0 |
| 1978 |
30 |
8 |
10 |
23 |
24 |
2 |
| Johnson |
Races |
Pole |
Win |
Top5 |
Top10 |
DNF |
| 2006 |
36 |
1 |
5 |
24 |
24 |
3 |
| 2007 |
36 |
4 |
10 |
24 |
24 |
4 |
| 2008 |
36 |
6 |
7 |
22 |
22 |
1 |
* Tighter Races. Johnson’s era features some of the most competitive racing in the history of NASCAR’s premier series. While the number of lead changes per race remains relatively the same, the number of leaders during Johnson’s reign is more than twice that of Yarborough’s. Johnson’s era also shows increases in cars running at the finish and finishing on the lead lap. The number of cars finishing the race has increased by almost 75%. The average number of cars on the lead lap has increased 10-fold. Additionally, every race during Yarborough’s championship years had fewer than 10 cars finish on the lead lap, and 17 of the 90 races had just the race winner on the lead lap. In Johnson’s years there were just four races with less than 10 cars on the lead lap and not a single race saw the leader on a lap by himself.
| Year |
Leaders |
Leaders Per Race |
Lead Changes |
Cars on Lead Lao |
Cars Running at Finish |
Lapped Field |
| 1976 |
24 |
6 |
20.6 |
2.23 |
21.07 |
9 |
| 1977 |
23 |
6 |
20.2 |
2.03 |
21.3 |
2 |
| 1978 |
26 |
6 |
21.23 |
2.47 |
21.9 |
6 |
| 2006 |
48 |
10 |
21.78 |
21.42 |
36.75 |
0 |
| 2007 |
51 |
10 |
20.03 |
20.72 |
36.92 |
0 |
| 2008 |
50 |
11 |
21.06 |
20.75 |
38.56 |
0 |
* Individual Statistics. Yarborough did have slightly more impressive numbers with regard to individual performance, but that is likely due to the higher level of competition during Johnson’s championships. Both had 10-win seasons but Yarborough had more poles, wins, top fives and top 10s as well as one fewer DNF.(NASCAR PR)
| Year |
Races |
Ave Cars in Field |
Pole Winners |
Race Winners |
| 1976 |
30 |
35.27 |
11 |
8 |
| 1977 |
30 |
35.4 |
9 |
7 |
| 1978 |
30 |
35.47 |
9 |
7 |
| 2006 |
36 |
43 |
15 |
13 |
| 2007 |
36 |
43 |
18 |
16 |
| 2008 |
36 |
43 |
15 |
12 |
(NASCAR PR)(12-18-2008)
- Some Season Record Notes:
• Five foreign-born drivers participated at Infineon Raceway: Marcos Ambrose (Australia), Patrick Carpentier and Ron Fellows (Canada), Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) and Max Papis (Italy). It was the largest contingent of foreign-born drivers in a race in NASCAR Sprint Cup history, eclipsing the previous mark of three which was set eight times – most recently at Infineon in 2007.
• At Watkins Glen, three nations were represented among the top five for the first time in Sprint Cup Series history: Kyle Busch (first), Tony Stewart (second) and Martin Truex Jr. (fifth) from the United States, Marcos Ambrose (third) from Australia and Juan Pablo Montoya (fourth) is from Colombia.
• The 28 different drivers that led at Talladega-2 set the all-time Sprint Cup Series record for different lap leaders in a race. It eclipsed the mark of 26 set at Talladega in July 1986 and tied in April 2001, also at Talladega.
• Mark Martin started second six times this season – all as a result of timed qualifying. The modern era record for second-place starts is 10 by Jeff Gordon in 1996. Richard Petty (1964) and David Pearson (1968) each had 17 second-place starts – the all-time record – but both came in seasons with more than 48 races.
• There has been a first-time pole winner in each of the past 22 years (1987-2008).
• All 43 cars at Richmond in September completed the race, just the second time since the standardized 43-car field was implemented (1998) that all cars were running at the finish in a race. Driver Milestones.(NASCAR)(12-8-2008)
- Women in NASCAR - Robinson the 14th Woman Driver to make a Cup Race: Shawna Robinson became the 14th woman driver in NASCAR Cup history and the first since 1989. The other 13?
Louise Smith(11 starts/from 1949-52)
Sara Christian(7/1949-50)
Ethel Mobley(2/1949)
Ann Runselmeyer(?)
Ann Chester(2/1950)
Marian Pagan(1/1954)
Fifi Scott(2/1955)
Goldie Parsons(1/1965)
Janet Gunthrie(33/1976-80)
Christine Beckers(1/1977)
Lella Lombardi(1/1977)
Robin McCall(2/1982 Wally Dallenbach Jr's wife)
Patty Moise(5/1987-89 Elton Sawyer's wife)
Sara Christian has the best finish of the 14 woman, a fifth at Heidelberg Speedway in Pittsburgh, PA on Oct 2, 1949(ESPN2's RPM 2Night - stats by Jayski from Greg Feilden's Stock Car Racing Encyclopedia). Some list another woman, Sandy Lynch, but research revealed that Sandy was not a woman, full name: Sandy Neal Lynch(also a son of a former Lynch crew member emailed me in April and said Sandy was a male)(6-8-2001)
- Kenseth sets Modern-era record: 2003 NASCAR Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth was a showcase for consistency throughout his championship-winning season and that characteristic earned him an impressive series’ modern-era record in addition to the prestige and financial rewards that accompany the title. Kenseth spent 33 consecutive race weeks ranked No. 1 in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship race, which established a modern-era record and paces this month’s NASCAR Top 10 list.
The previous record was 30 consecutive weeks, established by seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champ Dale Earnhardt during his first title-winning run in 1980. Kenseth tied Earnhardt’s mark following Atlanta on Oct. 26 and earned the record outright the following week (Nov. 2) at Phoenix. Kenseth’s streak began March 9 following a fourth-place finish at Atlanta that vaulted him past Michael Waltrip for the No. 1 ranking through four races of the season. The performance at Atlanta allowed Kenseth to improve one position from his previous ranking of No. 2 and open a 49-point advantage over No. 2 Tony Stewart. The rise to No. 1 also marked the first time in his career that he was the top-ranked driver at any stage of the season.
The closest any of his pursuers came to threatening his No. 1 position during the streak occurred when Dale Earnhardt Jr. narrowed the gap to 20 points following Richmond, the 11th of 36 championship-points races. However, the following race at Charlotte was pivotal as Kenseth’s runner-up finish – coupled with a 41st-place finish by Earnhardt Jr. – increased the margin between the two to 160 points. Kenseth held a comfortable margin the remainder of the way and his largest lead of the season was 436 points over No. 2 Kevin Harvick following Dover on Sept. 21, race 28 of 36. He closed the season with a 90-point spread over series runner-up Jimmie Johnson.
Here’s a glance at the NASCAR Top 10 for most consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the championship:
1. Matt Kenseth, 33 weeks: Kenseth opened the 2003 season 19th in the NASCAR Winston Cup championship hunt following a 20th-place finish in the Daytona 500. A third-place effort at Rockingham moved him to sixth and a victory in Las Vegas improved him to second. A fourth-place performance at Atlanta allowed him to supplant Michael Waltrip at No. 1, marking the first time in his career that he held the No. 1 ranking. Kenseth tied the record of 30 weeks in a row that was held by Dale Earnhardt since 1980 following Atlanta on Oct. 26 and earned the record outright the following week (Nov. 2) at Phoenix.
2. Dale Earnhardt, 30 weeks: Earnhardt’s streak in 1980 was nearly wire-to-wire, the exception being the season-opening race at Riverside International Raceway. He finished second at Riverside in January for the No. 2 ranking in the championship, but a fourth-place effort in the ensuing Daytona 500 moved him into first, 39 points ahead of Terry Labonte. He held the No. 1 ranking for 30 weeks in a row and concluded the reign with a NASCAR Winston Cup championship. He closed the run in the season-ending race at Ontario Motor Speedway, taking the crown by 19 points over Cale Yarborough.
3. Richard Petty, 28 weeks: Petty’s reign in 1975 began after posting a win at the Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway – the third event of a 30-race season – that vaulted him from fourth in the championship to first. The win gave him a 46-point advantage over Benny Parsons at that juncture of the season and he dominated throughout the 28-week streak. At the conclusion of the final race at Ontario Motor Speedway, he had captured the championship by 722 points over runner-up Dave Marcis.
4. Earnhardt, 27 weeks: Earnhardt, like Petty’s 28-race week streak, got the run rolling with a victory at the Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway, the third race of the 29-event season in 1987. The victory moved Earnhardt from second to first in the championship standings, and gave him a 20-point lead over Bill Elliott. He held the No. 1 ranking the remainder of the way and it culminated with a 489-point advantage over Elliott for the NASCAR Winston Cup championship.
5. Dale Jarrett, 26 weeks: Jarrett’s streak in his 1999 championship-winning season began with a victory at Richmond International Raceway. The win in the 11th race of the 34-event season moved him from second to first and gave him a 63-point lead over Jeff Burton. The streak was highlighted by his championship – a 201-point spread over Bobby Labonte – but it did not conclude at the close of the season. He opened the 2000 season with a victory in the Daytona 500 and held the No. 1 ranking in the championship for the first two races of the season. Despite a seventh-place finish at Las Vegas, Jarrett relinquished the No. 1 position to Bobby Labonte by just four points. Jarrett’s streak is one of only two among the NASCAR Top 10 list that was extended into the following season.
6. (tie) Bobby Labonte, 25 weeks: Labonte’s 25 consecutive race weeks at No. 1 in 2000 resulted in his first NASCAR Winston Cup championship. The run began following a runner-up finish at California Speedway, the 10th event of the 34-race season. The performance at California improved his championship standing from No. 2 to No. 1 as he built a 20-point lead over Mark Martin. Labonte closed out the streak at the season finale at Atlanta, capping it with a 265-point advantage over Dale Earnhardt and the title.
Sterling Marlin, 25 weeks: Marlin’s impressive 25-week run at No. 1 in 2002 did not result in a NASCAR Winston Cup championship, one of only two on the NASCAR Top 10 list that did not result in a championship. Marlin moved from fifth to first in the championship following a runner-up finish at Rockingham and led Ward Burton by 18 points through two races of the season. Marlin had the No. 1 ranking wrestled away from him following New Hampshire – the 27th race of the 36-event season – as he fell six points behind new No. 1 Mark Martin. Two races later, Marlin was injured during an accident at Kansas and it doused any title hopes. He missed the remainder of the season and finished 18th in the championship.
8. (tie) Earnhardt, 21 weeks (three times): Earnhardt held the No. 1 position for 21 consecutive weeks in 1986, ’91 and ’93, all of which resulted in NASCAR Winston Cup titles. The first of the three streaks began at Talladega – race nine of 29 – when he finished second in the race. The effort moved him from second to first in the championship, 109 points ahead of Darrell Waltrip. He closed out the season at No. 1, earning the title by a 288-point margin over Waltrip.The ’91 streak also began in the ninth race of the season – at Talladega – and extended through the close of the 29-race season at Atlanta. A third-place finish at Talladega moved him up one position to No. 1, four points ahead of Ricky Rudd. He ended the season with a 195-point advantage over Rudd in the title battle. The second 21-week streak began at Sears Point – race 10 of the 30-race season – when a sixth-place effort moved him from second to first in the championship. He closed out the season by claiming the crown by 80 points over Rusty Wallace.
Bobby Allison, 21 weeks: Allison’s 21-week stretch at No. 1 in 1983 resulted in the lone NASCAR Winston Cup championship of his outstanding career. A victory at Dover in the 10th race of the 30-event season improved his position from No. 2 to No. 1 as he grabbed a 41-point advantage over Harry Gant. The run extended through the season finale at Riverside, where he claimed the championship by 47 points over Darrell Waltrip.
9. Bobby Allison, 20 weeks: Allison’s second streak in 1981 did not result in a championship, joining Sterling Marlin’s run as the only two that did not lead to a series crown. He moved into the No. 1 position from No. 2 following a fourth-place finish at Atlanta, the fifth race of the season. Allison held the No. 1 ranking through Richmond, but lost it the following race at Dover – the 25th race of the season – despite a third-place performance. He fell two points behind Darrell Waltrip, who went on to become the series champion as he edged Allison by 53 points.
10. Jeff Gordon, 19 weeks: Gordon joins Dale Jarrett among this NASCAR Top 10 group as the only drivers to have their consecutive runs extend over two seasons. Gordon earned the No. 1 ranking following his win at Sears Point, race 16 of 33 in the 1998 season. The streak was highlighted by the NASCAR Winston Cup championship – rolling to the title by a 364-point margin over Mark Martin – and continued briefly into the 1999 season. He began the season at No. 1 as a result of his triumph in the Daytona 500, but relinquished the ranking the following week at Rockingham. He finished 39th and fell to No. 11, ending his streak.(NASCAR PR)(11-20-2003)
- Only the second time ever in the Cup series: Casey Mears becomes another first time winner for Rick Hendrick (the 8th from the Hendrick stable). Brian Vickers was the last first time winner, also from the Hendrick stable. In fact, they both won their first career race while driving the same car, Hendrick's #25 Chevy. Did you know that the only other time that consecutive 'first-time' winners drove the same car was way back in 1950, 57 years ago. Harold Kite scored his first career win while driving his own #21 Lincoln. Then the next first time winner in the top series was Tim Flock, driving the same #21 Lincoln. These are the only two instances in which the same car produced two consecutive 'first-time' winners. Did you know part 2 - Only 4 times in Cup history has an owner produced 2 consecutive first
time winners. The two mentioned above plus: in 1957, Bob Welborn was the car owner when he won his first race. Then Bob Welborn was the car owner of the next first-time winner, Max Welborn. And in recent times, Jack Roush was the owner of consecutive first-timers, Greg Biffle in 2003 and then Carl Edwards broke a 1 1/2 year drought of first-timers, in 2005.(LTPicks.com)(5-31-2007)
- Restrictor Plate Streak Ends: Thru Daytona in Feb 2007, three drivers had competed in all 77 restrictor-plate races at Daytona and Talladega, plus all three ran the one-off restrictor plate race at New Hampshire [but that was not a drafting/aero track]: #01-Mark Martin (2 Talladega, 0 Daytona wins); #21-Ken Schrader (1, 0); #55-Michael Waltrip (1, 3). Martin did not run at Talladega as he is running a part time scheduled in 2007. Schrader and Waltrip were both with teams outside the top-35 in owners points and were not fast enough to make the race, so now, no drivers have run all 78 restrictor plate races.(4-29-2007)
- Memorial Day Weekend/Labor Day Weekend Doubles..rare: #9-Kasey Kahne's win at California marks just the 4th time in the modern era that the winner of the Memorial Day weekend Cup race went on to win the Labor Day weekend Cup race in the same season. The others were David Pearson in 1976, Jeff Gordon in 1997, and again Jeff Gordon in 1998. Those 3 instances occurred when
the Labor Day weekend race was held at Darlington Raceway, while the Memorial Day race has always been held at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte during the modern era. Also it should be noted both times when Gordon accomplished this feat, he went on to win the Cup championship.(9-4-2006)
- Did ya Know? No #1 champ..ever UPDATE: No driver has won a NASCAR national touring series championship [Cup, Nationwide, Trucks] with a car or truck carrying the number one [#1].(NASCAR Truck Series Pre-Race)(6-21-2005)
UPDATE: streak broken, #1-Ted Musgrave won the 2005 Truck Series Championship.(11-19-2005)
- Winner takes all: Excitement aside, here’s another reason the NASCAR All-Star Challenge resonates with fans and participants; it’s an excellent championship barometer. Beginning with the first event in 1985, eight drivers who have won all-star races also won the Cup Series title that season.
• They are: Darrell Waltrip (1985), Dale Earnhardt (1987, 1990, 1993), Rusty Wallace (1989) and Jeff Gordon (1995, 1997, 2001). (NASCAR Statistics)(5-18-2005)
- Gordon sets new record? have done some research on this, been told by a few readers that Jeff Gordon broke a record by finishing 3rd at Dover on Sunday. It was his 20th top-10 finish of the 2004 season, making it 10 straight years that Gordon has had at least 20 top-10 finishes in a season, starting in 1995. Lee Petty had 9 straight seasons [had 19 in 1952]. The following drivers stats were checked and didn't accomplish the feat. Richard Petty [who has 18 total seasons of 20 or more Top-10's and had 43 in 1964 in 61 races, but had a 14 race season in 1965 and 'only' 17 in 1973, that broke up the streak], Dale Earnhardt had 11 20 Top-10 seasons scattered throughout 22 full seasons. Ned Jarrett in 1964, 1965 and Joe Weatherly 1962 hold the record for the most Top 10's with 45.(9-27-2004)
- Johnson's 3 race run historical: #48-Jimmie Johnson has two wins and a second-place finish in the first three races of the season - tied for the best start in NASCAR history [with Pachal in 63, Petty in 69, Yarborough in 77...and only Yarborough won the championship]. In the process, he became the 16th driver to win two of the first three races to start the season. The only reason he doesn't have a big lead in the Cup Series standings is Matt Kenseth's success. He's got a win, a second and a 15th. Johnson leads Kenseth by 52 points heading into Sunday's Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. A year ago, seven of the top 10 drivers in the standings after the Las Vegas race went onto qualify for the Chase for the Championship. Five drivers - Ryan Newman (18th), Tony Stewart (19th), Kurt Busch (22nd), Carl Edwards (23rd) and Greg Biffle (25th) - were in last year's Chase and find themselves playing catch-up. Johnson joins Marshall Teague (1952), Herb Thomas (1954, 3 of 1st 4), Lee Petty (1955, 3 of 1st 5), Marvin Panch (1957), Bob Welborn (1959), Jim Paschal (1963, 2 wins & 2nd), Richard Petty (1969 [2 wins & 2nd], 1972 and 1973),
David Pearson (1976. 2 wins & 29th),
Cale Yarborough (1977, 2 wins & 2nd),
Darrell Waltrip (1980, 2 wins & 40th and 1989, 2 wins & 29th),
Dale Earnhardt (1987, 5th & 2 wins),
Neil Bonnett (1988, 4th & 2 wins),
Bill Elliott (1992 27th & 2 wins & 4 of 5 and after 5 races he DIDn't lead the points),
Jeff Gordon (1997, 2 wins & 4th) and
Matt Kenseth (2004, 9th & 2 wins) as drivers who've won two of the first three races of the season.(in part from the Augusta Chronicle)(3-13-2006)
- 2nd Place before a win...record? many longer then Kahne: but with #9-Kasey Kahne getting his 6th 2nd place finish and not yet winning a Cup Series race, been asked if another driver had finished with more 2nd place finishes before winning their first race.
After a little research and race coverage, five drivers have had more 2nd's before a win:
James Hylton had 12, won in his 187th race, at Richmond in 1970
Harry Gant had 10, won in his 107th race, at Martinsville in 1982
Sterling Marlin had 9, won in his 248th race, at Daytona in 1994
ironically, Bill Elliott had 8, won in his 116th race, at Riverside [CA] in 1983.
Lennie Pond, had 7, won in his 130th race, at Talladega in 1978.
Kahne had six 2nd place finishes, when he won in his 47th race, at Richmond on 5/14/2005.
(NASCAR Encyclopedia and Forty Years of Stock Car Racing and Fox Race coverage of Texas)(5-14-2005)
- Here are the six closest championship-winning margins in NASCAR Cup Series history [modern era - 1972-present]:
1. 2004 – Kurt Busch wins the title by 8 points over Jimmie Johnson [the first year of the Chase format]
2. 1992 – Alan Kulwicki wins the title by 10 points over Bill Elliott
3. 1979 – Richard Petty wins the title by 11 points over Darrell Waltrip
4. 1989 – Rusty Wallace wins the title by 12 points over Dale Earnhardt
5. 1997 – Jeff Gordon wins the title by 14 points over Dale Jarrett
6. 1980 – Dale Earnhardt wins the title by 19 points over Cale Yarborough.(NASCAR PR)(11-16-2008)
- First sweep at Charlotte since 1986: #48-Jimmie Johnson became the sixth driver to sweep a season’s races at Lowe's Motor Speedway and the first since 1986 when the late Dale Earnhardt won both. There otheres:
1975, Richard Petty
1974, David Pearson
1971, Bobby Allison
1965, Fred Lorenzen.(10-18-2004)
.
- Good Starts among active drivers: Finishing in the top-10 puts Edwards in some heady company:
2nd: Rusty Wallace 1980 Spring Atlanta
4th: Terry Labonte 1978 Southern 500 (Darlington)
6th: Matt Kenseth 1998 Fall Dover*
9th: Kyle Petty 1979 Talladega 500
10th: Carl Edwards 2004 Fall Michigan
*driving for Bill Elliott.(Fanball.com)
Other notables:
17th: Richard Petty 1957 Toronto in #142 [out of 19 cars in the field]
22nd: Dale Earnhardt 1975 Coca-Cola 600
28th: Tony Stewart 1999 Daytona 500
31st: Jeff Gordon 1992 Fall Atlanta
33rd: Bill Elliott 1976 Spring Rockingham
38th: Darrell Waltrip 1972 Spring Talladega.(8-23-2004)
- Gordon vs Petty before 30 years of age: Jeff Gordon, who turned 30 Saturday, has 56 career victories — 55 (in 277 starts) before the age of 30. Richard Petty had 56 (in 332 starts) career wins before the age of 30.(USA Today). Petty had one Cup Championship before the age of 30 and won it in 1967 when he turned 30. Gordon had 3 championships before 30 and is currently leading the points. Dale Earnhardt had 8 wins and one Championship before he turned 30 in 1981.(8-7-2001)
- Dale va Dale Jr after 229 Career Races:
(when Dale Jr won race #17 at Richmond - 229 races)
Dale, DaleJr
Wins: 18, 17
Top-Five: 87, 92
Top-10: 135, 96
Poles: 7, 6
Earnings: $3.9M, $37.5M
Dale: 1980 Cup Championship
Dale Jr: Daytona 500 win
(ESPNEWS)(5-9-2006)
- Jeff Gordon vs. Dale Earnhardt 1992-2001 - 258 races:
Gordon vs. Earnhardt
Wins: 52, 23
Top 5's: 129, 101
Top 10's: 166, 160
Ave Finish: 11.8, 10.8
Championships: 3, 2
- 150 starts - Jeff Gordon vs. Jimmie Johnson:
#24-Jeff Gordon, stats after 150 careers starts, Dover in Sept 1997
Wins: 29
Top fives: 71
Top tens: 92
Poles: 16
Championship 1995, 2nd in 1996
#48-Jimmie Johnson, stats after 150 career starts, Las Vegas in March 2006
Wins: 20
Top Fives: 56
Top Tens: 89
Poles: 9
2nd drivers points in 2003 and 2004.(3-15-2006)
- Interesting many have asked if #9-Kasey Kahne's three top-five finishes was the best record by a driver in their first four races. The following was revealed upon a query of the database by Charlie Vass.
Drivers records after four races....
Adkins, Allen 4 Top 5s
8/1/54 Oakland Stadium 3
8/22/54 Bay Meadows Race Course 4
5/8/55 Arizona State Fairgrounds 5
5/15/55 Tucson Rodeo Grounds 2
Minter, Clyde 4 Top 5s
9/25/49 Martinsville Speedway 4
10/16/49 North Wilkesboro Speedway 4
4/2/50 Charlotte Speedway 3
5/21/50 Martinsville Speedway 5
Gurney, Dan 3 Top 5s
2/16/62 Daytona International Speedway 4
2/18/62 Daytona International Speedway 27
1/20/63 Riverside International Raceway 1
2/22/63 Daytona International Speedway 5
Erickson, Erick 3 Top 5s
9/18/49 Hamburg Fairgrounds 2
4/8/51 Carrell Speedway 5
4/22/51 Arizona State Fairgrounds 2
5/6/51 Martinsville Speedway 24
Byron, Red 3 Top 5s
6/19/49 Charlotte Speedway 3
7/10/49 Daytona Beach & Road Course 1
8/7/49 Orange Speedway 22
9/11/49 Langhorne Speedway 3
Barker, Curley 3 Top 5s
5/27/56 Portland Speedway 5
6/24/56 Portland Speedway 9
8/26/56 Portland Speedway 3
9/23/56 Portland Speedway 3
Kahne, Kasey 3 Top 5s
2/15/04 Daytona International Speedway 41
2/22/04 North Carolina Speedway 2
3/7/04 Las Vegas Motor Speedway 2
3/14/04 Atlanta Motor Speedway 3
(NASCAR Statistics)(3-19-2004)
- Passes Double at "New" Bristol: NASCAR’s Loop Data shows green flag passing during Saturday night’s Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway more than doubled that of the spring race at Bristol – from 991 passes in the spring to 2,147 passes Saturday night. The consensus opinion held by the drivers at the conclusion of the race rang loud and clear: the new surface at Bristol Motor Speedway met – and exceeded – expectations, as the addition of a second and third racing groove greatly increased the number of passes – and thusly, the competition. Take a look at the total passing numbers from the spring and this past weekend:
2007 Green Flag Passes at Bristol
Spring, Location, Summer
184, Frontstretch, 529
128, Backstretch, 487
313, Turns 1 and 2, 571
366, Turns 3 and 4, 560
991, Total, 2,147
The 2,147 green flag passes Saturday is a 108% increase over the spring race at Bristol. The individual numbers also grew. Below is a look at the top five in Green Flag Passes at the spring race and the top five this past Saturday night.
Bristol Green Flag Passes – Spring:
1. Kevin Harvick, 52
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 47
3. Jeff Burton, 46
4. Jeff Gordon, 37
5. David Stremme, 37
Bristol Green Flag Passes – Summer
1. J.J. Yeley, 107
2. Jamie McMurray, 105
3. Reed Sorenson, 87
4. Robby Gordon, 80
5. Martin Truex Jr., 80
Kevin Harvick’s top mark of 52 Green Flag Passes in the spring would have tied him for 18th with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in this past weekend’s race. Tony Stewart, who finished fourth Saturday night and clinched a spot in the Chase for the Cup, gave the new track at Bristol high marks: "Guys were running over each other to pass each other," said Stewart. "It’s the most fun I've had at Bristol in my career. I can't give it a better grade than an A-plus."(NASCAR PR)(8-28-2007)
