2,083: Laps led by Kevin Harvick through the first 35 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this year, far and away a career best. Harvick added 264 laps to his total on Sunday in winning the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, his fourth victory of the season.
41: The number of laps led this season by Ryan Newman, who dive-bombed his way into NASCAR’s Championship Round with a dramatic pass of Kyle Larson on the final lap at Phoenix. If Newman can lead the final lap at Homestead-Miami Speedway, however, he’ll be the new series champion.
1: In championship points, the margin by which Jeff Gordon, Sunday’s race runner-up, missed qualifying for the season finale at Homestead. Gordon was eliminated by Newman’s desperation pass, but the real damage occurred a week earlier, when Brad Keselowski’s late-race contact with Gordon’s car at Texas cut Gordon’s tire and dropped him to 29th at the finish.
13: The position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings of six-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who suffered his fourth DNF of the season on Sunday at Phoenix. In his 12 previous full-time seasons, Johnson has never finished lower than sixth in the final standings.
11: The number of races this season that Kevin Harvick finished higher than Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman – the highest of the Championship 4. Comparatively, Logano was the highest finisher of the four in 10 races; Hamlin in eight and Newman in six.(NASCAR Wire Service)(11-11-2014)
