Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Food City 500

Top 10 Active Driver Ratings at Bristol
Erik Jones………………………….. 116.3
Kyle Busch…………………………. 100.7
Kevin Harvick……………………….. 96.4
Chase Elliott…………………………. 96.4
Kyle Larson………………………….. 95.7
Jimmie Johnson…………………….. 93.0
Denny Hamlin……………………….. 91.4
Kurt Busch…………………………… 91.1
Joey Logano…………………………. 87.5
Brad Keselowski……………………. 86.4
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2017 races (26 total) among active drivers at Bristol Motor Speedway

History

· Groundbreaking for Bristol International Speedway, as Bristol Motor Speedway was originally known, took place in 1960. The track was an exact half-mile.
· First Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race was July 30, 1961; Jack Smith won the event (with relief from Johnny Allen).
· All of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races have been scheduled for 500 laps, except for both races in 1976 and the second in 1977, which were 400 laps.
· In the fall of 1969, the track was reshaped and re-measured to .533-miles.
· The name changed to Bristol International Raceway in 1978.
· The first night race was held in the fall of 1978.
· The surface was changed from asphalt to concrete in 1992.
· The name changed to Bristol Motor Speedway in May 1996.
· The track was resurfaced between races in 2007, and the turns were ground down in 2012 to eliminate part of the progressive banking.
· There have been 114 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway since the first race in 1961, two races each season.

Starts

· 447 drivers have competed in at least one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol; 316 in more than one.
· NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the series in starts at Bristol with 60.
· Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch lead all active MENCS drivers in starts at BMS with 34 starts each, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman with 32.
· NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen leads the series in average starting position at Bristol with a 3.250 in 12 starts.
· Erik Jones leads all active MENCS drivers in average starting position at Bristol with a 7.500 in two starts.
· Erik Jones (7.500), Joey Logano (7.611) and Chase Elliott (7.750) are the only three active drivers with an average starting position inside the top 10.
· Thirty-three drivers have made their first series career start at Bristol Motor Speedway; but only one is currently active in the series – AJ Allmendinger (03/25/2007).

Poles

· Fred Lorenzen won the inaugural Busch Pole Award at Bristol in the Monster Energy Series with a speed of 79.225 mph in a Ford.
· 49 different Monster Energy Series drivers have Busch poles at Bristol, led by Mark Martin and Cale Yarborough with nine each.
· Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman lead all active drivers in Busch poles at Bristol with three each.
· 10 different drivers have posted consecutive poles at Bristol Motor Speedway; Mark Martin is the only driver of the 10 to win four consecutive poles at Bristol: Fireball Roberts (swept 1962), Fred Lorenzen (swept 1963), Richard Petty (1967-’68), Bobby Allison (swept 1972), Cale Yarborough (swept 1973; swept 1977; swept 1980), Darrell Waltrip (swept 1981), Geoff Bodine (swept 1986), Mark Martin (swept 1995-1996- all four races; and swept 2009); Rusty Wallace (swept 1998), Jeff Gordon (swept 2002) and Denny Hamlin (fall 2013, spring 2014).
· Youngest Bristol pole winner: Joey Logano (3/21/2010 – 19 years, 9 months, 25 days) – his first Monster Energy Series career pole.
· Oldest Bristol pole winner: Harry Gant (8/27/1994 – 54 years, 7 months, 17 days) – his last Monster Energy Series career pole.
· Seven different drivers have posted their first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career pole at Bristol: Tim Richmond (1982), Rick Wilson (1988), Ernie Irvan (1990), Chuck Bown (1994), Steve Park (2000), Jeff Green (2001), Joey Logano (2010) and Erik Jones (2017).
· Joey Logano (03/10/2010) and Erik Jones (08/19/2017) are the only active drivers to win their first Monster Energy Series Busch Pole Award at Bristol Motor Speedway.
· Nine different manufacturers have won Busch Pole Awards at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series; led by Chevrolet (37) and followed by Ford (36), Dodge (8), Toyota (9), Pontiac (7), Buick (4), Plymouth (4), Oldsmobile (3) and Mercury (2).

Wins

· 42 different Monster Energy Series drivers have won at Bristol Motor Speedway, led by NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip with 12 victories.
· Kyle Busch leads the series among active drivers in wins at Bristol with six.
· Jack Smith (with relief from Johnny Allen) won the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway on July 30, 1961 in a Pontiac.
· 12 drivers have won consecutive MENCS races at Bristol; led by Darrell Waltrip with seven consecutive victories from 1981-1984. The other 11 are Fred Lorenzen (1963-1964 sweep), David Pearson (1968 sweep), Bobby Allison (1972 sweep), Cale Yarborough did it twice (1974 sweep and four straight from 1976-1977), Richard Petty (1975 sweep), Dale Earnhardt also did twice (1985 sweep and 1987 sweep), Alan Kulwicki (1992 sweep), Rusty Wallace (2000 sweep), Kurt Busch (2003 sweep and 2004 spring race), Kyle Busch (2009 sweep) and Brad Keselowski (2011 fall-2012 spring).
· Youngest Bristol winner: Kyle Busch (03/25/2007 – 21 years, 10 months, 23 days).
· Oldest Bristol winner: Dale Earnhardt (08/28/1999 – 48 years, 3 months, 30 days).
· Five drivers have posted their first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career win at Bristol Motor Speedway: Dale Earnhardt (04/01/1979), Rusty Wallace (04/06/1986), Ernie Irvan (03/25/1990), Elliott Sadler (03/25/2001) and Kurt Busch (03/24/2002).
· Junior Johnson leads the series in car owner wins at Bristol with 16. Roger Penske leads the series among active car owners with the most wins at Bristol with 12; followed by Jack Roush and Rick Hendrick with 11 each.
· The race winner has started from the pole 24 times (21.6%) – the most productive starting position in the field. The last driver to win from the pole was Carl Edwards (Spring, 2016).
· Six drivers have won from the pole position multiple times: Bobby Allison (1972 twice), Cale Yarborough (1973, 1977 twice, 1980), Darrell Waltrip (1981 twice, 1982), Rusty Wallace (1991, 1993, 1999, 2000), Matt Kenseth (2005, 2015) and Carl Edwards (2008, 2016).
· The deepest in the field that a race winner has started is 38th, by Elliott Sadler in 2001.
· Eight different manufacturers have won in the MENCS at Bristol; led by Chevrolet with 45 victories; followed by Ford (36), Toyota (9), Dodge (8), Pontiac (8), Buick (4), Plymouth (3) and Oldsmobile (1).

Additional Finishing Position Stats

· Richard Petty leads the series in runner-up finishes at Bristol with 10; Kevin Harvick leads all active drivers with five; followed by Kyle Busch with three.
· Darrell Waltrip and Richard Petty lead the series in top-five finishes at Bristol with 26 each. Kevin Harvick leads all active drivers with 12; followed by Jimmie Johnson with 11.
· Richard Petty leads the series in top-10 finishes at Bristol with 37. Jimmie Johnson leads the series among active drivers in top-10 finishes with 18.
· Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leads the series among active drivers in average finishing position at Bristol with a 10.8 in 10 series starts.

Track/Event Specific Stats

· Since the advent of electronic scoring (1993) the closest margin of victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol Motor Speedway is the March 25, 2007 race won by Kyle Busch with a MOV of 0.064 second.
· Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol Motor Speedway four times: 3/26/2006, 3/16/2008, 8/25/2012 and 04/24/2017.
· Two of the 113 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway have been shortened due to weather conditions.
· There have been five NASCAR Overtime finishes at Bristol.

Female Competitor Stats

· Two female drivers have made Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol: Janet Guthrie and Danica Patrick.

NASCAR in Tennessee

· There has been a total of 334 NASCAR national series races among eight tracks in the state of Tennessee.
· The first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held in Tennessee was at Tennessee-Carolina Speedway on 10/07/1956 and won by Fireball Roberts.

Tennessee Drivers

· 107 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as Tennessee.
· 14 drivers from Tennessee have won at least one race in NASCAR’s three national series; totaling 150 wins across all three series.
· Darrell Waltrip, from Franklin, Tennessee, was inducted into the 2012 class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Waltrip is the only Tennessee native driver to win a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.
· Only two of the 14 drivers from Tennessee have won at least one race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at a track located in the state of Tennessee: Darrell Waltrip (Bristol, 12 wins; Nashville, eight wins) and Joe Lee Johnson (Nashville, one win).

— NASCAR —