Statistical Advance: Analyzing the NASCAR All-Star Race

HISTORY

• There have been 35 NASCAR All-Star Races – 34 have been held at Charlotte Motor Speedway and one was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
• The first NASCAR All-Star Race was held on May 25, 1985 at Charlotte Motor Speedway; the non-points event was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip (Buick).
• In 1986, the event was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and won by Bill Elliott (Ford).
• The 1986 season was also the first year for what is now known as the NASCAR Open. There have been 38 Open events, one per year since 1986; except in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2015 it was held as two events with the winners moving on to the All-Star Race.
• This season marks the first time the NASCAR All-Star Race and Open will be held at Bristol Motor Speedway.

STARTS

• A total of 103 different NASCAR Cup Series drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR All-Star Race; 86 different drivers have competed in more than one.
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin leads the series in NASCAR All-Star Race appearances with 24 starts.
• Kevin Harvick leads all active drivers in NASCAR All-Star Race appearances with 19 starts.
• The All-Star Race has featured a field that has ranged from 10 drivers in 1986 to 27 in 2002. Last season’s field had 19 participants and this weekend’s event is anticipating 20 participants.
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Davey Allison leads the series in average starting position in the NASCAR All-Star Race with a 3.857 in seven starts
• Kyle Busch leads all active drivers in average starting position in the NASCAR All-Star Race with a 5.357 in 14 starts.

Top 10 in Average Starting Position in the NASCAR All-Star Race (All-Time & Active)

POLES

• A total of 19 different drivers have won the Busch Pole Award for the NASCAR All-Star Race; six of 19 are active this week.

• Terry Labonte won the inaugural Busch Pole Award for the NASCAR All-Star Race in 1985 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
• Bill Elliott leads the series in NASCAR All-Star Race poles with four (1987, 1997, 1998 and 2000).
• Kyle Busch (2008, 2011 and 2012) and Matt Kenseth (2002, 2007, 2018) leads all active drivers in NASCAR All-Star Race poles with three each.
• Four drivers have won consecutive Busch poles for the NASCAR All-Star Race: Davey Allison (1991, 1992) Bill Elliott (1997, 1998), Kyle Busch (2011, 2012) and Carl Edwards (2013, 2014).
• Three drivers started from the first starting position but did not win the pole due to Qualifying being cancelled: Bill Elliott (2003), Kurt Busch (2010) and Kevin Harvick (2016).

WINS

• A total of 24 different drivers have won the NASCAR All-Star Race; eight of the 24 are active this week.

• NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip won the inaugural NASCAR All-Star Race in 1985 at an average speed of 161.184 mph.
• Seven of 24 NASCAR All-Star Race winners have multiple victories; led by Jimmie Johnson with four wins (2003, 2006, 2012 and 2013).
• Dale Earnhardt (1987, 1990 and 1993) and Jeff Gordon (1995, 1997 and 2001) are the only three-time winners of the NASCAR All-Star Race.
• Davey Allison (1991 and 1992), Terry Labonte (1988 and 1999), Mark Martin (1998 and 2005) and Kevin Harvick (2007, 2018) are the only other drivers to post multiple victories in the NASCAR All-Star Race.
• Davey Allison (1991, 1992) and Jimmie Johnson (2012, 2013) are the only drivers to ever win consecutive NASCAR All-Star Races.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2000) and Ryan Newman (2002) are the only two drivers to win the NASCAR All-Star Race in their rookie season.
• Jeff Gordon is the youngest winner of the NASCAR All-Star Race at 23 years, 9 months and 18 days (1995).
• Mark Martin is the oldest NASCAR All-Star Race winner at 46 years, 4 months and 12 days (2005).
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the only driver to win the NASCAR All-Star Race (2000), the NASCAR Open (2012) and the Fan Vote (2011).
• Kasey Kahne is the only driver to win the Fan Vote and go on to win the All-Star race in the same season (2008).
• Ryan Newman (2002) and Kyle Larson (2019) are the only two drivers to win a NASCAR Open event and go on to win the NASCAR All-Star Race in the same season.  

Five drivers have won the NASCAR All-Star Race and the NASCAR Cup Series championship in the same year: Darrell Waltrip (1985), Dale Earnhardt (1987, 1990, 1993), Rusty Wallace (1989), Jeff Gordon (1995, 1997, 2001) and Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2013).  

• A total of 15 different organizations have won the NASCAR All-Star Race.
• Hendrick Motorsports leads the series in NASCAR All-Star Race wins with eight: Jimmie Johnson (four: 2003, 2006, 2012, 2013), Jeff Gordon (three: 1995, 1997, 2001) and Terry Labonte (1999).
• The NASCAR All-Star Race has been won from the first starting position five times; the first three came in consecutive years: Dale Earnhardt (1990), Davey Allison (1991 and 1992), Kurt Busch (2010) and Denny Hamlin (2015). Four of the five were from the pole, Kurt Busch won from the first starting position in 2010, but Qualifying was cancelled for that event due to weather.
• The first, second and fourth starting positions are the three most proficient starting positions in the field, producing more winners (five winners each) than any other starting positions in the NASCAR All-Star Race – most recent was Kevin Harvick’s victory in 2018 from the fourth starting position.

NASCAR All-Star Race Wins by Starting Positions

• The deepest in the field a NASCAR All-Star race winner has started was 27th, by Ryan Newman in 2002.
• Eight of the 16 drivers who are qualified for the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race are looking for their first win in the event: Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Cole Custer, Chase Elliott, Justin Haley, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr.
• Five different manufacturers have won a NASCAR All-Star Race; led by Chevrolet with 18 victories; followed by Ford (12), Toyota (two), Dodge (two) and Pontiac (one). 

ADDITIONAL FINISHING POSITIONS

Runner-Up Finishes:

• A total of 25 different drivers have finished runner-up in the NASCAR All-Star Race.
• Kevin Harvick (2006, 2014, 2015, 2019) leads the series in NASCAR All-Star Race runner-up finishes with four.  

Top-Five Finishes:

• A total of 50 different drivers have finished in the top-five in the NASCAR All-Star Race.
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson lead the series in top-five finishes in the NASCAR All-Star Race with nine each.

Top-10 Finishes:

• A total of 81 different drivers have finished in the top-10 in the NASCAR All-Star Race.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads the NASCAR Cup Series in top-10 finishes in the NASCAR All-Star Race with 14.
• Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick lead all active series drivers in top-10 finishes in the NASCAR All-Star Race with 12 each.    

Average Finishing Positions:

• Tim Richmond (two starts) leads the NASCAR Cup Series (all-time) in average finishing position in the NASCAR All-Star Race with a 4.0.
• Joey Logano (nine starts) leads all active drivers in the series in average finishing position in the NASCAR All-Star Race with a 6.5; followed by Jimmie Johnson with a 7.2.

Top 10 in Average Finishing Positions in the NASCAR All-Star Race (All-time & Active)

LAP LEADERS

• In total 50 different drivers have led at least one lap in the NASCAR All-Star Race.
• Kyle Busch leads the series in NASCAR All-Star Race laps led with 271 laps led in 14 starts.
• The most laps led in a NASCAR All-Star Race by a driver that won the race is 82 of the scheduled 83 laps (98.8%) by NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott in 1986 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He started the event in the second starting position.
• The most laps led in a NASCAR All-Star Race by driver that did not win is 121 of the scheduled 135 laps (89.6%) by NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott in 1987 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He started the event first but finished 14th.
• Two of the 34 NASCAR All-Star Races were led by a single driver from flag-to-flag – in 1990 Dale Earnhardt led all 70 laps and in 1991 Davey Allison also led all 70 laps (100%). Both instances hold the event’s record for highest percentage of laps led.
• The fewest laps led by the eventual winner of the NASCAR All-Star Race is two laps and it has happened three times: 1993 (Dale Earnhardt), 2000 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.), 2009 (Tony Stewart)

Top 10 Lap Leaders in the NASCAR All-Star Race (All-Time)

EVENT SPECIFIC STATS

The following statistics take into account the NASCAR All-Star Races at Charlotte & Atlanta

FAN VOTE

• The NASCAR All-Star Fan Vote was introduced to the format in 2004. The first Fan Vote winner was Ken Schrader, driving for BAM Racing.
• In 2008, Kasey Kahne became the first driver to get into the NASCAR All-Star Race by the Fan Vote and go on to win the event. Kahne started 24th in the All-Star race and won.  
• Danica Patrick became the first driver to win more than one Fan Vote into the NASCAR All-Star Race (2013, 2015).
• Chase Elliott became the first driver to win it in consecutive seasons (2016, 2017, 2018), and also the first driver to win it three times.  
• Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joey Logano and Carl Edwards are the only four drivers who have won the NASCAR All-Star Race and the Fan Vote.  Kahne won both in 2008, Earnhardt Jr. won the race in 2000 and the Fan Vote in 2011. Logano won the Fan Vote in 2009 and the All-Star race in 2016. Edwards won the Fan Vote in 2010 and the All-Star Race in 2011.

NASCAR OPEN

• The NASCAR Open was first introduced into the All-Star format in 1986 at Atlanta Motor Speedway – the first event was won by Benny Parsons, but it did not grant him entry to the All-Star race; that started the following season.
• A total of 28 different drivers have won the NASCAR Open from 1986-2019.
• Sterling Marlin leads the NASCAR Cup Series in Open wins with four victories (1988, 1989, 1993 and 2004).
• Eight of the 28 NASCAR Open winners have multiple wins – Sterling Marlin (four), AJ Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer, Jeremy Mayfield, Martin Truex Jr., Michael Waltrip, Kyle Larson and Todd Bodine each have two victories.
• Three drivers have won consecutive NASCAR Opens – Sterling Marlin (1988-89), Michael Waltrip (1991-92) and Clint Bowyer (2014-15).
• Ryan Newman (2002) and Kyle Larson (2019) are the only two drivers to win the NASCAR Open and the All-Star Race in the same weekend. 

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