Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Federated Auto Parts 400

Below is a look at some of the top statistical performers at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, going into the Federated Auto Parts 400 this Sunday, August 14 at 3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

At Richmond Raceway – Statistics & Tidbits

Season Race #: 24 of 36 (August 14, 2022)
Track Size: 0.75-mile (3/4-mile)
Banking/Turns: 14 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 8 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 2 degrees
Frontstretch Length:  1,290 feet
Backstretch Length:  860 feet
Race Length: 400 laps / 300 miles
Stage 1 Length: 70 laps
Stage 2 Length: 160 laps
Final Stage Length: 170 laps

Track Qualifying Record:

Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 130.599 mph, 20.674 secs., September 4, 2013

2021 Playoff Race Pole Winner:

The September 11, 2021 race decided the starting lineups by Metric Qualifying. Kyle Larson started on the pole.

Track Race Record:

Dale Jarrett, Ford, 109.047 mph, (02:45:04), September 6, 1997

2021 Playoff Race Winner:

Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 98.307 mph, (03:03:06), September 11, 2021

HISTORY

• Originally known as the Atlantic Rural Exposition Fairgrounds, Richmond Raceway held its first race in 1946 as a half-mile dirt track.
• The first NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway was held on April 19, 1953 and won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Lee Petty in a Petty Enterprises Dodge with an average speed of 45.535 mph.
• In 1955, Paul Sawyer and former driver Joe Weatherly bought the property. Track was then known as the Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds.
• The spring 1964 race was run on a Tuesday night under temporary lighting.
• The track name changed to Virginia State Fairgrounds in 1967.
• The track surface was changed from dirt to asphalt between Cup Series races in 1968. The first 24 NASCAR Cup Series races held at Richmond Raceway were run on a dirt surface (1953-1968). NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson won the final Richmond race on dirt, driving a Holman-Moody Racing 1968 Ford to Victory Lane.
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty won the first NASCAR Cup Series race on the paved Richmond surface in 1968 driving a Petty Enterprises’ Plymouth.
• The track’s name changed to Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway in 1969.
• The track was re-measured to 0.542-mile in 1970.
• The track was rebuilt as a three-quarters-mile D-shaped oval following the February 21, 1988 race.
• The first race under permanent lights was September 7, 1991.
• In 1999, International Speedway Corporation purchased the raceway and surrounding property. It was the first season with both races as night races and the track was renamed to Richmond International Raceway.
• In 2017, the track underwent renovations to upgrade the amenities for fans and in the process changed the name of the track to Richmond Raceway.
• In total, there have been 131 NASCAR Cup Series races at Richmond Raceway, one event from 1953 – 1958 and two races per year since 1959 to 2019.
• Due to the pandemic in 2020, the Cup Series only raced at Richmond once that season. The 2021 and 2022 seasons are scheduled for two Cup races a season each.
• Richmond Raceway ranks third on the all-time list of tracks that have hosted the most NASCAR Cup Series races with 131, behind only Daytona (151) and Martinsville (147).

STARTS

• A total of 524 different drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway; 349 drivers have competed in more than one Cup race at Richmond.
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the series in starts at Richmond Raceway with 63; followed by NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin with 56, Ricky Rudd and Terry Labonte have 55 each.
• Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch lead all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in starts at Richmond with 42 each.
• A total of 50 different drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series have made their series debut at Richmond Raceway; the most recent was Daniel Hemric (April 21, 2018).
• Of the drivers who have made their first career NASCAR Cup Series start at Richmond Raceway, Harold Carmac posted the best finish – sixth on April 1, 1962.
• Dick Rathmann (two series starts) leads the NASCAR Cup Series in average starting position at Richmond Raceway with a 2.000.
• Kyle Larson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in average starting position at Richmond Raceway with an 9.067 in 15 starts; followed by Denny Hamlin with a 9.548 in 31 starts.

Top 10 in Average Starting Position at Richmond Raceway (All-Time & Active)

POLES

• A total of 56 different drivers have won at least one pole at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series; 31 have won multiple poles.
• Seven of the 56 NASCAR Cup Series Richmond Raceway pole winners are active this weekend.

• NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty (1961, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970 sweep, 1974, 1975) and Bobby Allison (1972 sweep, 1973 sweep, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1982) lead the NASCAR Cup Series in poles at Richmond Raceway with eight poles each.
• Denny Hamlin (2006, 2008, 2016) and Kevin Harvick (2005, 2018, 2019) lead all active Cup Series pole winners at Richmond Raceway with three poles each.
• Buck Baker won the inaugural pole at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series in 1953 with a speed of 48.465 mph in an Oldsmobile owned by Bob Griffin.
• 11 different drivers have won consecutive poles at Richmond – Buck Baker (1953, 1956), Ned Jarrett (1960 sweep, 1964 sweep), Rex White (1962, 1963), Richard Petty (1969, 1970 sweep, Bobby Allison (1972-1974), Darrell Waltrip (1983, 1984 sweep, 1985), Alan Kulwicki (1987 sweep), Ted Musgrave (1994 sweep), Joey Logano (2015 sweep), Matt Kenseth (2017 sweep) and Kevin Harvick (2018, 2019) – Logano and Harvick are the only active drivers to accomplish the feat.
• Bobby Allison holds the record for most consecutive poles at Richmond Raceway with five straight from 1972-1974; Darrell Waltrip has the second-most consecutive poles at Richmond with four-straight from 1983-1985.
• Youngest Richmond Cup pole winner: Brian Vickers (May 15, 2004 – 20 years, 6 months, 21 days).
• Oldest Richmond Cup pole winner: Mark Martin (April 28, 2012 – 53 years, 3 months, 19 days).
• Nine different NASCAR Cup Series drivers have posted their first career pole at Richmond Raceway – none are currently active – most recent was Brian Vickers on May 15, 2004.

• A total of 49 different owners have won a pole in the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway.
• Hendrick Motorsports leads the NASCAR Cup Series in poles at Richmond Raceway with 17 poles among nine drivers: Geoff Bodine (1985, 1989), Ricky Rudd (1990), Ken Schrader (1993), Jeff Gordon (1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2013), Terry Labonte (1996, 2003), Jimmie Johnson (2002, 2007), Brian Vickers (2004), Mark Martin (2009), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2012).
• A total of nine different manufacturers have posted at least one pole at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series; led by Chevrolet (46); followed by Ford (35), Dodge (11), Toyota (10), Pontiac (six), Plymouth (five), Mercury (three), Buick (two) and Oldsmobile (two).

WINS

• A total of 53 different drivers have won a NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway, and 33 of them have won multiple times at the 0.75-mile track.
• Nine of the 53 NASCAR Cup Series Richmond Raceway winners at entered this weekend:

• The first NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway (dirt surface) was held on April 19, 1953, and won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Lee Petty in a Petty Enterprises Dodge with an average speed of 45.535 mph.
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Richmond Raceway with 13 victories (spring 1961, 1967 sweep, fall 1968, fall 1970, 1971 sweep, 1972 sweep, 1973 sweep, fall 1974 and spring 1975) – the third-most wins by a single driver at a single track in series history behind his 15 wins at Martinsville and North Wilkesboro.
• Kyle Busch leads all active drivers in wins at Richmond with six victories (spring 2009, spring 2010, spring 2011, spring 2012, 2018 sweep).
• A total of 11 different drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series have posted consecutive wins at Richmond Raceway; Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. are the only active drivers to accomplish the feat:
  • Joe Weatherly (1962-1963)
  • David Pearson (1965, 1966 sweep)
  • Richard Petty (1970, 1971 sweep, 1972 sweep, 1973 sweep)
  • Cale Yarborough (1976-1977)
  • Bobby Allison (1982, 1983 sweep)
  • Dale Earnhardt (1987 sweep, 1990-1991)
  • Rusty Wallace (1989 sweep)
  • Terry Labonte (1994-1995)
  • Jimmie Johnson (2007 sweep)
  • Kyle Busch (2018 sweep)
  • Martin Truex Jr. (2019 sweep)
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the NASCAR Cup Series in consecutive wins at Richmond Raceway with seven consecutive victories from the fall race of 1970 to the fall race of 1973.
• Youngest Richmond Cup winner: Richard Petty (April 23, 1961 – 23 years, 9 months, 21 days).
• Oldest Richmond Cup winner: Harry Gant (September 7, 1991 – 51 years, 7 months, 28 days).
• Five drivers have posted their first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Richmond Raceway – Kasey Kahne (2005), Tony Stewart (1999), Kyle Petty (1986), Neil Bonnett (1977) and James Hylton (1970)
• Michael McDowell leads the NASCAR Cup Series among active drivers in series starts at Richmond Raceway without visiting Victory Lane at 22; followed by Aric Almirola with 20 starts without a win.
• A total of 27 different starting positions have led to victories in the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway.
• The first starting position is the most proficient starting position in the NASCAR Cup Series field, producing more winners than any other starting position at Richmond Raceway with 24 victories.
• The second-most proficient starting position in the NASCAR Cup Series field is the third starting position with 18 victories (13.7%). More than half of the races have been won from a top-five starting positions (56.49%).

NASCAR Cup Series Wins by Starting Position at Richmond Raceway

• A total of 15 different drivers have won from the pole or first starting position at Richmond Raceway, led by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty with six victories from the first starting position.
• Only three active drivers have been able to win from the pole or first starting position: Kyle Busch (2010), Brad Keselowski (2014) and Denny Hamlin (2016).
• The deepest in the field that a NASCAR Cup Series race winner has started at Richmond Raceway is 32nd, by Kyle Busch in the spring race of 2018.
• A total of 12 drivers have won a NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway after starting outside the top-20 (9.16%) – which is tied with Daytona International Speedway for the series-most all-time.
• In total 37 different organizations have won at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series.
• Joe Gibbs Racing leads the NASCAR Cup Series in victories at Richmond Raceway with 18 wins among six drivers – Tony Stewart (1999, 2001, 2002), Denny Hamlin (2009, 2010, 2016, 2022), Kyle Busch (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018 sweep), Matt Kenseth (2015), Carl Edwards (2016), Martin Truex Jr. (2019 sweep, 2021).
• Petty Enterprises has the second-most NASCAR Cup Series wins at Richmond Raceway with 15 victories.

Top Five in Cup Organization Wins at Richmond Raceway

• A total of nine different manufacturers have won in the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway.
• Chevrolet leads the series in wins at Richmond with 39 victories; followed by Ford (33), Dodge (17), Toyota (16), Pontiac (11) Plymouth (10), Buick (two), Oldsmobile (two) and Chrysler (one).
• Chevrolet holds the record for the longest streak of consecutive wins at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series with six consecutive victories from 2006-2008.

ADDITIONAL FINISHING POSITIONS

Runner-Up Finishes:

• A total of 58 different drivers have finished runner-up in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway.
• NASCAR Hall of Famers Bobby Allison and Richard Petty are tied for the series-most runner-up finishes at Richmond Raceway with nine each; followed by Jeff Gordon with eight.
• Kyle Busch leads all active drivers in the series in runner-up finishes at Richmond with seven second-place finishes.

Top Five in Runner-Up Finishes at Richmond Raceway (All-Time & Active)

Top-Five Finishes:

• A total of 136 different drivers have finished in the top-five in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway.
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the series in top-five finishes at Richmond with 34 top fives.
• Kyle Busch leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in top-five finishes at Richmond with 18 top fives.

Top Five in Top-Five Finishes at Richmond Raceway (All-Time & Active)

Top-10 Finishes:

• A total of 233 different drivers have finished in the top-10 in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway.
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the series in top-10 finishes at Richmond with 41.
• Kevin Harvick leads all active series drivers in top 10s at Richmond with 28 top-10 finishes.

Top Five in Top-10 Finishes at Richmond Raceway (All-Time & Active)

Average Finishes:

• Lee Petty (seven series starts) leads the NASCAR Cup Series in average finishing position at Richmond Raceway with a 4.857.
• Kyle Busch (33 series starts) leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in average finishing position at Richmond Raceway with a 6.939.

Top 15 in Average Finishing Position at Richmond Raceway (All-Time & Active)

LAP LEADERS

• A total of 141 different NASCAR Cup Series drivers have led at least one lap at Richmond Raceway.
• Richard Petty leads the NACAR Cup Series in laps led at Richmond Raceway with 5,136 laps led in 63 starts.
• Denny Hamlin leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in laps led at Richmond Raceway with 2,113 laps led in 31 starts.
• The most laps led by the NASCAR Cup Series race winner at Richmond Raceway was 488 laps led of the scheduled 500 (97.6%) by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty on September 13, 1970; he started from the pole.
• The most laps led by a NASCAR Cup Series driver that did not win the race at Richmond Raceway was 381 laps led of the scheduled 407 (93.6%) by Denny Hamlin on May 3, 2008; he started from the pole but finished 24th.
• The fewest laps led by the NASCAR Cup Series race winner at Richmond Raceway was three laps of the scheduled 406 by Kevin Harvick on April 27, 2013; he started the race 17th.

Top 15 Lap Leaders in the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway (All-Time & Active)

FEMALE COMPETITORS

• Two female drivers, Danica Patrick and Janet Guthrie have competed at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series. Below are their stats at Richmond:

TRACK / EVENT SPECIFIC STATS

• Since the advent of electronic scoring in 1993, Richmond Raceway has held 58 NASCAR Cup Series races producing 35 with a Margin of Victory of less than a second (60.3%).
• The closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway was the race on September 12, 1998 – won by Jeff Burton with a Margin of Victory of 0.051 second over second-place finisher Jeff Gordon.

Top 10 Closest Margin of Victories at Richmond in the NASCAR Cup Series

• The largest margin of victory since the advent of electronic scoring in 1993 in the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway, was the race on September 7, 2002 – won by Matt Kenseth with a Margin of Victory of 6.184 seconds over second-place finisher Ryan Newman.
• Five NASCAR Cup Series races have resulted in NASCAR Overtime at Richmond Raceway:

• Four of the 131 NASCAR Cup Series races at Richmond Raceway have been shortened due to weather conditions:

• Qualifying has been cancelled in the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway 11 times:

• Largest number of lead changes in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway is 25 and it has happened twice – Feb. 24, 1991 and March 3, 1996. Earlier this season the Richmond race produced 13 lead changes.
• Largest number of leaders in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway is12 and it has happened four times – 1986, 2003, 2004 and 2007. Earlier this season the Richmond race produced seven different leaders.

NASCAR IN VIRGINIA

• There have been 543 NASCAR national series races among 10 tracks in the state of Virginia.
• Martinsville Speedway hosted the very first NASCAR national series race in the state of Virginia on Sept. 25, 1949 – the NASCAR Cup Series event was won by Red Byron (Oldsmobile).

NASCAR tracks in Virginia

VIRGINIA IN NASCAR

• A total of 187 different drivers with their home state recorded as Virginia have made at least one start in a NASCAR national series race.
• 20 drivers from Virginia have won at least one race in NASCAR’s three national series. 11 of the 20 Virginia native NASCAR winners have won in the NASCAR Cup Series.
• In total the drivers from Virginia have won 268 NASCAR national series races combined.

NASCAR National Series Winners From Virginia

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