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Credit: Autostock
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
March 14, 2003
10:43 AM EST (1543 GMT)
DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Darlington Raceway, NASCAR's oldest superspeedway, staged its first stock car race in 1950. Since then, its springtime Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 has created a sizeable log of statistical nuggets interspersed with facts and notes about the sport's best drivers.
0 -- The number of drivers that have led at least one lap in every race held so far this season.
1 -- The number of caution-free Winston Cup races at Darlington. In 99 attempts, only the spring 1963 Rebel 300 was run without a yellow flag.
1.366 -- The length in miles of a lap at Darlington Raceway. The track has 25-degree banking in Turns 1 and 2, 23-degree banking in Turns 3 and 4 and two-degree banking on its straightaways. The front and backstretches are 1,229 feet long.
2 -- The number of times Bud Pole Qualifying has been rained out at Darlington since spring 2001.
3 -- The number of consecutive top-10 finishes by Bill Elliott at Darlington.
4 -- The number of top-10 finishes by John Andretti in 18 races at Darlington.
4 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s only top-10 finish in six career starts at Darlington Raceway, which occurred in the 2002 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.
5 -- The number of Bud Poles at Darlington by Bill Elliott, best of all active drivers.
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5 -- The number of active Winston Cup drivers that posted top-10 finishes in their Darlington debuts, including Terry Labonte (fourth, September 1978), Ryan Newman (fifth, March 2002), Jimmie Johnson (sixth, March 2002), Mark Martin (seventh, April 1982) and Bill Elliott (10th, September 1977).
6 -- Jeff Gordon's average start in 20 career races at Darlington, best of all active drivers with more than two starts here. Gordon leads all active drivers with six Darlington victories.
7 -- The number of back-to-back victories at Darlington since 1980, including three races in a row by two different drivers: Bill Elliott (spring and fall 1985), Dale Earnhardt (spring and fall 1987, fall 1989 and both races 1990), Jeff Gordon (fall 1995 and both races 1996) and Jeff Burton (spring and fall 1999).
8 -- The number of times a Winston Cup race at Darlington has been shortened by rain, including six Southern 500s.
9 -- The number of times in the 46 years of twice-yearly Winston Cup racing at Darlington (1957 to 2002) in which a sweep has occurred. Jeff Burton was the last driver to win both Darlington races in the same year, in 1999.
9.04 -- Bill Elliott's average finish in 49 races at Darlington, best of all active drivers with more than five starts here.
10 -- The number of career Winston Cup victories at Darlington Raceway by David Pearson. The late Dale Earnhardt is second in Darlington career victories with nine and Jeff Gordon is third with six.
11 -- Mark Martin's best finish in his last five Winston Cup starts at Darlington.
11 -- The number of Winston Cup victories at Darlington Raceway by Holman-Moody. Junior Johnson is second in all-time owner victories at Darlington with 10 and the Wood Brothers, Richard Childress Racing and Hendrick Motorsports are tied for third with eight victories apiece.
12 -- The number of pole positions at Darlington by retired driver David Pearson, who leads all drivers in that category.
14 -- The number of top-10 finishes by Jeff Gordon in his 20 Darlington races, including 11 top-fives in his last 15.
15 -- The best finishing position by Michael Waltrip in his last 10 Darlington starts, scored in the 2002 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.
17 -- The number of career Darlington starts by Jeremy Mayfield, who has five top-10 finishes here -- all top-fives.
18 -- The number of Darlington Raceway races starts made by Jeff Burton without a DNF, tops among active drivers that have competed in more than five Darlington races. Burton has posted 12 top-10 finishes in those 18 starts, including eight consecutive top-fives between 1997 and 2000.
19 -- The number of Darlington Raceway Winston Cup races won from the pole (19 percent), the most of any starting position.
20 --- The number of career victories by Bobby Labonte, which puts him in a tie with Speedy Thompson for 28th on the all-time winners' list.
22 -- The best finish by Jerry Nadeau, Jeff Green, Ken Schrader and Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Tony Raines in any of the four 2003 Winston Cup races.
25 -- The position in the 2003 Winston Cup owners' standings that is the cutoff for being charged with a provisional starting position, beginning with the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400. The "Provisional Land update" says that after four races in the 2003 Winston Cup season, only the No. 4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports and Haas CNC Racing teams have been charged for using two provisionals, at Daytona and Las Vegas and Las Vegas and Atlanta, respectively. Three other teams, those of owners Derrike Cope, Rick Hendrick (No. 5) and A.J. Foyt have used two provisionals, a mixture of charged and uncharged. Each team starts the season with four provisionals and gains one provisional spot each time it attempts to qualify for eight races.
29 -- The number of Modern Era victories by Chevrolets at Darlington Raceway, since 1972. Ford has 13 victories in that same time span.
35 -- The number of Winston Cup races that have been won from the first two starting positions at Darlington. Sixty-six of 99 races have been won from the top five.
36 -- Tony Stewart's finishing position in the 2002 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, his worst finish here in eight starts.
37 -- The number of races in which sophomore driver Jimmie Johnson has remained in the top-10 in the Winston Cup standings. It is the longest such streak among active drivers. Johnson moved into the top-10 after the fourth race of his rookie 2002 season, at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
38 -- The number of drivers that have won Winston Cup races at Darlington Raceway.
39 -- The number of consecutive Winston Cup races in which Kyle Petty has been running at the finish.
41 --- The number of drivers that have won pole positions at Darlington Raceway in 99 Winston Cup races.
42 -- Mark Martin's finishing position at the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500. His DNF with a blown engine ended a streak of 37 straight races in which Martin had remained in the top-10 in the standings. He fell to 25th heading to Darlington.
43 -- The number of entries at Darlington this weekend, meaning every team qualifies for the second time this season in five races. Since there were only 43 entries at the season's second race, Rockingham, cars 48, 99, 30, 54, 14, 74 and 37 were not charged for the provisionals they used at that event.
43 -- The furthest back that a race winner has started at Darlington, in the inaugural Southern 500 in 1950 by Johnny Mantz. Since 1955, only Bobby Labonte (37th in fall 2000) and Ward Burton (37th in fall 2001) have won at Darlington from a starting position further back than 15th.
50 -- The number of career starts at Darlington Raceway that Bill Elliott will achieve in the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400. Elliott has posted 21 top-five and 33 top-10 finishes at Darlington, both the most of any active driver.
66 -- The number of races since Rusty Wallace last won. Wallace has posted 20 top-10 finishes in 38 starts at Darlington but has yet to win here, or score a Bud Pole.
108 -- The number of points between Matt Kenseth, who is leading the Winston Cup standings for the first time and fifth place Bobby Labonte, the series' most recent winner, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500.
88 -- The percentage of Darlington Winston Cup events that have been won from starting positions within the top-10, 87 of 99 events.
99 -- The number of Winston Cup events that have been held at Darlington Raceway.
132.699 -- The spring race record average speed at Darlington Raceway, set by David Pearson in 1968, in three hours, 54 seconds. Sterling Marlin won the 2002 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at an average speed of 126.070 mph, in three hours, 10 minutes and 29 seconds.
173.797 -- The Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 and Darlington Raceway Bud Pole Qualifying record, set by Ward Burton in 1996, achieved in 28.295 seconds. Ricky Craven won the event pole a year ago at 170.089 mph, 28.912 seconds.
293 -- The number of laps needed to cover 400.238 miles at Darlington Raceway.
300 -- The number of career starts by Jeff Burton if he starts the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.
500 -- The number of career starts by Dale Jarrett if he starts the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.
579 -- The number of laps led by Chevrolets of the 1,094 laps raced in 2003 (53 percent).
650 -- The number of career starts by Kyle Petty if he starts the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.
700 -- The number of career starts by Bill Elliott if he starts the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, seventh on the all-time starts list. Elliott is third in total starts among active drivers, behind Ricky Rudd (771) and Terry Labonte (749).
750 -- The number of career starts by Terry Labonte if he starts the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.
1,299 -- The number of laps led at Darlington by Jeff Gordon, the most of all active drivers.
1997 -- The year in which the Darlington Raceway track configuration was reversed -- with the former frontstretch becoming the backstretch and the Busch Series and Winston Cup garages also switching sides -- prior to the second race.
50,000 -- The value of the NASCAR Winston Cup Leader bonus at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is available to the driver that wins the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 if he is also the Winston Cup point leader after the race.
3,921,907 -- The posted awards for the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.
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