By The Numbers: Coca-Cola 600

NASCAR Winston Cup racing is all about statistics, and numerology.

Lowe's Motor Speedway staged its first NASCAR Winston Cup race in 1960, with the inaugural World 600.

Since then its Memorial Day weekend Coca-Cola 600 has become a classic, and has created a sizeable log of statistical nuggets interspersed with facts and notes about the sport's best drivers.

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1.5 -- The length in miles of a lap of Lowe's Motor Speedway.

2 -- The number of drivers in the top-20 in the 2003 Winston Cup standings that have not yet won $1 million. Joe Nemechek ($905,120) is 14th and Dave Blaney ($989,125) is 20th.

3 -- The number of times Jeff Gordon has won the Coca-Cola 600 from the pole, in 1994, 1997 and 1998.

4 -- The number of charged provisional starting positions used in the season's first 11 races by the No. 4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports and No. 49 BAM Racing teams. Those teams have only one provisional available until after they attempt to qualify for the 16th race of the season, at Infineon Raceway. Each team starts the season with four provisionals and gains one provisional spot each time it attempts to qualify for eight races.

	Dale Earnhardt Jr. is seeking his first points win at LMS. Credit: Autostock

6 -- The leading number of career Winston Cup victories at Lowe's Motor Speedway, by Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip. Dale Earnhardt is third with five.

8 -- The leading number of career victories by car owners Junior Johnson and Rick Hendrick at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Petty Engineering, Roush Racing and Holman-Moody are tied with seven victories apiece.

12 -- The number of Winston Cup races at Lowe's Motor Speedway won from the pole position, of 86 total events.

14 -- The percentage of Winston Cup races at Lowe's Motor Speedway won from the pole position, 12 of 86.

24 -- The degree of banking in the four turns at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

25 -- The number of Modern Era victories at Lowe's, since 1972, scored by Chevrolet. In that period Ford has 19 wins.

25 -- The position in the 2003 Winston Cup owners' standings that is the cutoff for being charged with a provisional starting position.

25 -- The number of top-10 finishes in Winston Cup races at Lowe's Motor Speedway by Ricky Rudd, tops among active drivers.

	Bobby Labonte's first career victory (1995) set a 600 event record for speed. Credit: Autostock

28 -- The position in the Winston Cup standings for Johnny Benson, the only driver in the top-34 in the standings that has not posted a top-10 finish in 2003.

35 -- The number of consecutive races in which Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been running at the finish, the longest active streak.

44 -- The number of races in which sophomore driver Jimmie Johnson has remained in the top-10 in the Winston Cup standings, 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.

45 -- Pit road speed limit, in miles per hour, at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

46 -- The number of entries at Charlotte. Kevin Lepage, Hermie Sadler and Derrike Cope must qualify in the top-36 to make the race since their teams are in the lowest three positions in the owner standings among the entered cars. If any of them make the top-36, other nervous drivers include the next lowest in owner points: Brett Bodine, Larry Foyt and Tony Raines, in that order.

53 -- The number of career starts at Lowe's Motor Speedway by Ricky Rudd, the most of any active driver.

55 -- The speed limit, in miles per hour, of the pace car under caution at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

66 -- The number of Winston Cup races at Lowe's Motor Speedway won from starting positions inside the top 10, or 77 percent.

73 -- The number of races since Rusty Wallace last won, since April 29, 2001 at California Speedway. Wallace has eight career top-five and 20 career top-10 finishes at Lowe's.

137.729 -- Mark Martin's average speed when he won the 2002 Coca-Cola 600.

151.952 -- Bobby Labonte's Coca-Cola 600 race record average speed, set in 1995 in three hours, 56 minutes and 55 seconds.

186.464 -- Jimmie Johnson's Bud Pole winning speed for the 2002 Coca-Cola 600, also the event qualifying record.

408 -- The number of points Joe Nemechek, the series' most recent winner, is behind Winston Cup point leader Matt Kenseth coming into the Coca-Cola 600.

600 -- The number of miles covered in 400 laps of Lowe's Motor Speedway.

1,360 -- The length in feet of the backstretch at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

1,952 -- The length in feet of the frontstretch at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

1999 -- The year in which Charlotte Motor Speedway was renamed Lowe's Motor Speedway.

120,000 -- The value of the NASCAR Winston Cup Leader bonus at Lowe's. It is available to the driver that wins the Coca-Cola 600 if he is also the Winston Cup point leader after the race.

5,626,853 -- The posted awards for the Coca-Cola 600.