Autostock
At Richmond, where you finish can be determined by where you start.By the Numbers: Richmond
type size: + -
All eyes will be on qualifying Friday evening, as they are each week, to see who gets in, who gets left out, and who gets on the pole at Richmond International Raceway. The extra emphasis comes from Saturday night's Crown Royal 400 being an impound race; teams will have minimal contact with their cars following Friday's time trials.
Friday will be a test to see who can qualify in the top 10, as well. In the nine Cup Series races this season, no winner came from a starting position outside the top 10.
Carl Edwards came from the ninth starting spot to win at Fontana, the worst position. Jeff Burton (Bristol) came from eighth. Ryan Newman (Daytona) and Jimmie Johnson (Phoenix) came from seventh. Kyle Busch came from sixth (Atlanta) and fifth (Talladega). And three times the winner has come from the second starting position: Edwards (Las Vegas and Texas) and Denny Hamlin (Martinsville).
The down side of qualifying in the top 10 this season if the streak continues: No driver has won from the pole, and no driver has won from the 10th position.
Last driver to win at Richmond from the pole: Jimmie Johnson (September 2007).
Last driver to win at Richmond from the 10th position: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (May 2006).
Best average starting position at Richmond among drivers on this week's entry list: Denny Hamlin (4.6).
10Consecutive races at Richmond that have been won from a top-10 starting position. The last driver to win at the track from a starting spot outside the top 10 was Matt Kenseth when he won the September 2002 race from the 25th position.
Jimmie Johnson has led the most laps this season, but Kyle Busch has led the most miles. A quick look at the top five drivers according to laps led shows that, while the same drivers appear, none of the positions remain the same if the order was ranked in terms of miles led.
Laps Led vs. Miles Led
2008 Sprint Cup Series
| Pos. | Driver | Laps Led | Pct. | Pos. | Driver | Miles Led | Pct. | Wins | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Jimmie Johnson | 412 | 14.27% | 1. | Kyle Busch | 704 | 18.75% | 2 | |
| 2. | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 401 | 13.89% | 2. | Carl Edwards | 492 | 13.11 | 3 | |
| 3. | Kyle Busch | 398 | 13.79% | 3. | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 484 | 12.88% | 0 | |
| 4. | Tony Stewart | 350 | 12.12% | 4. | Jimmie Johnson | 453 | 12.07% | 1 | |
| 5. | Carl Edwards | 306 | 10.60% | 5. | Tony Stewart | 354 | 9.42% | 0 |
Back in Time
Feb. 23, 1986Kyle Petty wins the Miller High Life 400 driving the No. 7 Ford for the Wood Brothers, his first career victory. He led just four laps, beating Joe Ruttman (21 laps led) and Dale Earnhardt (299 laps led) as the only three cars on the lead lap. Petty becomes the first third-generation driver to win a NASCAR race.
10 Key Facts
0.3Margin between Kyle Busch's average finishing position in six starts at Richmond (6.2) and Denny Hamlin's average finish in four starts there (6.5), the best among active drivers. The third Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Tony Stewart, ranks fifth at 11.3.
1Victory for Kevin Harvick at Richmond, in the fall 2006 race, although he has scored more points (1,446) than any other driver there in the last 10 races.
1Top-10 finish for Virginia native Elliott Sadler in his 18 Richmond starts, which came in the spring 2005 race with a seventh-place finish.
5Top-five finishes in six Richmond starts for Kyle Busch. He finished 20th at the track last fall. He has led 292 laps, the most among active drivers without a victory there.
15Victories for Petty Enterprises at Richmond, 13 by Richard Petty and two by Lee Petty. The most recent victory by the team was Feb. 23, 1975, when Richard Petty won from the pole and led 444 of 500 laps. Benny Parsons led the other 56 laps.
28Career victories for Kyle Busch, the most of any driver by age 23. He has six Cup wins, 14 in Nationwide competition and eight in Trucks. He will turn 23 on Friday.
33.5Average finish for Juan Montoya in his two starts at Richmond, the worst among active drivers. Montoya finished one lap down in 26th last spring and crashed to a 41st-place finish in the fall.
71Races since Dale Earnhardt Jr. won in the Cup Series. The last time was two years ago at Richmond, on May 6 when he held off Virginia native Denny Hamlin.
322Laps led by Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Richmond, ranking him 10th on the list of drivers entered this weekend. Earnhardt, however, is tied with Tony Stewart with the most victories at Richmond by an active driver with three.
2,887Laps completed this season by Jeff Burton, the only driver to have completed 100 percent of the scheduled laps in 2008. Teammates Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick have completed two less than Burton.
| POPULAR ALERTS | ||||
|
Richmond International Raceway
Active drivers, based on wins
| Driver | Starts | Wins | Top-5 | Top-10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 17 | 3 | 7 | 9 |
| Tony Stewart | 18 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Jeff Gordon | 30 | 2 | 12 | 18 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 12 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Joe Nemechek | 28 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Kevin Harvick | 14 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Kasey Kahne | 8 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Matt Kenseth | 16 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Kyle Petty | 52 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| Ryan Newman | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Jeff Burton | 27 | 1 | 7 | 12 |
| Bill Elliott | 45 | 1 | 8 | 15 |
| Mark Martin | 44 | 1 | 13 | 23 |
| Kurt Busch | 14 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Active drivers, based on average finish
| Driver | Starts | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ky. Busch | 6 | 14.5 | 6.2 | 292 |
| D. Hamlin | 4 | 4.8 | 6.5 | 67 |
| C. Bowyer | 4 | 19.0 | 10.8 | 4 |
| R. Newman | 12 | 8.8 | 11.1 | 388 |
| T. Stewart | 18 | 16.2 | 11.3 | 792 |
Sprint Cup Series
Official Standings
| Pos. | +/- | Driver | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | -- | Jeff Burton | 1347 | Leader |
| 2. | -- | Kyle Busch | 1325 | -22 |
| 3. | -- | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 1268 | -79 |
| 4. | +2 | Denny Hamlin | 1248 | -99 |
| 5. | -1 | Jimmie Johnson | 1245 | -102 |
| 6. | -1 | Kevin Harvick | 1208 | -139 |
| 7. | +1 | Clint Bowyer | 1182 | -165 |
| 8. | +2 | Greg Biffle | 1148 | -199 |
| 9. | -2 | Tony Stewart | 1137 | -210 |
| 10. | -1 | Carl Edwards | 1084 | -263 |
| 11. | +1 | Ryan Newman | 1062 | -285 |
| 12. | +5 | Juan Montoya | 1029 | -318 |
Cup Series News
- Hendrick indicates deal in the works to secure Knaus
- Wingo named crew chief for Ragan, No. 6 team
- Hendrick turning attention to getting Junior on track
- NASCAR files motion to keep France docs private
- Victory has Hamlin ready to fight for Cup title in 2010
- Martin can't mount charge needed to push Johnson
Remember To Check Out
|
All External sites will open in a new browser window. NASCAR.COM does not endorse external sites. |
|
© 2001-2009 NASCAR | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
|
Turner Entertainment Digital Network NASCAR.COM is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network. |
