The NASCAR Cup Series heads into its sole off weekend of the 2022 season. With 16 races complete, take a look at standout stats from the regular season. There are 10 races left before the playoffs begin, starting with a trip to Nashville Superspeedway on June 26 (5 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
DRIVER STATS
— Kurt Busch is the only Stage 2 winner to go on to win the race (Kansas Speedway).
— Michael McDowell‘s six top-10 finishes and 38 laps led are his most in a season.
— Twelve different winners through 16 races is second most all-time. The most is 13 in 2003.
— Denny Hamlin‘s 48 wins without a championship is second most all-time to Junior Johnson’s 50. Johnson is a NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee.
— Kyle Busch has won at 24 different tracks, adding in Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt this year. Most all-time, Richard Petty at 50 different tracks.
— Twelve drivers have won in 2022. Only four of them have more than four top-five finishes: Ross Chastain (seven), Kyle Busch (six), Kyle Larson (six) and Joey Logano (five).
— Five drivers got their first pole in 2022 (Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer and Chris Buescher), the most since six in 2001.
— Four drivers got their first win in 2022 (Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez), the most since five in 2011. Through 16 races, though, four is the most since 10 in 1950, the Cup Series’ second season.
— Twenty drivers have won since Kevin Harvick last did. Harvick is riding a 59-race winless streak, the second longest of his career. He had a 115-race winless run between 2007-10.
— There are eight drivers who won in 2021 and have not in 2022 (Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, AJ Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell).
— Cole Custer has failed to finish in the top 10 through the first 16 races this season. His best finish has been 11th at Auto Club Speedway. His last top 10 was at Dover Motor Speedway in May 2021, 39 races ago.
— William Byron is the only driver to break 500 laps led, leading the Cup Series at 570. The next-closest driver is Chase Elliott at 471. Only three drivers are above the 400-lap mark, adding in Ross Chastain at 426.
— The longest top-10 finish streak at the moment is two, held by Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain. The longest top-10 streak by a driver this year is five races, three times: Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell.
— All four Championship 4 drivers from last season have at least three fewer top-five finishes through 16 races in 2022 compared to 2021. Kyle Larson six vs. nine. Martin Truex Jr. two vs. six. Denny Hamlin three vs. nine. Chase Elliott three vs. eight.
— Only one driver has more runner-up finishes without a win all-time than Tyler Reddick, who has five in 90 career starts. G.C. Spencer had seven in 415 career starts. The most runner-ups all-time prior to a win is 12 by James Hylton, who scored his first win in his 187th career start at Richmond Raceway in 1970.
TEAM FACTS
— Since 1949, Hendrick Motorsports has tallied an all-time most 37 wins after an off weekend. Next best, Richard Childress Racing at 27.
— Hendrick Motorsports is the only team to crack 1,000 laps led this season, currently at 1,332. The next best is Joe Gibbs Racing at 848.
— It took Trackhouse Racing 52 races to notch three wins. The fewest races it has taken a new team to win three races: 33, Team Penske in 1975.
— Trackhouse Racing and 23XI Racing both started in 2021 and expanded to two teams in 2022. Each has two runner-up finishes and five stage wins.
— Trackhouse Racing‘s three wins in 2022 came from two drivers (Ross Chastain, two; Daniel Suárez, one) and two crew chiefs (Phil Surgen and Travis Mack) who had never won in Cup Series prior to this year. Chastain, Suárez and Surgen had finished runner-up before, and Mack had a best finish of fourth.
TRACK TRENDS
— The final stage at Talladega Superspeedway was caution free. It is the only final stage in 2022 to go caution free.
— Charlotte Motor Speedway‘s race took 5 hours, 13 minutes and 6 seconds to complete. It is only the second time in the last 55 years a Cup Series race took more than 5 hours and 13 minutes to complete.
— Since the stage era begin in 2017, there have been at least three drivers to get their first win of the season in the final 10 races of the regular season. There were three in 2017 and 2020-21, four in 2018 and five in 2019. If the trend continues, there will be at least 15 winners in the 2022 regular season.
— The pass for the win came in the final 10 laps in 12 of the 16 races in 2022. The only races that had a longer leader stretch was Phoenix Raceway (Chase Briscoe led final 24), Martinsville Speedway (William Byron led final 83), Dover Motor Speedway (Chase Elliott led final 53) and Sonoma Raceway (Daniel Suárez led final 26). In 2021, there were only six race winners decided in the final 10 laps through 16 races.