Coke Zero 400 at Daytona Odds & Ends

At Daytona International Speedway:

History

·         Groundbreaking for Daytona International Speedway was Nov. 25, 1957. The soil underneath the banked corners was dug from the infield of the track and the hole filled with water. It is now known as Lake Lloyd.

·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona was a 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, 1959.

·         Richard Petty won his 200th career race on July 4, 1984 at Daytona.

·         Lights were installed in the spring of 1998. However, the race was delayed until October that year due to thick smoke from wildfires. The second Daytona race has been held under lights ever since.

·         For only the second time in its history, Daytona International Speedway was repaved in 2010. The project began on Monday, July 5, 2010.

Notebook

·         There have been 128 NASCAR Sprint Cup races since the track hosted its first race in 1959: 53 have been 500 miles, 48 were 400 miles and four 250 miles. There were also 23 qualifying races that were points races.

·         Fireball Roberts won the inaugural pole at Daytona.

·         Bob Welborn won the first race at Daytona, the 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500.

·         Lee Petty won the first Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, 1959.

·         Fireball Roberts won the first 400-mile race at Daytona, the 1963 Firecracker 400.

·         53 drivers have posted poles; 20 have more than one.

·         Cale Yarborough leads all drivers with 12 poles.

·         Bill Elliott leads all active drivers with five poles; followed by Jeff Gordon and Ken Schrader, with three.

·         55 drivers have won a race; 26 have won more than once.

·         Richard Petty leads all drivers in victories, with 10.

·         Jeff Gordon has six victories, more than any other active driver.

·         The Wood Brothers have won 15 races at Daytona, more than any other car owner.

·         17 full-length races at Daytona have been won from the pole, including last year’s Coke Zero 400, won by polesitter Kevin Harvick.  

·         A driver has swept both races at Daytona only four times, most recently by Bobby Allison, in 1982.

·         The last 11 Daytona races that finished under green have had a margin of victory under a half second.

NASCAR in Florida

·         There have been 166 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Florida.

·         161 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Florida.

·         There have been nine race winners from Florida in NASCAR’s three national series:

Driver	NSCS	NNS	NCTS
Fireball Roberts	33	0	0
LeeRoy Yarbrough	14	0	0
Marshall Teague	7	0	0
Joe Nemechek	4	16	0
Bobby Johns	2	0	0
David Reutimann	2	1	1
Shorty Rollins	1	0	0
Rick Wilson	0	2	0
Aric Almirola	0	1	2

Daytona International Speedway Data

Race #: 17 of 36 (7-2-11)

Track Size: 2.5 miles

Race Length: 400 miles (160 laps)

Banking/Corners: 31 degrees

Banking/Straights: 3 degrees

Banking/Tri-Oval: 18 degrees

 

Driver Rating at Daytona

Trevor Bayne**          108.2

Tony Stewart            100.6

Kyle Busch               98.3

Kurt Busch               96.4

Jeff Gordon               89.6

Clint Bowyer             89.1

Matt Kenseth            87.9

Jimmie Johnson        87.9

Dale Earnhardt Jr.     87.3

Carl Edwards            85.7

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2011 races (13 total) at Daytona.

** Indicates the driver has only competed in one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

  

Qualifying/Race Data

2010 pole winner: None (inclement weather)

2010 race winner: Kevin Harvick (135.719 mph, 7-3-10)

Qualifying record: Bill Elliott (210.364 mph, 42.783 seconds, 2-9-87)

Race record: Bobby Allison (173.473 mph, 7-4-80)

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Pocono Raceway Odds & Ends: 5-Hour Energy 500

At Pocono Raceway:

History

·         Opened in 1968 as a three-quarter-mile track, Pocono Raceway held the first race on the 2.5-mile track in 1971.

·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was in 1974.

Notebook

·         There have been 66 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Pocono Raceway.

·         There was one race from 1974 through 1981, and two per year since.

·         All NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Pocono have been scheduled for 500 miles.

·         Buddy Baker won the first pole.

·         There have been 36 different pole winners, including David Pearson who won the pole there in June 1984 but did not race; 16 drivers have more than one pole there.

·         The pole has been swept just three times: Bill Elliott (1985), Ken Schrader (1993), Denny Hamlin (2006).

·         Richard Petty won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono.

·         29 different drivers have won races at Pocono, led by Bill Elliott, with five victories; 20 drivers have won more than once there.

·         There have been six season sweeps at Pocono, the last by Denny Hamlin in 2006.

·         Bobby Allison and Tim Richmond each won three consecutive races at Pocono.

·         47 of 66 Pocono races have been won from a top-10 start.

·         The June 2005 race was won by Carl Edwards from the 29th starting position, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started.

·         Rick Hendrick leads all car owners with 11 Pocono victories.

·         Mark Martin leads all drivers in top fives (19) and top 10s (33), but has yet to win at Pocono. His best finish was second, six times (most recently in August 2004).

·         Denny Hamlin (8.2) and Jimmie Johnson (9.5) are the only active drivers to average a top-10 finish.

NASCAR in Pennsylvania

·         There have been 100 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Pennsylvania.

·         137 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Pennsylvania.

·         There are three race winners from Pennsylvania in NASCAR’s three national series:

Driver	NSCS	NNS	NCWTS
Dick Linder	3	0	0
Jimmy Spencer	2	12	1
Mark Donohue	1	0	0

Pocono Raceway Data

Race #: 14 of 36 (6-12-11)

Track Size: 2.5 mile (200 laps/500miles)

·     Banking/Turn 1: 14 degrees

·     Banking/Turn 2: 8 degrees

·     Banking/Turn 3: 6 degrees

·     Frontstretch: 3,740 feet

·     Backstretch: 3,055 feet

·     Shortstretch: 1,780

Top 10 Driver Ratings at Pocono 

Denny Hamlin                119.2

Jimmie Johnson             105.9

Tony Stewart                 102.4

Kurt Busch                    101.8

Jeff Gordon                    98.8

Carl Edwards                 98.6

Mark Martin                   96.4

Brian Vickers                 93.9

Ryan Newman               93.9

Kevin Harvick                 91.4

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2010 races (12 total) at Pocono.

Qualifying/Race Data

2010 pole winner: Kyle Busch,

(169.485 mph, 53.102 seconds)

2010 race winner: Denny Hamlin, 136.303 mph, 6-6-10)

Track qualifying record: Kasey Kahne (172.533 mph, 52.164 seconds,

 6-11-04)

Track race record: Rusty Wallace (144.892 mph, 7-21-96)

- compiled by Ray M. Smith, NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications, Sports Services 


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2011 Coca-Cola Odds & Ends: Charlotte Track Facts

At Charlotte Motor Speedway:

Johnson is a six-time winner at Charlotte (Getty)

History
· Construction began on Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1959.
· The track’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on June 19, 1960.
· The track was repaved midseason in 1994.
· The track name changed from Charlotte Motor Speedway to Lowe’s Motor Speedway in 1999. It changed back to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 2010 season.
· The track was re-paved again before the 2006 season.

Notebook
· There have been 104 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, two races per year since the track opened in 1960. In 1961, there were two 100-mile qualifying points races held the week before the May race. The first six fall races at Charlotte were 400-mile events (1960-65).
· 37 drivers have posted poles, led by David Pearson with 14.
· Fireball Roberts won the pole for the first race, in 1960.
· David Pearson posted 11 straight poles at Charlotte from the fall of 1973 through 1978.
· Ryan Newman leads all active drivers in poles, with nine. Jeff Gordon has eight.
· Jeff Gordon won five straight poles for the spring races between 1994 and 1998.
· 43 drivers have won races, led by Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip and Jimmie Johnson, with six each.
· Joe Lee Johnson won the first race, in 1960.
· There have been 13 back-to-back victories, including three consecutive by Fred Lorenzen (fall 1964 and both 1965) and four straight by Jimmie Johnson (both in 2004 and 2005).
· A sweep has occurred eight times, including each season from 2004-2007.
· 14 races have been won from the pole, the last by Jimmie Johnson (October 2009).
· Jimmie Johnson won the 2003 Coca-Cola 600 from the 37th starting position, the furthest back a race winner has started.
· Joey Logano is one of two drivers with more than two Charlotte races to average top-10 finishes (8.5); Jimmie Johnson is the other, with an average finish of 9.8.
· A number of active drivers earned their first win at CMS: Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears and David Reutimann. Inactive drivers David Pearson, Buddy Baker and Charlie Glotzbach also got their first series win at Charlotte.

NASCAR in North Carolina
* There have been 512 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in North Carolina.
* 424 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as North Carolina.
* There have been 43 race winners from North Carolina in NASCAR’s three national series; 28 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Charlotte Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 12 of 36 (05-29-11)
Track Size: 1.5 miles
· Banking/Corners: 24 degrees
· Banking/Straights: 5 degrees
· Frontstretch: 1,980 feet
· Backstretch: 1,500 feet

Driver Rating at Charlotte
Jimmie Johnson 114.7
Kyle Busch 108.2
Joey Logano 102.8
Kasey Kahne 95.7
Mark Martin 92.6
Matt Kenseth 89.4
Jeff Gordon 88.9
Brian Vickers 88.0
Jeff Burton 87.3
Greg Biffle 86.6
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2010 races (12 total) at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Qualifying/Race Data
2010 pole winner: Ryan Newman (187.546 mph, 28.793 seconds)
2010 race winner: Kurt Busch(144.966 mph, 05-30-10)
Qualifying record: Elliott Sadler (193.216 mph, 27.948 seconds,10-13-05)
600-mile race record: Bobby Labonte (151.952 mph, 05-28-95)

- compiled by Ray M. Smith, NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications

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