Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Bristol Motor Speedway Track Facts: 2017 Food City 500

Even with multiple grooves, Bristol still produces fun racing.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 2017 Top 16 at Bristol Motor Speedway
Rank
Driver
Races
Poles
Wins
Top Fives
Top 10s
DNFs
Average Finish
Driver Rating
 
 
1
Kyle Larson
6
0
0
0
2
1
21.5
87.4
 
2
Chase Elliott
2
0
0
1
1
0
9.5
94.9
 
3
Martin Truex Jr
22
0
0
2
2
2
20.9
82.0
 
4
Brad Keselowski
14
0
2
4
5
0
15.9
91.5
 
5
Joey Logano
16
1
2
3
6
1
17.6
85.8
 
6
Ryan Blaney
3
0
0
0
0
0
22.7
79.0
 
7
Kyle Busch
23
1
5
8
13
3
14.3
100.5
 
8
Jamie McMurray
28
0
0
3
11
1
16.5
80.1
 
9
Clint Bowyer
22
0
0
6
10
2
15.7
79.6
 
10
Kevin Harvick
32
1
2
11
15
3
13.9
95.7
 
11
Jimmie Johnson
30
1
1
10
17
1
14.2
91.6
 
12
Trevor Bayne
5
0
0
1
1
0
18.8
64.7
 
13
Ryan Newman
30
3
0
2
16
3
16.4
85.6
 
15
Kurt Busch
32
1
5
9
16
3
14.8
93.1
 
16
Denny Hamlin
22
3
1
6
10
2
16.2
90.2
 
* – Based on last 24 races at Bristol Motor Speedway (2005 – 2016).


2017 Stage Winners / Drivers with Playoff Points
Track
Stage 1 Winner
Stage 2 Winner
Race Winner
 
Playoff Pts. Following Race #7
Daytona
Kyle Busch
Kevin Harvick
Kurt Busch
 
Drivers
Playoff Points
Atlanta
Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick
Brad Keselowski
 
Brad Keselowski
10
Las Vegas
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Truex Jr.
 
Martin Truex Jr.
9
Phoenix
Joey Logano
Chase Elliott
Ryan Newman
 
Kyle Larson
6
Auto Club
Kyle Larson
Martin Truex Jr.
Kyle Larson
 
Ryan Newman
5
Martinsville
Martin Truex Jr.
Chase Elliott
Brad Keselowski
 
Kurt Busch
5
Texas
Ryan Blaney
Ryan Blaney
Jimmie Johnson
 
Jimmie Johnson
5
Bristol



 
Kevin Harvick
3
Richmond
    
Chase Elliott
2
Talladega



 
Ryan Blaney
2
     
Joey Logano
1
     
Kyle Busch
1

2017 Stage 1 And 2 Points
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Rank
Drivers
Stage 1 Pts
Stage 2 Pts
Combined
1
Kyle Larson
45
42
87
2
Chase Elliott
35
50
85
3
Brad Keselowski
44
38
82
4
Martin Truex Jr.
45
28
73
5
Ryan Blaney
36
25
61
6
Kyle Busch
33
21
54
7
Jamie McMurray
30
21
51
8
Kevin Harvick
26
25
51
9
Joey Logano
22
18
40
10
Jimmie Johnson
13
24
37
11
Clint Bowyer
10
13
23
12
Denny Hamlin
16
4
20
13
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
8
11
19
14
Erik Jones #
3
16
19
15
Ryan Newman
7
12
19
16
Kurt Busch
0
13
13
17
Austin Dillon
2
5
7
18
Danica Patrick
1
6
7
19
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
7
0
7
20
Matt Kenseth
2
4
6
21
AJ Allmendinger
0
5
5
22
Trevor Bayne
0
3
3
23
Kasey Kahne
0
1
1


2017 MENCS Playoff Grid Outlook
Pos.
Drivers
Wins
Playoff Points
Points
1
Brad Keselowski
2
10
274
2
Martin Truex Jr.
1
9
275
3
Kyle Larson
1
6
315
4
Jimmie Johnson
1
5
190
5
Ryan Newman
1
5
163
6
Kurt Busch
1
5
151
7
Kevin Harvick
0
3
198
8
Chase Elliott
0
2
298
9
Ryan Blaney
0
2
224
10
Joey Logano
0
1
243
11
Kyle Busch
0
1
211
12
Jamie McMurray
0
0
209
13
Clint Bowyer
0
0
204
14
Trevor Bayne
0
0
164
15
Erik Jones
0
0
159
16
Denny Hamlin
0
0
151

Bristol Motor Speedway Data
Season Race #: 08 of 36 (04-23-17)
Track Size: 0.533-miles
Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 24-28 degrees
Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 24-28 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 4-8 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 4-8 degrees
Frontstretch Length:  650 feet
Backstretch Length:  650 feet
Race Length: 500 laps / 266.5 miles
Stages 1 & 2 Length: 125 laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 250 laps

Top 10 Active Driver Ratings at Bristol
Matt Kenseth............................ 100.9
Kyle Busch............................... 100.5
Kevin Harvick............................. 95.7
Chase Elliott............................... 94.9
Kurt Busch................................. 93.1
Jimmie Johnson.......................... 91.6
Brad Keselowski......................... 91.5
Denny Hamlin............................. 90.2
Dale Earnhardt Jr....................... 87.4
Kyle Larson................................ 87.4
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2016 races (24 total) among active drivers at Bristol Motor Speedway

Qualifying/Race Data
2016 pole winner:
Carl Edwards, Toyota
127.997 mph, 14.991 secs. 04-15-16

2016 race winner:
Carl Edwards, Toyota
81.637 mph, (3:15:52), 04-17-16

Track qualifying record:
Denny Hamlin, Toyota
131.407 mph, 14.602 secs. 08-21-15

Track race record:
Charlie Glotzbach, Chevrolet
101.074 mph, (2:38:12), 07-11-71


At Bristol Motor Speedway:
History
·        Groundbreaking for Bristol International Speedway, as Bristol Motor Speedway was originally known, took place in 1960. The track was an exact half-mile.
·        First Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race was July 30, 1961; Jack Smith won the event (with relief from Johnny Allen).
·        All of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races have been scheduled for 500 laps, except for both races in 1976 and the second in 1977, which were 400 laps.
·        In the fall of 1969, the track was reshaped and re-measured to .533-miles.
·        The name changed to Bristol International Raceway in 1978.
·        The first night race was held in the fall of 1978.
·        The surface was changed from asphalt to concrete in 1992.
·        The name changed to Bristol Motor Speedway in May 1996.
·        The track was resurfaced between races in 2007, and the turns were ground down in 2012 to eliminate part of the progressive banking.
Starts
·        There have been 112 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway since the first race in 1961, two races each season.
·        441 drivers have competed in at least one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol; 311 in more than one.
·        NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the series in starts at Bristol with 60. Matt Kenseth leads all active MENCS drivers with 34 starts.
·        Joey Logano leads all active MENCS drivers in average starting position at Bristol with a 7.760. 
·        Logano (7.760) and Chase Elliott (9.500) are the only two active drivers with an average starting position inside the top 10.

·        Ryan Newman leads the series among active drivers with the most Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol without visiting Victory Lane at 30.
·        Paul Menard (19 starts) leads the series in starts with the fewest DNFs (0) at Bristol.
·        Thirty-three drivers have made their first series career start at Bristol Motor Speedway; but only one is currently active in the MENCS - AJ Allmendinger (03/25/2007).  

Poles
·        Fred Lorenzen won the inaugural Coors Light pole with a speed of 79.225 mph in a Ford.
·        48 different drivers have poles at Bristol, led by Mark Martin and Cale Yarborough with nine each.  Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman lead all active drivers with three each.
·        10 different drivers have posted consecutive poles at Bristol Motor Speedway; Mark Martin is the only of the 10 to win four consecutive poles at Bristol: Fireball Roberts (swept 1962), Fred Lorenzen (swept 1963), Richard Petty (1967-’68), Bobby Allison (swept 1972), Cale Yarborough (swept 1973; swept 1977; swept 1980), Darrell Waltrip (swept 1981), Geoff Bodine (swept 1986), Mark Martin (swept 1995-1996– all four races; and swept 2009); Rusty Wallace (swept 1998), Jeff Gordon (swept 2002) and Denny Hamlin (fall 2013, spring 2014).
·        Youngest Bristol pole winner: Joey Logano (3/21/2010 – 19 years, 9 months, 25 days) – his first career series pole.
·        Oldest Bristol pole winner: Harry Gant (8/27/1994 – 54 years, 7 months, 17 days).
·        Seven different drivers have posted their first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career pole at Bristol. Joey Logano is the only active driver to win his first MENCS pole at Bristol (03/21/2010).

Wins
·        42 different drivers have won at Bristol, led by Darrell Waltrip (12). Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch each have five wins, the most among active drivers.
·        12 drivers have won consecutive MENCS races at Bristol led by Darrell Waltrip with seven consecutive victories from 1981-1984. The other 11 are Fred Lorenzen (1963-1964 sweep), David Pearson (1968 sweep), Bobby Allison (1972 sweep), Cale Yarborough did it twice (1974 sweep and four straight from 1976-1977), Richard Petty (1975 sweep), Dale Earnhardt also did twice (1985 sweep and 1987 sweep), Alan Kulwicki (1992 sweep), Rusty Wallace (2000 sweep), Kurt Busch (2003 sweep and 2004 spring race), Kyle Busch (2009 sweep) and Brad Keselowski (2011 fall-2012 spring).
·        Youngest Bristol winner: Kyle Busch (03/25/2007 – 21 years, 10 months, 23 days).
·        Oldest Bristol winner: Dale Earnhardt (08/28/1999 – 48 years, 3 months, 30 days).
·        Five drivers have posted their first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career win at Bristol Motor Speedway: Dale Earnhardt (04/01/1979), Rusty Wallace (04/06/1986), Ernie Irvan (03/25/1990), Elliott Sadler (03/25/2001) and Kurt Busch (03/24/2002).

·        Junior Johnson leads the series in car owner wins at Bristol with 16; Roger Penske leads the series among active car owners with the most wins at Bristol with 12.
·        The race winner has started from the pole 24 times (21.6%) - the most productive starting position. The last driver to win from the pole was Carl Edwards (Spring, 2016).
·        Six drivers have won from the pole position multiple times: Bobby Allison (1972 twice), Cale Yarborough (1973, 1977 twice, 1980), Darrell Waltrip (1981 twice, 1982), Rusty Wallace (1991, 1993, 1999, 2000), Matt Kenseth (2005, 2015) and Carl Edwards (2008, 2016).
·        37 of the 112 (33%) MENCS races at Bristol have been won from the front row: Pole position (24 wins); second-place (13 wins).
·        65 of the 112 (58%) MENCS races have been won from a top-five starting position.
·        89 of the 112 (79.4%) MENCS races have been won from a top-10 starting position
·        Six of the 112 (5.4%) races have been won from a starting position outside the top 20; most recent was Kevin Harvick in 2016 fall race – he started 24th. 
·        The deepest in the field that a race winner has started is 38th, by Elliott Sadler in 2001.
·        Eight different manufacturers have won in the MENCS at Bristol; led by Chevrolet with 43 victories; followed by Ford (36), Toyota (9), Dodge (8), Pontiac (8), Buick (4), Plymouth (3) and Oldsmobile (1).
·        Four car numbers have produced eight or more Bristol MENCS wins:
Car Number – (Number of Wins) – Most Recent Win
o   No. 11  - (19 wins) – Denny Hamlin, 2012
o   No. 2 – (12 wins) – Brad Keselowski, 2012
o   No. 17 – (eight wins) – Matt Kenseth, 2006
o   No. 3 – (eight wins) – Dale Earnhardt, 1999

Additional Finishing Position Stats
·        Richard Petty leads the series in runner-up finishes at Bristol with 10; Kevin Harvick leads all active drivers with five; followed by Kyle Busch with three.
·        Darrell Waltrip leads the series in top-three finishes at Bristol with 23 followed Richard Petty with 18. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth lead all active drivers with 8 each.   
·        Darrell Waltrip and Richard Petty lead the series in top-five finishes at Bristol with 26 each. Matt Kenseth leads all active drivers with 13; followed by Kevin Harvick with 11.
·        Richard Petty leads the series in top-10 finishes at Bristol with 37. Matt Kenseth leads the series among active drivers in top-10 finishes with 20; followed by Jimmie Johnson (17).

·        Chase Elliott leads the series among active drivers in average finishing position at Bristol with a 9.5.

Average Finishing Positions at Bristol Motor Speedway
All-Time
 
Last Four Races (2015-2016)
Active Drivers
Average Finish
 
Active Drivers
Average Finish
Chase Elliott
9.500
 
Dale Earnhardt Jr
9.000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
10.625
 
Jimmie Johnson
9.000
Dale Earnhardt Jr
12.515
 
Chase Elliott
9.500
Kevin Harvick
13.938
 
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
10.750
Jimmie Johnson
14.167
 
Jamie McMurray
11.500

Track/Event Specific Stats
·        13 of the last 17 MENCS races (76.4%) that have ended under green at Bristol Motor Speedway have a Margin of Victory of less than a second.
·        Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol is the 3/25/2007 race won by Kyle Busch with a MOV of 0.064 second.
·        Two of the 112 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway have been shortened due to weather conditions. The first was the 8/27/1983 race won by Darrell Waltrip and the second was on 3/31/1996 and won by Jeff Gordon.
·        Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol Motor Speedway three times; most recently August 25, 2012.
·        There have been five NASCAR Overtime finishes at Bristol – all five were the spring race: 2007 (500/504); 2008 (500/506); 2009 (500/503); 2014 (500/503); 2015 (500/511).

Female Competitor Stats
·        Two female drivers have made Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol: Janet Guthrie and Danica Patrick.
Driver
Starting Position
Finishing Position
Driver Rating
Date
Danica Patrick
29
22
43.3
8/20/2016
Danica Patrick
33
27
45.7
4/17/2016
Danica Patrick
32
27
55.8
8/22/2015
Danica Patrick
26
9
72.6
4/19/2015
Danica Patrick
24
27
45.2
8/23/2014
Danica Patrick
36
18
55.6
3/16/2014
Danica Patrick
22
26
46.2
8/24/2013
Danica Patrick
41
28
41.4
3/17/2013
Danica Patrick
43
29
46.3
8/25/2012
Averages
31.8
23.7
50.2
 
     
Driver
Starting Position
Finishing Position
Date
 
Janet Guthrie
9
6
8/28/1977
 
Janet Guthrie
21
11
4/17/1977
 
Averages
15
8.5
  

NASCAR in Tennessee
·        There has been a total of 332 NASCAR national series races among eight tracks in the state of Tennessee.
Track Name
City
MENCS
NXS
NCWTS
Total Races
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol
112
69
19
200
Nashville Speedway
Lebanon
42
9
5
56
Nashville Superspeedway
Nashville
0
21
13
34
Memphis Motorsports Park
Memphis
0
11
12
23
Smokey Mountain Raceway
Maryville
12
0
0
12
Kingsport Speedway
Kingsport
3
0
0
3
Chattanooga International Raceway
Chattanooga
2
0
0
2
Tennessee-Carolina Speedway
Newport
2
0
0
2
Totals
 
173
110
49
332

·        The first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held in Tennessee was at Tennessee-Carolina Speedway on 10/07/1956 and won by Fireball Roberts.

Tennessee Drivers
·        106 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as Tennessee.
·        14 drivers from Tennessee have won at least one race in NASCAR’s three national series.
Rank
Driver
Monster Energy
XFINITY
Camping World
Combined
1
Darrell Waltrip
84
13
0
97
2
Sterling Marlin
10
2
0
12
3
Bobby Hamilton
4
1
10
15
4
Joe Lee Johnson
2
0
0
2
5
Trevor Bayne
1
2
0
3
6
Paul Lewis
1
0
0
1
7
Bobby Hamilton Jr
0
5
0
5
8
Jeff Purvis
0
4
0
4
9
L.D. Ottinger
0
3
0
3
10
Mike Alexander
0
2
0
2
11
Casey Atwood
0
2
0
2
12
Brad Teague
0
1
0
1
13
Chad Chaffin
0
0
2
2
14
John King
0
0
1
1

·        Darrell Waltrip, from Franklin, Tennessee, was inducted into the 2012 class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Waltrip is the only Tennessee native driver to win a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. 
·        Only two of the 14 drivers from Tennessee have won at least one race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at a track located in the state of Tennessee: Darrell Waltrip (Bristol, 12 wins; Nashville, eight wins) and Joe Lee Johnson (Nashville, one win).


Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Milestones
Drivers
Has
Needs
Milestones
Chris Buescher
49
1
Attempt to make his 50th MENCS career start (282nd all-time)
Jimmie Johnson
81
2
Tie Cale Yarborough for sixth on MENCS all-time wins list
Kyle Busch
38
1
Tie Tim Flock (39) for 18th on all-time MENCS wins list
Matt Kenseth
38
1
Tie Tim Flock (39) for 18th on all-time MENCS wins list
Kevin Harvick
35
2
Tie Bobby Isaac (37) for 21st on MENCS all-time wins list
Kurt Busch
29
3
Tie Dale Jarrett (32) for 24th on all-time MENCS wins list
Denny Hamlin
29
3
Tie Dale Jarrett (32) for 24th on all-time MENCS wins list
Brad Keselowski
23
2
Tie Joe Weatherly, Jim Paschal (25) for 31st on all-time MENCS wins list
Ryan Newman
51
3
To tie Bill Elliott for eighth on the all-time MENCS poles list
Jimmie Johnson
35
1
Tie Rusty Wallace and Rex White for 17th on all-time MENCS poles list
Kasey Kahne
27
1
Break the tie with Terry Labonte to become solely 25th on all-time MENCS poles list
Denny Hamlin
24
1
Break the tie with Alan Kulwicki to become solely 28th on all-time MENCS poles list
Kevin Harvick
48
1
Break the tie with Lee Petty and become solely 10th on all-time MENCS second-place finishes list
Jimmie Johnson
46
2
Tie Lee Petty and Kevin Harvick for 10th on all-time MENCS second-place finishes list
Matt Kenseth
29
1
Tie Ricky Rudd for 25th on all-time MENCS second-place finishes list
Kyle Busch
149
1
To become the 23rd driver to post 150 or more MENCS top-five finishes
Dale Earnhardt Jr
149
1
To become the 23rd driver to post 150 or more MENCS top-five finishes
Jimmie Johnson
331
1
Tie Lee Petty for 12th on the MENCS all-time top-10 finishes list
AJ Allmendinger
49
1
To post his 50th career MENCS top-10 finish
Kyle Busch
12,770
230
To become the 11th MENCS driver all-time to lead 13,000 or more laps
Kevin Harvick
10,660
340
To become 17th MENCS driver all-time to lead 11,000 or more laps
Kurt Busch
8,863
137
To become 20th MENCS driver all-time to lead 9,000 or more laps
Ryan Newman
4,711
289
To become 40th MENCS driver all-time to lead 5,000 or more laps
Joey Logano
3,930
70
To become the 52nd MENCS driver all-time to lead 4,000 or more laps
    
Track Specific Milestones
Drivers
Has
Needs
Milestones
Kurt Busch
5
1
Break tie with Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch to become solely fifth all-time on MENCS Bristol wins list and series most among active drivers
Kyle Busch
5
1
Break tie with Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch to become solely fifth all-time on MENCS Bristol wins list and series most among active drivers
Jack Roush
11
1
Tie Roger Penske for the second-most MENCS wins all-time at Bristol
Rick Hendrick
10
1
Tie Jack Roush for the third-most MENCS wins all-time at Bristol
Joe Gibbs
9
1
Tie Rick Hendrick for the fourth-most MENCS wins all-time at Bristol
Richard Childress
9
1
Tie Rick Hendrick for the fourth-most MENCS wins all-time at Bristol


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