Numbers Game 07-16-2012

by Garrett Horton

0
There were zero cautions due to accidents in Sunday’s running of the Lenox Industrial Tools 301.

1.6
Darian Grubb’s average finish as crew chief for the last three Loudon races. He led Denny Hamlin to a second-place finish on Sunday after guiding his driver from last year, Tony Stewart, to a runner up finish in July followed by a victory in September.

2 hours, 44 minutes, 24 seconds
The length of Sunday’s running of Lenox Industrial Tools 301, the fifth straight race under three hours and eleventh on the season.

3
Despite having two wins at New Hampshire, Clint Bowyer’s third-place finish on Sunday marked his only other top-5 in 13 starts at the 1-mile speedway.

4
Kasey Kahne has now won multiple races in a season for the fourth time in his career. Only once has he won more than twice, which came back in the 2006 season when made a series-high six trips to Victory Lane.

5
After being stuck on career win 199 for eight months, Rick Hendrick Motorsports has won five races.

7
Seven of the cars that qualified in the top-10 were able to finish there, including all four Hendrick cars. Of the three that failed to finish inside the top-10 included pole-sitter Kyle Busch, whose-16th place result was the lowest of all the top-10 starters.

8
Brad Keselowski hasn’t finished worse than eighth in the last three weeks, the first time has finished in the top-10 three consecutive races all year.

9
Despite coming up just short after leading the most laps on Sunday, Denny Hamlin posted his 9th top-5 in 2012, moving him into a tie with Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth for most on the year.

14
Kasey Kahne now has 14 career wins, tying him with Dick Hutcherson and LeeRoy Yarbrough for 51st most all time.

19
Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman have started in the top-20 in all 19 races run this year.

20
Denny Hamlin recorded his 20th podium result since 2008, the fourth highest total behind Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Tony Stewart.

21
It was 21 races ago the last time Dale Earnhardt, Jr. failed to finish on the lead lap. It was the November event at Phoenix, where he finished 24th, two laps off the pace.

150
Denny Hamlin led a race high 150 laps, the most he has led in a race since race 35 at Phoenix in 2010, where he led 190 laps before having to pit for fuel late in the going and finished 12th. This is the race many people point to in costing him the 2010 Sprint Cup championship.