Numbers Game 08/27/2012

by Garrett Horton

2
Kevin Harvick has led a total of two laps in the last 15 races.

3
Denny Hamlin has three wins this season, with all of them coming on tracks where he has never won at previously.

4
The last four top-5 finishes Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has recorded were all a fourth place effort.

5th
Marcos Ambrose finished fifth at Bristol, marking the first time in his Sprint Cup series career that he has had three consecutive top-5 finishes.

7
Kurt Busch has failed to finish on the lead lap in the last 7 races.

11
Kevin Harvick, who placed in the top-5 in two of the first five races this year, has just one since, which was at Dover, 11 races ago.

12
Kyle Busch hasn’t posted back-to-back top-10 finishes in his last 12 starts.

13
There were 13 cautions Saturday night at Bristol, easily the most in a race this year. The previous high had been the season opening Daytona 500 with ten, the only other race this year with double-digit caution flags.

19th
Greg Biffle finished 19th in Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race. That was the highest finishing driver out of not only Roush Fenway Racing, but other powerhouse teams like Penske Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing.

20
This is Hamlin’s 20th career victory, moving him into a tie with Speedy Thompson for 35th most all time.

23rd
Michael McDowell, who has start and parked in all but three races he has qualified for this year, finished 23rd at Bristol, only four laps off the pace. It is his best finish so far this year, and has was his third best result in 103 Cup races he has entered.

26
Bristol pole sitter Casey Mears led 26 laps Saturday, the most laps he has led in a race since Kansas in 2008, when he lead 29 laps while driving for Richard Childress Racing.

139
Joey Logano led 139 laps Saturday, more than anyone else. The last time a driver was credited with leading the most laps at Bristol with a lower total than Logano’s was Kurt Busch in March of 2004, when paced the field for 119 of the 500 laps run.

200
The car No. 11 has visited victory lane 200 times in the history of NASCAR, more than any other number. Car No. 43 is second most with 198 trips to the winner’s circle.