0
Top-five finishes by Cup Series rookies this season. A sixth by Daniel Suarez Sunday was a season best for all freshmen. Ty Dillon, of course, led 27 laps and was in contention to win until a late wreck wiped out an opportunity for a better ending.
0
Top-five finishes for Kurt Busch since the Daytona 500. Busch wrecked while leading on a restart at Dover Sunday, then crashed again later and wound up 37th.
1
Driver within 100 points of Martin Truex Jr. in the standings halfway through the regular season: Kyle Larson (-9).
2
Straight races Brad Keselowski has crashed out. That’s just the second time in his Cup Series career that’s happened (2016 season finale at Homestead and the 2017 Daytona 500).
3
Wins this season for Jimmie Johnson, the most of any driver in the series. Those are also Johnson’s lone top-five finishes of the year.
4
Fewer starts it took Jimmie Johnson to get to 83 Cup victories compared to childhood idol Cale Yarborough.
5
Runner-up finishes for Kyle Larson through 13 races, including a second on Sunday. Larson fell short despite leading a career-high 241 laps.
6th
Position of Jimmie Johnson on the Cup Series all-time win list. Only Bobby Allison (84), Darrell Waltrip (84), Jeff Gordon (93), David Pearson (105), and Richard Petty (200) are above him.
11
Victories for Jimmie Johnson at the Monster Mile, a series record.
12
Drivers who failed to finish at Dover due to wrecks. That’s 30 percent of the field.
15
Caution flags Sunday at Dover, one short of the track record set in 1993.
20th
Finishing position for Ross Chastain in his Cup Series debut. It was the best run since Daytona for the team he ran for, Premium Motorsports.
28.8
Average finish for Joey Logano since his Richmond win was labeled an “encumbered” finish. Logano can’t use that to make the NASCAR playoffs and he has tumbled from solidly in the field to on the bubble.
76
Races in between Danica Patrick’s last top-10 Cup Series finish. Patrick, 10th at Dover Sunday ran ninth at Bristol in April 2015. That put her 13th in points; she’s never been that high since.
About the author
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 40+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.
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