Dover International Speedway:

Dover International Speedway:

History

·         The official opening of Dover International Speedway, then called Dover Downs International Speedway, was in 1969.

·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on July 6, 1969 – won by Richard Petty.

·         The first two races at Dover were 300 miles. The race length was changed to 500 miles in 1971.

·         The track surface was changed to concrete in 1995.

·         The race length was changed to 400 miles beginning with the second race in 1997.

·         The track name was changed to Dover International Speedway in 2002.

 

Notebook

·         There have been 86 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Dover International Speedway, one race in 1969 and 1970, two races per year since 1971.

·         371 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway; 268 in more than one.

·         NASCAR Hall of Famer Ricky Rudd leads the series in starts at Dover with 56. Mark Martin leads all active drivers with 53 starts; followed by Terry Labonte with 52.

·         David Pearson won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Dover in 1969 with a speed of 130.430 mph.

·         36 drivers have Coors Light Pole Awards at Dover, led by David Pearson with six. Mark Martin leads all active drivers in poles, with five, followed by Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman with four each.

·         Eight drivers have won consecutive Coors Light poles at Dover. David Pearson holds the record for most consecutive poles at Dover with three; from 1973 to the spring race of 1974.

·         Three active drivers have posted consecutive Coors Light poles at Dover: Mark Martin (fall 1988 and spring 1989), Bobby Labonte (fall 1996 and spring 1997) and Ryan Newman (fall 2005 and spring 2006).

·         Youngest Dover pole winner: Jeff Gordon (6/4/1995 – 23 years, 10 months, 0 days).

·         Oldest Dover pole winner: Mark Martin (6/1/2012 – 53 years, 4 months, 23 days).

·         34 different drivers have won at Dover International Speedway, led by Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Jimmie Johnson with seven wins each.

·         12 drivers have posted consecutive wins at Dover International Speedway, including three consecutive by David Pearson (fall 1972 and 1973 sweep), Rusty Wallace (fall 1993 and 1994 sweep) and Jeff Gordon (fall 1995 and 1996 sweep).

·         Youngest Dover winner: Kyle Busch (6/1/2008 – 23 years, 0 months, 30 days).

·         Oldest Dover winner: Harry Gant (5/31/1992 – 52 years, 4 months, 21 days).

·         Hendrick Motorsportshas the most wins at Dover in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with 14: Jimmie Johnson (seven), Jeff Gordon (four), Geoff Bodine (one), Ken Schrader (one) and Ricky Rudd (one).

·         Nine different manufacturers have won in the NSCS at Dover; led by Chevrolet with 32 victories; followed by Ford with 25.

·         13 of the 86 (15.1%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Dover have been won from the pole position; the two most recent were Jimmie Johnson in 2009 and 2010.

·         The second-place starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (15) than any other starting position at Dover International Speedway.

·         28 of the 86 (32.5%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Dover have been won from the front row: 13 from the pole and 15 from second place.

·         68 of the 86 (79.0%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Dover have been won from a top-10 starting position.

·         Four of the 86 (4.6%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Dover have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.

·         The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Dover was 37th, by Kyle Petty in the spring of 1995.

·         Mark Martin leads the series in runner-up finishes at Dover with eight; followed by Dale Earnhardt with five.

·         Mark Martin leads the series in top-five finishes at Dover with 24; followed by Dale Earnhardt with 19.

·         Mark Martin leads the series in top-10 finishes at Dover with 32; followed by Richard Petty and Ricky Rudd with 26 each.

·         Ryan Newman leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Dover with a 9.500.

·         Carl Edwards leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Dover with an 8.294; Jimmie Johnson (8.636) is the only other active driver with an average finish in the top 10.

·         15 of the 16 active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners at Dover International Speedway participated in at least one or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Jimmie Johnson won at Dover in his first two appearances.

·         Jeff Burton competed at Dover International Speedway 25 times before winning in the fall of 2006; the longest span of any the 16 active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners.

·         Among the 16 active NSCS Dover winners, Jeff Burton (25), Kurt Busch (22), Mark Martin (22), Matt Kenseth (14), Bobby Labonte (13) and Ken Schrader (12) all made 10 or more attempts before their first win.

·         Joe Nemechek leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup starts at Dover without visiting Victory Lane at 37; followed by Kevin Harvick with 24.

·         Since the advent of electronic scoring, the closest margin of victory (MOV) in NSCS at Dover was the Sept. 25, 2005 race won by Jimmie Johnson over Kyle Busch with an MOV of 0.08 second.

·         There has been one NASCAR Sprint Cup race resulting with a green-white-checkered finish at Dover International Speedway: fall of 2005 - 400/404 (scheduled no. of laps/actual no. of laps).

·         Not one of the 86 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Dover has been shortened due to weather conditions.

·         Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Dover five times: fall of 1984, spring of 2001, fall of 2003, spring of 2005 and spring of 2011.

·         Four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series active drivers have made their first career start at Dover: Bobby Labonte (6/3/91), Matt Kenseth (9/20/98), Kurt Busch (9/24/00) and David Ragan (9/24/06).

·         Two active drivers have posted their first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Award at Dover International Speedway: Matt Kenseth (6/2/02) and Michael Waltrip (6/3/1991).

·         One active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver has posted his first career win at Dover International Speedway: Martin Truex Jr. (6/4/07).

·         Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Dover with 2,318 in 22 starts.

Charlotte Motor Speedway:History

Charlotte Motor Speedway:

History

·         Construction began on Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1959.

·         The track’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on June 19, 1960 – won by Joe Lee Johnson.

·         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 108 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).

·         517 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points paying race at Charlotte Motor Speedway; 364 in more than one.

·         NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the series in starts at Charlotte with 64. Terry Labonte leads all active drivers with 57 starts; followed by Mark Martin with 56.

·         Fireball Roberts won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Charlotte in 1960 with a speed of 133.904 mph.

·         41 drivers have Coors Light poles at Charlotte, led by David Pearson with 14. Ryan Newman leads all active drivers in poles, with nine, followed by Jeff Gordon with eight.

·         12 drivers have won consecutive Coors Light poles at Charlotte. David Pearson holds the record for most consecutive poles at Charlotte with 11; from the fall of 1973 through 1978.

·         Jeff Gordon won five straight poles for the spring races at Charlotte between 1994 and 1998.

·         Youngest Charlotte pole winner: Jeff Gordon (10/10/1993 – 22 years, 2 months, 6 days).

·         Oldest Charlotte pole winner: Bobby Allison (10/11/1987 – 49 years, 10 months, 8 days).

·         45 different drivers have won at Charlotte Motor Speedway, led by Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Allison and Jimmie Johnson with six wins each.

·         Nine drivers have posted consecutive wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway, including three consecutive by Fred Lorenzen (fall 1964 and both 1965) and four straight by Jimmie Johnson (both in 2004 and 2005).

·         A season sweep at Charlotte has occurred eight times, including each season from 2004-2007.

·         Seven times from seven different drivers has the winner of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race gone on to win the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Darrell Waltrip (1985), Davey Allison (1991), Dale Earnhardt (1993), Jeff Gordon (1997), Jimmie Johnson (2003), Kasey Kahne (2008) and Kurt Busch (2010).

·         Youngest Charlotte winner: Jeff Gordon (5/29/1994 – 22 years, 9 months, 25 days).

·         Oldest Charlotte winner: Cale Yarborough (10/6/1985 – 46 years, 6 months, 9 days).

·         Hendrick Motorsportshas the most wins at Charlotte in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with 17: Jimmie Johnson (six), Jeff Gordon (five), Darrell Waltrip (two), Ken Schrader (one), Terry Labonte (one), Casey Mears (one) and Kasey Kahne (one).  

·         Eight different manufacturers have won in the NSCS at Charlotte; led by Chevrolet with 40 victories; followed by Ford with 28.

·         14 of the 108 (12.9%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Charlotte have been won from the Coors Light pole; the two most recent were Jimmie Johnson in 2004 and 2009.

·         The second-place starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (17) than any other starting position at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

·         31 of the 108 (28.7%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Charlotte have been won from the front row: 14 from the pole and 17 from second-place.

·         83 of the 108 (76.8%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Charlotte have been won from a top-10 starting position.

·         Eight of the 108 (7.4%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Charlotte have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.

·         The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Charlotte was 37th, by Jimmie Johnson in the Coca-Cola 600 of 2003.

·         Richard Petty leads the series in runner-up finishes at Charlotte with nine. Bobby Labonte leads all active drivers in second-place finishes at Charlotte with six; followed by Matt Kenseth with three.

·         NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Bobby Allison are tied for the series’ most top-five finishes at Charlotte with 23. Mark Martin leads all active drivers with 18, followed by Jeff Gordon with 16.

·         Richard Petty leads the series in top-10 finishes at Charlotte with 31. Mark Martin leads all active drivers with 24.

·         Ryan Newman leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Charlotte with a 6.917.

·         Joey Logano leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Charlotte with a 10.125.

·         14 of the 16 active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners at Charlotte Motor Speedway participated in at least two or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Jamie McMurray won in his first appearance at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Jeff Gordon won in his second appearance at CMS.     

·         Terry Labonte competed at Charlotte Motor Speedway 36 times before winning in the fall of 1996; the longest span of any the 16 active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners.

·         Among the 16 active NSCS Charlotte winners Bobby Labonte (36), Kevin Harvick (20), Kurt Busch (19), Mark Martin (15), Clint Bowyer (13), Ken Schrader (10) and Jeff Burton (10) all made 10 or more attempts before their first win.

·         Joe Nemechek leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup starts at Charlotte without visiting Victory Lane at 33; followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. with 26.

·         Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory (MOV) in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Charlotte was the May 29, 2005 race won by Jimmie Johnson over Bobby Labonte with an MOV of 0.027 second.

·         There have been three NASCAR Sprint Cup races resulting with a green-white-checkered finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but only once for the Coca-Cola 600 (Scheduled No. of Laps/Actual No. of Laps): fall of 2005 (334/336), fall of 2007 (334/337) and the 2011 Coca-Cola 600 (400/402).

·         Five of the 108 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway have been shortened due to weather conditions; the most recent was the 2009 Coca-Cola 600 won by David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip Racing. Four of the five races shortened were the 600-mile events (1968, 1997, 2003 and 2009).   

·         Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Charlotte twice; the fall race of 2002 and the fall race of 2008.

·         Seven NASCAR Sprint Cup active drivers have made their first career start at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Michael Waltrip (5/26/85), Elliott Sadler (5/24/98), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5/30/99), Jimmie Johnson (10/7/01), Brian Vickers (10/11/03), David Reutimann (10/15/05) and Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (5/29/11).

·         Four active drivers have posted their first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Jeff Gordon (10/10/93), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5/28/00), Ryan Newman (5/27/01) and Aric Almirola (5/27/12). Almirola’s pole last season was the first time since May 22, 1966 that the No. 43 car had won the Coors Light pole at CMS.

·         Six active NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers have posted their first career win at Charlotte Motor Speedway: Jeff Gordon (5/29/94), Bobby Labonte (5/28/95), Matt Kenseth (5/28/00), Jamie McMurray (10/13/02), Casey Mears (5/27/07) and David Reutimann (5/25/09).

·         Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Charlotte with 1,439 laps led in 23 starts. 826 of Johnson’s 1,439 laps led at CMS were in the Coca-Cola 600; the most of any active NSCS driver.

Dover International Speedway hosts team testing

Dover International Speedway hosts team testing for 11 NASCAR teams in preparation for May 31-June 2, 2013 race weekend

Drivers get first work with Gen 6 car at the Monster Mile

DOVER, Del. – Dover International Speedway hosted its first team testing session of the year on May 14, with six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams and five NASCAR Nationwide Series teams turning laps at the Monster Mile today in preparation for the May 31-June 2, 2013 tripleheader weekend.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams testing included Tony Stewart, Danica Patrick and Ryan Newman, all of Stewart-Haas Racing; Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing; and Germain Racing’s Casey Mears. NASCAR Nationwide Series teams on track included Austin and Ty Dillon, plus Brian Scott, all of Richard Childress Racing; and Sam Hornish Jr. and Ryan Blaney, both of Penske Racing.

The test was the first opportunity for these drivers to try out the all-new Generation 6 car at Dover. The results so far, McMurray said, have been fast, as expected.

“Everywhere we’ve been with this car it’s been quite a bit faster than the car that we had last year,” he said. “Normally at a test you can run faster than you can at the race. The track is clean, there’s not a lot of rubber on it, so yeah, our speeds today have been quite a bit quicker than what we ran in race trip last year. It’s got a lot of grip and the track is really fast.”

Montoya added that being able to turn a few laps in the Gen 6 at Dover should help when he returns in a few weeks to race in the June 2, 2013 “FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks” NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

“You look at the big things that you can do for race weekend,” he said of testing. “When you come here for race weekend, you pretty much know what you’re going to run. Usually, the window you have to work with is very small, unless you have testing. Then you have data and telemetry in the cars, and a lot more stuff to work with in testing.”

All the drivers on site will return for a second day of testing on May 15, with Blaney and Hornish Jr. sticking around for an extra day on May 16.

NASCAR returns to Dover International Speedway May 31-June 2, 2013 for the June 2 “FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks” NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, the June 1 “5-hour ENERGY 200” NASCAR Nationwide Series race and the May 31 “Lucas Oil 200” NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.

For tickets or more information, call 800-441-RACE or visit DoverSpeedway.com. You can also keep up with the Monster Mile at Facebook.com/DoverInternationalSpeedway or on Twitter at @MonsterMile.

Darlington Raceway:

Darlington Raceway:

History

·         Darlington Raceway was built as a 1.25-mile paved superspeedway in 1949-1950.

·         Darlington Raceway hosted the first 500-mile race in NASCAR history and the first on asphalt on Sept. 4, 1950 – won by Johnny Mantz.

·         The track was re-measured to 1.375 miles in 1953.

·         The track was re-configured to 1.366 miles following the spring race in 1970.

·         The track was repaved in 1995.

·         The 2005 race was the first Saturday night race at Darlington.

·         The track was repaved again prior to the 2008 season.

Notebook

·         There have been 109 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Darlington Raceway. The 1.366-mile track has hosted the fourth most NASCAR Sprint Cup points paying races.  

·         700 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway; 423 in more than one.

·         NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the series in starts at Darlington with 65. Terry Labonte leads all active drivers with 54 starts; followed by Mark Martin with 46.

·         Curtis Turner won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Darlington in 1950 with a speed of 82.034 mph.  

·         47 drivers have Coors Light poles at Darlington, led by David Pearson with 12. Kasey Kahne leads all active drivers with four.

·         Nine drivers have won consecutive Coors Light poles at Darlington. David Pearson holds the record for most consecutive poles at Darlington with five (1975 -1977).

·         Youngest Darlington pole winner: Kurt Busch (9/2/2001 – 23 years, 0 months, 29 days).

·         Oldest Darlington pole winner: David Pearson (9/6/1982 – 47 years, 8 months, 15 days).

·         45 different drivers have won at Darlington Raceway, led by David Pearson with 10. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with seven.

·         Youngest Darlington winner: Kyle Busch (5/10/2008 – 23 years, 0 months, 8 days).

·         Oldest Darlington winner: Harry Gant (9/1/1991 – 51 years, 7 months, 22 days).

·         Hendrick Motorsports has the most wins at Darlington in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with 14.

·         11 different manufacturers have won in the NSCS at Darlington; led by Chevrolet with 40 victories; followed by Ford with 28.

·         19 of the 109 (17.4%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Darlington have been won from the Coors Light pole; the most recent was Dale Jarrett in 1997.

·         The pole starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (19) than any other starting position at Darlington. The outside front row (second-place) has produced the second most wins (17).   

·         36 of the 109 (33.0%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Darlington have been won from the front row: 19 from the pole and 17 from second-place.

·         94 of the 109 (86.2%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Darlington have been won from a top-10 starting position.

·         Six of the 109 (5.6%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Darlington have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.

·         The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Darlington was 43rd by Johnny Mantz in 1950 – the inaugural NSCS event. The furthest back an active winner has started was 23rd by Regan Smith (2011).

·         Buddy Baker and Richard Petty are tied for theseries most runner-up finishes at Darlington with eight each. Mark Martin leads all active drivers in second-place finishes at Darlington with six; followed by Jeff Gordon with four.

·         Richard Petty leads the series in top-five finishes at Darlington with 25. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 18.

·         Bill Elliott leads the series in top-10 finishes at Darlington with 35. Mark Martin leads all active drivers with 26.

·         Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Darlington with a 6.719.

·         Denny Hamlin leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Darlington with a 5.857.

·         Three active NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers have an average finish in the top 10 at Darlington: Denny Hamlin (5.8), Jimmie Johnson (9.1) and Brad Keselowski (9.2).

·         13 drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series have posted consecutive wins at Darlington; Dale Earnhardt (1989-1990)and Jeff Gordon (1995-1996)are tied for theseries lead in consecutive wins at Darlington with three each.

·         All 10 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners at Darlington Raceway participated in at least two or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Among active drivers, Kyle Busch won at Darlington in the fewest previous appearances (three).

·         Mark Martin competed at Darlington Raceway 15 times before winning in 2009; the longest span of any of the 10 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners.

·         Among the 10 active NSCS Darlington winners Mark Martin (15), Bobby Labonte (14) and Jeff Burton (10) all made 10 or more attempts before their first win.

·         Ken Schrader leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Darlington without visiting Victory Lane at 44.

·         Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Darlington Raceway was the (3/16/2003) race won by Ricky Craven with a MOV of 0.002 second – the MOV is tied with the 2011 Talladega race as the closest finishes in the NSCS using electronic scoring.

·         There have been three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races resulting with a green-white-checkered finish at Darlington Raceway: 2005 (367/370), 2011 (367/370) and 2012 (367/368).

·         Eight of the 109 races at Darlington Raceway have been shortened due to weather conditions; the most recent was the fall race of 2000.

·         Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Darlington Raceway five times; most recently was the fall race of 2004.

·         Terry Labonte (9/4/1978) made his series debut at Darlington Raceway.

·         Ken Schrader (3/29/1987), Kurt Busch (9/2/2001) and Clint Bowyer (5/13/2007) posted their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Coors Light poles at Darlington.

·         Regan Smith (5/7/2011) and Terry Labonte (9/1/1980) posted their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Darlington.    

·         Three female drivers have competed at Darlington Raceway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series–

o    Janet Guthrie  - (9/5/1977) - starting 26th and finishing 16th

o    Patty Moise - (3/17/2002) - starting 42nd and finishing 42nd

o    Danica Patrick - (5/12/2012) - starting 38th and finishing 31st

·         Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Darlington with 1,720 laps led in 32 starts.