Motor Racing Statistics – By The Numbers (March 27, 2018)

The latest edition of the all-encompassing Motor Racing Statistics “By The Numbers” blog, which looks at numbers throughout many forms of motorsports. This blog runs on Tuesdays through the year.

By The Numbers

3 – Number of A-Main victories in World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series competition for Donny Schatz and Sheldon Haudenschild, the latter picking up his third win of 2018 last weekend at Bakersfield Speedway in California.

5 – Five drivers have won Virgin Australia Supercars Championship races this season in six races: Shane van Gisbergen with two and Scott McLaughlin, Jamie Whincup, Scott Pye and David Reynolds each with one.

8 – A total of eight World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series races have been canceled or postponed this season due to rain. A total of eight races have been contested.

13 – Number of Formula 1 World Championship victories earned by David Coulthard, who celebrates his 47 birthday today, March 27.

14 – Kimi Raikkonen finished third in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix, earning a Formula 1 World Championship podium for the 14th season of his career. That trails only Michael Schumacher’s 16 seasons with a podium.

22 – On this day in 1983, John Watson won the United States Grand Prix West race on the Streets of Long Beach circuit in California, coming from the 22nd position. It marked the furthest any driver had ever come from and won in Formula 1 World Championship history.

48 – Sebastian Vettel earned his 48th career Formula 1 World Championship grand prix victory in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne. It was his third Australian Grand Prix win.

51 – Fifty-one drivers have won Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway, including Monday’s winner, Clint Bowyer.

53 – Fifty-three years ago Wednesday, March 28, marks the anniversary of the final IndyCar race won by a roadster. Don Branson took an A.J. Watson-built roadster to victory in the Jimmy Bryan Memorial at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Every IndyCar race since then has been won by a rear-engine car, though many others tried to win races after Branson’s victory.

74 – Laps led by Kyle Benjamin in his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Monday at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, en route to finishing second.

79 – Happy 79th birthday to Cale Yarborough, the four-time Daytona 500 winner and three-time Cup Series champion, who celebrates his birthday today, March 27. Yarborough was the first driver to win a race on his birthday in 1977, winning at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina.

100 – Sebastian Vettel picked up his 100th career Formula 1 podium in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix, the fourth driver to accomplish that feat (Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Alain Prost).

109 – Jamie Whincup posted his 109th Virgin Australia Supercars Championship victory Saturday at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, winning the second of the four races held at the track over the weekend.

131 – Number of races contested by former IndyCar Series driver Vitor Meira, who celebrates his 40th birthday today, March 27.

190 – Clint Bowyer snapped a 190-race winless streak in Monday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. Bowyer had last won a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in October 2012, the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

215 – Clint Bowyer led 215 laps of Monday’s STP 500, which is more laps than he had led in the last four seasons combined in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition.

299 – A total of 299 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races have been contested in the state of Virginia, following Monday’s STP 500. The 300th will come next month at Richmond International Raceway.

950 – Kyle Busch competed in his 950th career national NASCAR race, Monday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. He finished second, his third runner-up finish in six Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races this season.