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.
1 – The one and only World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series stop in Arizona is this Saturday at Arizona Speedway in Queen Creek, with the running of the Arizona Desert Shootout. Rico Abreu won last year’s race, while Shane Stewart on the inaugural event at the track in 2016.
2 – The second season of the second revival of the FIA Formula 2 championship begins this weekend at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. Formula 2 driver championships were awarded from 1967 to 1984, and again from 2009 to 2012, before multi-year hiatuses. Charles Leclerc, now in Formula 1 driving for Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team, won the 2017 championship. Russian Time is the defending team champion.
3 – Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel lead all drivers in Bahrain Grand Prix victories with three each.
4 – On this day in 2005, Andretti Green Racing swept the top four positions in the IndyCar Series season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida. It marked the first time in series history that a team finished first, second, third and fourth in the same event. Dario Wheldon won, followed by Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta.
4 – It’s Four-Wide Nationals time again for the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, only this time there’s two editions of the event. The first comes this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Nevada, the first time the track is hosting a four-wide nationals race.
6 – Martin Truex Jr. is the only driver to lead a lap in all six Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races this season. His streak of seven straight races dates back to last year’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
14 – This weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, the second stop on the 2018 Formula 1 World Championship calendar, marks the 14th edition of the race, held at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. The inaugural race was held 14 years ago Wednesday, April 4, with Michael Schumacher winning his 73rd Formula 1 race in a Ferrari.
15 – Bahrain International Circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke, is comprised of 15 turns.
25 – This weekend’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, marks the 25th anniversary of Mario Andretti’s 52nd and final IndyCar victory, in 1993. Andretti won four of his 52 IndyCar races at the Phoenix track.
32 – A total of 32 different drivers have won at least one IndyCar race at ISM Raceway. Al Unser holds the record with six victories.
33 – Thirty-three drivers have won the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series title since the inaugural season in 1971. The season kicks off this weekend with the Phoenix Copper Cup at ISM Raceway.
35 – This weekend’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 marks the 35th race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway. Kevin Harvick won the most recent Cup Series race at the track last November while Jimmie Johnson won the spring race at TMS, the 81st of his career.
47 – This weekend’s Phoenix Copper Cup at ISM Raceway marks the opening of the 47th USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series season. Bobby Santos III is the defending race winner while Kody Swanson is the defending series champion. Swanson has won the series title three of the last four seasons.
55 – It’s been 55 days since the last time the All-Star Circuit of Champions last raced. That changes Friday (58 days) with the first points race of the season at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio.
55.17 – Total kilometers from Vero to Sarrola-Carcopino, the longest stage of the annual Tour de Corse, which marks the fourth round of the 2018 World Rally Championship season. The Vero-Sarrola Carcopino stage will be contested Sunday and marks the longest stage in the rally since 1986.
81 – The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship returns to action Saturday and Sunday with the Tasmania Super Sprint races at Symmons Plains Raceway in Launceston, Tasmania. Saturday’s race marks the 81st race for the series at the track, with the first race for the series dating back to 1969 (won by Norm Beechey).
100 – The 100th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race was held 19 years ago today, Tuesday, April 3, at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington. Ron Hornaday Jr. won the race, leading 185 of 200 laps. It was Hornaday’s 25th career win, but the last he’d experience during the next three-and-a-half years.
170.261 – Wednesday, April 4, marks the 59th anniversary in which IndyCars made their only stop at Daytona International Speedway. Not only was it USAC’s only Champ Car race at the 2.5-mile track, but history was made when Jim Rathmann became the first driver to win an IndyCar race at an average speed of more than 150 mph, when he set the then-record of 170.261 miles per hour. Sadly, George Amick died in a last-lap incident.
200 – Sebastian Vettel will make his 200th start (out of 202 entries) in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, becoming the 18th driver to hit that mark. He is currently tied for 18th with fellow four-time Formula 1 World Champion Alain Prost with 199.
250 – Scott Dixon will make his 250th Verizon IndyCar Series start Saturday night at ISM Raceway. Dixon has 40 victories in 249 races in the IndyCar Series and 41 wins in 288 IndyCar races (one win in 39 CART races).
4,956 – In addition to his 250th Verizon IndyCar Series race, Scott Dixon is 44 laps away from 5,000 laps led in his IndyCar Series career. In the series, he’s led 4,956 laps.
10,950 – In 64 total IndyCar races at ISM Raceway, there have been 10,950 laps completed, with 76 drivers that have led at least one lap.
10,950 – In 64 total IndyCar races at ISM Raceway, there have been 10,950 laps completed, with 76 drivers that have led at least one lap.
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