The 12th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season is Saturday at Kansas Speedway, with the KC Masterpiece 400. Here’s a quick look at some interesting statistics and numbers heading into the race.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (KC Masterpiece 400; 8 p.m. ET Saturday, May 12)
Statistics – Kansas Speedway
- This weekend’s race marks the 25th for the series at Kansas Speedway. Jeff Gordon won the first two races at the mile-and-a-half track in 2001 and 2002.
- Gordon and Jimmie Johnson lead all drivers in victories at Kansas Speedway with three each.
- Overall, a total of 14 drivers have won a Cup Series race at Kansas. Martin Truex Jr. became the 14th driver when he won the 2017 spring race, then followed it up by visiting victory lane in the 2017 fall race.
- Winning Kansas has not been a good indicator of determining the series championship. In 17 seasons, only three drivers have won at least one race at Kansas and gone on to win the Cup Series championship: Jeff Gordon (2001), Jimmie Johnson (2008) and Martin Truex Jr. (both 2017 spring and fall races).
- Since Kansas began hosting two races during the 2011 season, only Martin Truex Jr. has swept the two races, when he did so in 2017.
- In addition to Truex, Jeff Gordon (2001 and 2002) and Matt Kenseth (2012 fall and 2013 spring) have won consecutive Cup Series races at Kansas. No driver has ever won more than two straight races at Kansas.
- No driver has ever won back-to-back spring Cup Series races at Kansas.
- The record for most lead changes in a Cup Series race at Kansas is 25, set in each of the two 2014 races.
- The record for fewest lead changes in a Cup Series race at Kansas is 13, set in 2002 and the 2017 fall race.
- Only two races at Kansas have gone into overtime – the 2011 and 2015 fall races. The 2011 fall race set the record for most laps contested in a Cup Series race at Kansas, at 272 laps (five laps more than the scheduled 267 laps). Only one race has been abbreviated (2007 race, rain).
- Chevrolet has won a record 11 Cup Series races at Kansas, most recently in the 2016 fall race. Toyota has won the last two races at Kansas, three of the last four, and five overall, one shy of Ford’s six victories. Dodge also has two wins.
- Kevin Harvick holds the record for fastest pole speed, at 197.621 mph for the 2014 fall race.
- Denny Hamlin holds the race record for average speed, winning the 2012 spring race at 144.122 mph in an event that saw just three cautions for 18 laps. Three races overall have averaged more than 140 mph.
- Five races at Kansas have been won from the pole position, including the most recent race won by Martin Truex Jr., and six from the front row.
- Brad Keselowski won from the 2011 spring race from the 25th starting position, the furthest back any driver had started and gone on to win at Kansas. Ten of the 24 races have been won outside the front five rows.
- The driver to lead the most laps of a race at Kansas Speedway has gone on to win the race only nine times in 24 races, and only once in the five of the last six races. Martin Truex Jr. led a race-high 104 laps in the 2017 spring race en route to winning.
- Tony Stewart led only five laps in the 2006 race, the fewest laps of a Cup Series race winner at Kansas. Overall, four drivers have won despite leading 10 laps or less of a race at Kansas.
- Jimmie Johnson led the most laps in a Cup Series race at Kansas, with 197 en route to winning the 2011 fall race.
- Martin Truex Jr. holds the record for most laps led in a race at Kansas by a driver who did not win the race, leading 173 laps in the 2012 spring race en route to finishing second. Truex has also led the most laps at Kansas in two other races he did not win – 172 laps in the 2016 spring race and 95 laps in the 2015 spring race.
- Four drivers have three Cup Series pole positions at Kansas: Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick. Martin Truex Jr. is the only other driver with multiple poles at Kansas, with two. All three of Harvick’s poles came in succession, giving him the most consecutive poles (2013 fall, 2014 spring and 2014 fall races).
- A total of 66 drivers have led laps in a Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. Matt Kenseth holds the record for most races led (16) and laps led (774) at Kansas. Martin Truex Jr. is second on the list of laps led at Kansas with 713, while Jimmie Johnson is second in races led at Kansas with 14.
Kansas Averages
- The average starting position of a race winner is 8.96.
- The average number of lead changes per race is 18.83.
- The average number of cars per race is 42.5.
Statistics – 2018 Cup Series Season and Series Overall
- Six drivers have won races this season: Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano. Harvick and Busch have each won three races, all of which came in succession.
- Harvick has 102 career NASCAR national series victories.
- Harvick leads all drivers in top fives (eight) and laps led (741) and is tied with Joey Logano for most top 10s with nine.
- Logano leads all drivers in laps completed (3,634) and has the longest current active streak of races led with four.
- Denny Hamlin leads all drivers in races led (nine). His streak of nine straight came to at end last weekend at Dover, when he failed to lead for only the second race this season (did not lead Daytona 500).
- Nine of the 11 races this season have had margins of victory at three seconds or less.
- Kyle Busch is the last driver to win back-to-back races, when he won three consecutive races earlier this season.
- Stewart-Haas Racing has five victories this season, nearly half of the races contested. Team co-owner Tony Stewart was the last driver to win consecutive races more than once in a season, when he won back-to-back races twice during his 2011 championship season.
- Jimmie Johnson is making his 589th consecutive series start this weekend to lead all drivers.
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