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StatChat 2024 - Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen


By Adam Carabine


Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday!  This weekend NASCAR travels to Watkins Glen, New York for the “Go Bowling at the Glen” at Watkins Glen International.

 

Watkins Glen is a 2.45-mile-long Road Course with 8 turns.  The track was opened in 1956, and held a race there the following year.  It returned again for a couple of races in 1964 and 65, then finally became a regular staple on the NASCAR schedule in 1986.  Buck Baker won the first NASCAR race at Watkins Glen.

 

Tomorrow’s race will be 90 laps long (for a total of 220.86 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 20 – 40 – 90.  Pit road speed is 40 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 45 mph. 

 

This year, the NASCAR Cup Series has run 7,235 laps, for 9,695.37 miles so far this season.  No driver has completed 100% of them, but Daniel Hemric is the closest, having driven 99.45% of them. 

 

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Watkins Glen:

Christopher Bell

6.00 over 3 races

Tyler Reddick

8.33 over 3 races

Chase Elliott

9.43 over 7 races (2 wins)

Martin Truex Jr.

10.65 over 17 races (1 win)

Kyle Busch

10.67 over 18 races (2 wins)

 

Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Watkins Glen:

Daniel Hemric

35.00 over 1 race

Harrison Burton

30.50 over 2 races

Corey LaJoie

27.60 over 5 races

Ryan Preece

27.00 over 3 races

Michael McDowell

25.69 over 13 races

 

Watkins Glen is a Road Course

 

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Road Courses:

Chase Elliott

8.08 over 33 races (7 wins)

Tyler Reddick

10.32 over 24 races (3 wins)

Chris Buescher

13.30 over 35 races

Ty Gibbs

13.75 over 12 races

Kyle Busch

14.44 over 56 races (4 wins)

 

Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Road Courses:

Daniel Hemric

26.70 over 7 races

Ryan Preece

26.33 over 21 races

Harrison Burton

23.95 over 15 races

Noah Gragson

23.88 over 7 races

Corey LaJoie

23.71 over 28 races

 

Tony Stewart is the winningest driver at Watkins Glen, having won 5 times.  He’s followed by Jeff Gordon who has 4, and Mark Martin with 3.  As for current drivers, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott each have 2 wins.

 

Notable drivers who have not won at Watkins Glen:

Brad Keselowski

(has won at 17 other tracks)

Ryan Blaney

(has won at 9 other tracks)

Christopher Bell

(has won at 8 other tracks)

Alex Bowman

(has won at 8 other tracks)

Tyler Reddick

(has won at 7 other tracks)

 

Chase Elliott won his first Cup Series race at Watkins Glen.  It came in his 99th career start.

 

Based on average finish, no drivers list Watkins Glen as their BEST or WORST track.  

 

Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at how this season is comparing to last season for drivers:

 

Drivers Faring Better than in 2023

Noah Gragson

+417 pts (incomplete 2023 season)

Chase Elliott

+332 pts (incomplete 2023 season)

Ty Gibbs

+192 pts

Alex Bowman

+180 pts

Todd Gilliland

+138 pts

 

Drivers Faring Worse than in 2023

William Byron

-196 pts

Martin Truex Jr.

-181 pts

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

-128 pts

Kyle Busch

-117 pts

Michael McDowell

-105 pts

 

While some drivers may be doing better this year than they did in 2023, how does this year stack up against their entire career?  This statistic does not include rookies, as this is their first full year in the Cup Series.

 

Drivers Having their BEST Career Year

Tyler Reddick

10.96

Ty Gibbs

14.78

Todd Gilliland

19.93

 

Drivers Having their WORST Career Year

Harrison Burton

25.89

Justin Haley

22.89

Austin Dillon

22.78

Erik Jones

22.20

 

Here is the current battle for Rookie of the Year

Carson Hocevar

492

Josh Berry

469

Zane Smith

346

Kaz Grala

169

 

The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (40 for 1st, 35 for 2nd, 34 for 3rd, etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.

 

Manufacturer Standings        

Chevrolet

944

Toyota

929

Ford

908

 

Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:

 

Chartered Team Standings

Hendrick

913

Joe Gibbs

905

23XI

819

RFK

775

Penske

771

Trackhouse

743

Stewart-Haas

736

RCR

650

Spire

602

Front Row

557

Kaulig

478

Rick Ware

473

Legacy Motor Club

465

JTG-Daugherty

410

Wood Bros

307

 

At each stage break, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points based on their finishing positions.  Here are the leaders this year:

 

Stage Point Leaders

Kyle Larson

253

Denny Hamlin

233

Ryan Blaney

212

Christopher Bell

187

Martin Truex Jr.

177

Tyler Reddick

170

William Byron

169

Chase Elliott

165

Brad Keselowski

139

Joey Logano

129

 

Milestone Watch

Austin Dillon

This will be his 400th Cup Series Start

Todd Gilliland

This will be his 100th Cup Series Start

Chase Elliott

Looking for his 20th Career Win

Christopher Bell

Looking for his 10th Career Win

William Byron

Looking for his 50th Career Top 5

Alex Bowman

Looking for his 40th Career Top 5

Austin Cindric

Looking for his 20th Career Top 10

Martin Truex Jr.

Looking for his 290th Career Top 10

Erik Jones

Looking for his 90th Career Top 10

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Looking for his 60th Career Top 10

 

Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:

 

Winless Streaks

Justin Haley

132 races

Erik Jones

72 races

Bubba Wallace

70 races

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

62 races

Kyle Busch

48 races

Martin Truex Jr.

43 races

Michael McDowell

39 races

Chris Buescher

37 races

Ross Chastain

27 races

Daniel Suarez

25 races

 

The race begins Sunday, Sept 15th  at 3:00 pm EST (12:00 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!

 

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @RacingRefresh

 

Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!

 

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