Statistical Advance: Analyzing The Coca-Cola 600 At Lowe’s Motor Speedway

The Coca-Cola 600 – one of the crown jewels of NASCAR – will be especially important to three previous winners for three different reasons:

Kasey Kahne

Kahne is trying to end a winless drought which stretches 52 points races long and, perhaps more importantly, return to the top 12 of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.

Lowe’s Motor Speedway seems like the right place to check off both those goals. Kahne swept the LMS races of 2006, and added a win in last Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star race.

LMS is the only track at which Kahne is a multiple winner, and a strong performance almost assures Kahne’s Top-12 return – he is currently only two points out.

Jeff Gordon

Gordon looks to stay in the top 12, a spot he entered two weeks ago for the second time this season.

Gordon has five wins at LMS, including the last time the series ran at the 1.5-mile track. He also has three Coca-Cola 600 wins in his career.

Plus, he has a personal milestone he’d like to continue – a win this season will make it 15 consecutive years with at least one victory, which would put him three years away from Richard Petty’s all-time record of 18.

Jimmie Johnson

Johnson is falling behind in the “potential Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup bonus point” race. With each win in the first 26 races, a driver earns 10 bonus points to start the Chase. Right now, Johnson has 10 for his win at Phoenix. Still, he trails Kyle Busch by 20. A win at LMS, a track he’s conquered five times, would close the gap.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2008 Top 12 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway


Driver
Races
Poles
Wins
Top Fives
Top 10s
DNFs
Average Finish
Driver Rating



1
Kyle Busch
8
0
0
1
2
3
25.9
94.3

2
Jeff Burton
28
0
2
7
13
4
15.2
82.9

3
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
17
1
0
4
8
3
16.9
85.1

4
Denny Hamlin
5
0
0
0
3
0
14.8
78.8

5
Clint Bowyer
4
0
0
1
1
0
18.3
76.9

6
Jimmie Johnson
13
2
5
8
11
1
6.8
120.2

7
Carl Edwards
6
0
0
3
5
0
7.3
88.6

8
Tony Stewart
18
0
1
6
11
1
12.9
78.2

9
Kevin Harvick
14
0
0
1
3
1
21.1
65.2

10
Jeff Gordon
30
7
5
14
16
9
16.8
85.0

11
Greg Biffle
10
0
0
1
3
2
21.0
83.6

12
David Ragan
2
0
0
0
0
1
38.5
46.4



Selected Driver Highlights – Lowe’s Motor Speedway-specific
Note: All driver statistics that follow are from Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The Loop Data statistics – Driver Rating, Average Running Position, etc. – in this release, however, cover the last three races at LMS. NASCAR’s scoring loops began collecting data for statistical purposes in 2005.


Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota)
• One top five, two top 10s
• Average finish of 25.9
• Average Running Position of 14.4, fourth-best
• Driver Rating of 94.3, second-best
• 116 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 177.051 mph, second-fastest
• 1,504 (68.1%) Laps in the Top 15, third-most
• 279 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), second-most

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet)
• Four top fives, eight top 10s
• Average finish of 16.9
• Average Running Position of 17.8, 13th-best
• Driver Rating of 85.1, seventh-best
• 51 Fastest Laps Run, 11th-most
• 413 Green Flag Passes, fifth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 176.548 mph, third-fastest
• 1,182 (53.6%) Laps in the Top 15, seventh-most
• 208 Quality Passes, eighth-most

Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford)
• Three top fives, five top 10s
• Average finish of 7.3
• Average Running Position of 15.0, fifth-best
• Driver Rating of 88.6, fifth-best
• 41 Fastest Laps Run, 12th-most
• Series-high 495 Green Flag Passes
• 1,225 (55.5%) Laps in the Top 15, fifth-most
• 215 Quality Passes, sixth-most

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet)
• Five wins, 14 top fives, 16 top 10s
• Average finish of 16.8
• Average Running Position of 6.4, fifth-best
• Driver Rating of 85.0, eighth-best
• 102 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most
• 1,108 (50.2%) Laps in the Top 15, 12th-most

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet)
• Five wins, eight top fives, 11 top 10s
• Average finish of 6.8
• Series-best Average Running Position of 7.5
• Series-best Driver Rating of 120.2
• Series-high 246 Fastest Laps Run
• 459 Green Flag Passes, second-most
• Series-high 1,956 (88.6%) Laps in the Top 15
• 298 Quality Passes, second-most

Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge)
• Two wins, three top 10s
• Average finish of 15.8
• Average Running Position of 14.0, third-best
• Driver Rating of 92.9, fourth-best
• 163 Fastest Laps Run, second-most
• 430 Green Flag Passes, fourth-most
• 1,171 (53.1%) Laps in the Top 15, eighth-most
• 242 Quality Passes, third-most

Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford)
• One win, five top fives, seven top 10s
• Average finish of 15.8
• Average Running Position of 18.4, 14th-best
• Driver Rating of 87.0, sixth-best
• 76 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most
• 1,200 (54.4%) Laps in the Top 15, sixth-most

Mark Martin (No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet)
• Four wins, 17 top fives, 21 top 10s
• Average finish of 16.1
• Average Running Position of 11.9, second-best
• Driver Rating of 93.2, third-best
• 39 Fastest Laps Run, tied for 13th-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 176.546 mph, fourth-fastest
• 1,664 (75.4%) Laps in the Top 15, second-most
• 232 Quality Passes, fourth-most

Casey Mears (No. 5 Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet)
• One win
• Average finish of 20.1
• Average Running Position of 16.1, seventh-best
• Driver Rating of 81.3, 12th-best
• Average Green Flag Speed of 175.904 mph, 10th-fastest
• 1,334 (60.4%) Laps in the Top 15, fourth-most
• 209 Quality Passes, seventh-most

At Lowe’s Motor Speedway:
History
• Construction began in 1959.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on June 19, 1960.
• The first NASCAR Nationwide Series race was May 29, 1982.
• The first night race was the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race in 1992. The first night (twilight) point race was in the spring of 1993.
• The track was repaved mid-season in 1994.
• The first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at LMS was on May 16, 2003.
• The 2003 fall race was the first race at Lowe’s to be run completely at night.
• The track was re-paved before the 2006 season.

Notebook
• There have been 98 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, two races per year since the track opened in 1960. In 1961, there were two 100-mile qualifying point races held the week before the World 600. The first six fall races at Charlotte were 400-mile events (1960-65).
• Fireball Roberts won the pole for the first race at LMS, in 1960.
• Joe Lee Johnson won the first race at LMS, in 1960.
• 36 drivers have posted poles at LMS, led by David Pearson with 14.
• David Pearson posted 11 straight poles at Charlotte from the fall of 1973 through 1978.
• Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman lead active drivers with seven poles each.
• Jeff Gordon won five straight spring race poles from 1994 to 1998.
• 40 drivers have won races, led by Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip with six each.
• Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon lead active drivers in wins with five victories each.
• Hendrick Motorsports has won 15 races at LMS, more than any other organization.
• There have been 13 back-to-back victories at Lowe’s, including three in-a-row by Fred Lorenzen (fall 1964-fall1965).
• A sweep has occurred eight times at LMS, including three of the past four seasons: Jimmie Johnson (2004 and 2005) and Kasey Kahne (2006).
• 13 races have been won from the pole, the last by Jimmie Johnson in the spring of 2004.
• Jimmie Johnson won the 2003 Coca-Cola 600 from the 37th starting position, the furthest back a race winner has started at LMS.
• Hendrick Motorsports has won seven of the past 10 races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Three different HMS drivers have won there since 2002, including sweeps in 2004 and 2005 by Jimmie Johnson and an organization sweep last season by Casey Mears and Jeff Gordon.

NASCAR in North Carolina
• There have been 506 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in North Carolina.
• 406 NASCAR drivers have their home state recorded as North Carolina; 311 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
• There have been 42 race winners from North Carolina in NASCAR’s three national series; 29 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:

Driver
NCSC
NNS
NCTS

Richard Petty
200
0
0

Dale Earnhardt
76
21
0

Lee Petty
54
0
0

Ned Jarrett
50
0
0

Junior Johnson
50
0
0

Herb Thomas
48
0
0

Buck Baker
46
0
0

Bobby Isaac
37
0
0

Dale Jarrett
32
11
0

Jim Paschal
25
0
0

Benny Parsons
21
0
0

Speedy Thompson
20
0
0

Buddy Baker
19
0
0

Harry Gant
18
21
0

Dale Earnhardt, Jr
17
22
0

Bob Welborn
9
0
0

Kyle Petty
8
0
0

Morgan Shepherd
4
15
0

Bill Blair
3
0
0

Gwyn Staley
3
0
0

Billy Myers
2
0
0

Jimmy Pardue
2
0
0

Brian Vickers
1
3
0

Phil Parsons
1
2
0

Richard Brickhouse
1
0
0

Leon Sales
1
0
0

Buddy Shuman
1
0
0

Donald Thomas
1
0
0

Jack Ingram
0
31
0

Tommy Houston
0
24
0

Sam Ard
0
22
0

Robert Pressley
0
10
2

Scott Riggs
0
4
5

Dennis Setzer
0
2
18


Hank Parker, Jr
0
2
0

Johnny Rumley
0
2
0

Ed Berrier
0
1
0

Justin Labonte
0
1
0

Stephen Leicht
0
1
0

Andy Houston
0
0
3

Ricky Hendrick
0
0
1

Shane Hmiel
0
0
1



Lowe’s Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 12 of 36 (5-25-08)
Track Size: 1.5 miles
• Banking/Corners: 24 degrees
• Banking/Straights: 5 degrees
• Frontstretch: 1,980 feet
• Backstretch: 1,500 feet

Driver Rating at Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Jimmie Johnson 120.2
Kyle Busch 94.3
Mark Martin 93.2
Kasey Kahne 92.9
Carl Edwards 88.6
Matt Kenseth 87.0
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 85.1
Jeff Gordon 85.0
Brian Vickers 84.7
Greg Biffle 83.6
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2007 races (6 total) at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Qualifying/Race Data
2006 pole winner: Scott Riggs (187.865 mph, 28.744 seconds)
2006 race winner: Kasey Kahne, 128.840 mph, 5-28-06)
Track qualifying record: Elliott Sadler (193.216 mph, 27.948 secs., 10-13-05)
600-mile race record: Bobby Labonte (151.952 mph, 5-28-95)

Estimated Pit Window: Every 50-55 laps, based on fuel mileage.