Published in Building Speed·Dec 16, 20212021 Laps: Finished, Led and FastestIn 2021, laps were run, finished, led and fastest — but you may be surprised which drivers lead these categories: They’re not all Kyle Larson. A note: When I talk about championship contenders below, I’m talking about the top-8 ranked drivers. Laps Finished How’s that old saw go? To finish first, you…2021 Stats1 min read
Published in Building Speed·Dec 15, 20212021: Stage Wins and PointsKyle Larson dominated the 2021 stage wins and points the same way he dominated overall race wins. Let’s see exactly how stages played out in 2021. NASCAR introduced stages in 2017 with an eye to making the middles of races a little more exciting. By most metrics, it’s worked. …2021 Stats1 min read
Published in Building Speed·Dec 10, 20212021 DNFs: NASCAR by the NumbersThere were 181 DNFs in 2021, down slightly from 2020. Let’s dive into who and where the DNFs happened — and why. As usual, all thanks to racing-reference.info 2021 DNFs by Driver Let’s start by looking at drivers who ran (or intended to run) a full season. - Quin Houff had the most DNFs…Blog2 min read
Published in Building Speed·Dec 8, 20212021 To The Back: NASCAR by the NumbersOur 2021 to-the-back roundup honors those teams that managed to incur penalties before the green flag. Let’s look at whose knuckles NASCAR slapped this year. In 2021, NASCAR inspected 1383 cars and drivers. 125 cars/drivers started at the back of the grid. That’s about 9% TTB for the season. Why Cars Go to the Back The…Blog2 min read
Published in Building Speed·Dec 6, 20212021 Accidents: NASCAR by the Numbers2021 accidents were down relative to the last few years, but a couple familiar names remain atop the list of ‘most crashed’ drivers. 2021 Accidents Relative to Recent History Remember that NASCAR only tabulates accidents that cause cautions. If there’s an accident at the end of a race, it is not captured in their statistics. …Blog2 min read
Published in Building Speed·Dec 2, 20212021 Penalties2021 penalties were down, but let’s take a deep dive into how and why, including how the change in schedule impacted penalties. Penalties in Recent History NASCAR handed out 317 in-race penalties in 2021. …Blog1 min read
Published in Building Speed·Nov 12, 20212021 NASCAR Season Overview: NASCAR by the NumbersThe best thing about the 2021 NASCAR Season Overview is that it looks so much more like ‘normal’ than last year’s overview did. Sure, NASCAR made some big changes, but we got to qualify a few times and the number of drivers is back to where it was in 2019. …Blog2 min read
Published in Building Speed·Oct 29, 2021Car Failures and DNFsCar failures that knock a car out of a race have gone down over time. But not, perhaps, the way you might think. The Data We’re looking at data from 1980–2021 race 34. I went through all the races and grouped together the reasons for DNFs into some broad categories. Today, a…2 min read
Published in Building Speed·Oct 25, 2021Fall 2021 Kansas Race ReportKyle Larson dominates the Fall 2021 Kansas Race Report, but the type of domination was much different than last week at Texas. As always, thanks to racing-reference.info for the stats. Caution/Lead-O-Gram As always, we start with the Caution/Lead-O-Gram. Cautions We had seven cautions (3 accidents, 1 spin, 2 stage end, and…Blog1 min read
Published in Building Speed·Oct 15, 2021Fantasy Racers Should Want Qualifying BackFantasy-racing payoffs hinge on race outcomes. But if you are a fantasy racer — or a serious bettor — you could make money off qualifying. Not by wagering on it, but by using it as a data source. Why Qualifying is Necessary to the Sport COVID forced NASCAR to make a lot of changes, many of which…Blog1 min read
