By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday. This weekend NASCAR travels to Brooklyn, Michigan for the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.   Michigan is a 2-mile D-shaped speedway that opened in 1968.  Cale Yarborough was the first to win a NASCAR race there a year later.  Last year’s winner at this race was Tyler Reddick.   Tomorrow’s race will be 200 laps long (for a total of 400 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 45 – 120 – 200.  Pit road speed is 55 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 65 mph.  The fuel window is between 46-52 laps.   This year, the NASCAR Cup Series has run 4,031 laps, for 5,438.54 miles so far this season.  No driver has completed every single lap, but Chase Elliott is one lap behind, and William Byron and Tyler Reddick are four behind.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Michigan: Zane Smith 7.00 over 1 race Ty Gibbs 8.00 over 3 races Carson Hocevar 10.00 over 1 race Chase Elliott 10.50 over 14 races Brad Keselowski 12.04 over 27 races   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Michigan: Todd Gilliland 30.67 over 3 races Michael McDowell 29.44 over 18 races JH Nemechek 29.33 over 3 races Cole Custer 27.60 over 5 races Josh Berry 27.33 over 3 races   Michigan is an Intermediate Track.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks: Denny Hamlin 11.98 over 342 races (28 wins) Kyle Larson 12.30 over 180 races (18 races) Joey Logano 12.39 over 288 races (19 races) Kyle Busch 12.39 over 358 races (29 wins) Chase Elliott 12.48 over 161 races (6 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks: JH Nemechek 22.79 over 47 races SVG 22.44 over 12 races Ryan Preece 22.44 over 94 races Ty Dillon 22.24 over 128 races Josh Berry 21.57 over 29 races (1 win)   David Pearson is the winningest driver at Michigan, with 9 wins over his career.  Cale Yarborough is next with 8, then Bill Elliott with 7.  As far as current drivers go, both Joey Logano and Kyle Larson each have three wins apiece.   Notable drivers who have not won at Michigan: Brad Keselowski (has won at 17 other tracks) Chase Elliott (has won at 15 other tracks) Christopher Bell (has won at 10 other tracks) William Byron (has won at 10 other tracks) Alex Bowman (has won at 8 other tracks)   Kyle Larson scored his first ever Cup Series victory at Michigan – it was his 100th career start.   Based on average finish, no drivers list Michigan as their BEST track, but Todd Gilliland lists it as his WORST.   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 2024 Tyler Reddick +648 pts William Byron +459 pts Chris Buescher +449 pts Bubba Wallace +423 pts Chase Briscoe +335 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2024 Brad Keselowski -439 pts Ty Gibbs -364 pts Alex Bowman -238 pts Josh Berry -234 pts Todd Gilliland -210 pts   Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:   Best Career Year William Byron 9.21 Christopher Bell 10.86 Ross Chastain 12.79 Chase Briscoe 14.43 Todd Gilliland 19.00 JH Nemechek 19.43 Ryan Preece 19.57   Worst Career Year Brad Keselowski 25.29 Cole Custer 24.79 Carson Hocevar 21.57 Ty Gibbs 21.57 Zane Smith 19.86   Rookie of the Year Battle SVG 173 Riley Herbst 173   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 512 Toyota 493 Ford 477   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings Hendrick 499 Joe Gibbs 479 Penske 426 Trackhouse 399 23XI 363 RFK 362 Spire 345 Front Row 334 RCR 328 Legacy MC 316 Kaulig 297 Hyak 263 Wood Bros 227 Haas Factory 171 Rick Ware 91   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 William Byron 144 Kyle Larson 128 Ryan Blaney 121 Denny Hamlin 106 Tyler Reddick 103 Bubba Wallace 90 Alex Bowman 83 Chase Elliott 82 Christopher Bell 80 Joey Logano 77   Milestone Watch Chase Elliott Looking for his 20th Career Win Erik Jones Looking for his 40th Career Top 5 Carson Hocevar Looking for his 10th Career Top 10   Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Justin Haley 155 races Cole Custer 111 races Bubba Wallace 93 races Erik Jones 93 races Kyle Busch 71 races Michael McDowell 62 races Daniel Suarez 48 races Chase Elliott 41 races Brad Keselowski 37 races AJ Allmendinger 34 races   The race begins Sunday, June 8th at 2:00 pm EST (11:00 am 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!

Photo from www.instagram.com/thomasannunziata15 By Logan Morris Thomas Annunziata is looking forward to when the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads south of the border next week. I got a chance to ask the Cope Family Racing driver how he was feeling in preparation for the upcoming road course.  "I love it. I’m a motorsports junkie. I love Formula 1. Going to COTA for the first time was the coolest thing. Now going to Mexico City on a Formula 1 track—that’s nuts. And we’re doing it on a huge stage: NASCAR. Sure, there’s controversy. People say it’s dangerous, but I think it’ll be interesting. We’re like 9,000 feet up. Engine builders say we’ll be 200 horsepower down. The culture will be fun. Just being part of it with the whole team—it’s going to be so different. I think the whole experience will be super fun, and if we cap it off with a good result, it’ll be one to remember." Annzuaita is looking at the race in Mexico City as a chance to surprise some people. I asked him about his mindset regarding the race specifically, and what kind of momentum it could create for his season going forward. "If the win’s there, I’m going for it. If not, I’ll take what we get. If it’s a 10th-place car, we finish 10th. If it’s 5th, we finish 5th. The car should be really good. I think we got robbed at COTA when the engine blew up in qualifying. Top 10 is possible. We just need to build on a result. This will be a good baseline—we’ve got Watkins Glen, Sonoma, and Chicago coming up. Let’s see where we’re at when it comes to turning right." As he continues to gain more experience on ovals, he’s leaning on Cope Family Racing General Manager Derrike Cope for guidance. “ Derrike’s been racing for 30 years. I think he’s one of the few NASCAR drivers to be in for like, what, four or five decades? He’s got easily over a thousand starts. Everything he talks about is just so detailed—more detailed than I can even explain, and I’m the race car driver. He’s been out of the seat for a while, so it’s almost like a cheat code in a way. He’s got so much experience, he understands every situation I’m in, he understands the thought processes, the emotions going on, and even the nervousness or timidness I have before these races. He’s been in the situation a thousand times. He is a huge help." He feels like he’s making progress with the ovals, but he knows there’s more work to do “That’s a hard scale. In the beginning, I never struggled to be fast on an oval. I think it’s harder for an oval guy to go to a road course and be fast than for a road course guy to be fast on an oval. But it’s the racecraft that you’ve got to learn. I could be on pole position and still get my butt handed to me because I don’t know the racecraft. You’re not fighting for feet—you’re fighting for inches. From Phoenix to now, it’s night and day. I’m learning the air, how to be consistent, how to gain inches around the lap. I’m learning to manipulate the air and other drivers, which is cool, but I didn’t know how to do that in the beginning." You can catch Thomas Annuizanta in the No.70 for Cope Family Racing  when the Xfinity Series takes on Mexico City during The Chilango 150 at 4:30 PM EST.

Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images By Adam Carabine A look at the Top Ten in our weekly Power Rankings, plus the biggest movers! While finishing position is important, it’s not always indicative of the full picture.  StatChat rankings are determined using a large number of statistical inputs, with an emphasis placed on the most recent 5 races.   Chase Briscoe – This week: 10 – Last week: 10 Briscoe holds serve and maintains his spot within the Top 10 of the Power Rankings.  A second straight pole win helped, and leading a bunch of laps did too, though it probably only just counteracted against his P17 finish in Nashville.   Denny Hamlin – This week: 9 – Last week: 11 On a day where he nearly didn’t race because his third baby was due, and then his helmet hose got disconnected, meaning there was no fresh air coming into his helmet at all, he had a stellar day and finished P3.    Joey Logano – This week: 8 – Last week: 7 Logano’s day in Nashville was less than quiet, and mostly in good ways.  He led laps, finished P4, and earned extra points in both stages.  However, he drops a spot to make way for this week’s race winner to move above him.   Tyler Reddick – This week: 7 – Last week: 6 You’ve got to be lucky to be good, and you’ve got to be good to be lucky.   An ill-timed flat tire had Reddick lose a lap for an unscheduled pit stop, but just as he was getting back onto the track, a caution came out and he earned the free pass to stay on the lead lap.  A P9 finish in Nashville is solid, but pretty soon they’re going to want to see more from him.        Ryan Blaney – This week: 6 – Last week: 12 Blaney finally gets the dub in Nashville after many weeks that seemed to slip away from him – often times through no fault of his own.  Blaney has still managed to be in the points conversation despite being tied for the most DNFs in the series.  But a convincing win at Nashville this weekend puts that to rest – he’ll be in the playoffs this year.   Christopher Bell – This week: 5 – Last week: 5 Not a ton of movement in our Top-5 here, as Christopher Bell brings home a Top 10, as well as the highest pass differential of anyone on Sunday in Nashville.  He might not be happy with just a P10, but it keeps him in good standing within the Power Rankings.      Ross Chastain – This week: 4 – Last week: 4 Relative newcomer to the Power Rankings Top 10, Ross Chastain also had a quietly good day in Nashville this past weekend.  He had the second-most quality passes of any driver, finished P11, and holds his spot here.   Chase Elliott – This week: 3 – Last week: 3 Something seems to be happening at the 9 team, and it doesn’t feel super positive.  It’s been quiet, it’s been underwhelming, and yet he still gets decent enough underlying numbers to hold onto his spot in the Power Rankings.  P15 at Nashville is not where this team should be finishing.  They deserve better.   William Byron – This week: 2 – Last week: 2 Coming off the heartbreak of losing the Coca-Cola 600, Byron puts up another consistently good day in Nashville, coming home P5.  He had the most quality passes, he led just one lap (though he was certainly in the hunt for many more), and earned the second-most points in the stages behind Denny Hamlin.  His point lead is almost 50 points more than teammate Larson in the Regular Season Standings.    Kyle Larson – This week: 1 – Last week: 1 It certainly was not a clean day at the track for Larson in Nashville this past weekend.  He quickly had issues with his car, and was off the pace early.  He and his crew chief somehow battled back and finished P8, which really was miraculous considering the issues he’d had.  Watch out for this 5 team, because this was one of their worst days and they still finished in the Top 10.   Biggest Movers   Ty Gibbs – This week: 35 – Last week: 25 Falls 10 places   SVG – This week: 24 – Last week: 31 Gains 7 places   Rest of the List 11. Carson Hocevar LW: 14 +3 12. Erik Jones LW: 18 +6 13. Ryan Preece LW: 9 -4 14. Todd Gilliland LW: 17 +3 15. Kyle Busch LW: 15 -- 16. Austin Cindric LW: 13 -3 17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. LW: 8 -9 18. Josh Berry LW: 16 -2 19. JH Nemechek LW: 20 +1 20. Alex Bowman LW: 19 -1 21. Michael McDowell LW: 24 +3 22. Zane Smith LW: 27 +5 23. Austin Dillon LW: 22 -1 24. SVG LW: 31 +7 25. Bubba Wallace LW: 26 +1 26. Ty Dillon LW: 30 +4 27. Riley Herbst LW: 32 +5 28. Noah Gragson LW: 21 -7 29. Cole Custer LW: 33 +4 30. Chris Buescher LW: 34 +4 31. Daniel Suarez LW: 35 +4 32. Justin Haley LW: 23 -9 33. AJ Allmendinger LW: 28 -5 34. Brad Keselowski LW: 29 -5 35. Ty Gibbs LW: 25 -10 36. Cody Ware LW: 36 --

Photo from www.x.com/f1 By Ryan Wu Dominance from McLaren once again For all the talk about wing flexing and rules clarifications, McLaren silenced the speculation with a dominant performance, securing another 1-2 finish. Oscar Piastri led the way, beating his teammate and main championship rival to claim his fifth victory of the season. With this result, Piastri now holds a 10-point lead in the championship standings after nine races. The closest non-McLaren driver was Charles Leclerc, who completed the podium but finished 10 seconds behind Piastri. Meanwhile, McLaren extended their Constructors’ Championship lead to a commanding 197 points. Piastri’s weekend started strong as he claimed pole position, dominating Norris and beating him by 0.209 seconds. He controlled the race from the start and was never seriously threatened, only temporarily relinquishing the lead to Verstappen during the pit stop phase. On lap 52, while running second, Norris got caught up behind a scrap between Liam Lawson and Oliver Bearman—both a lap down and battling for 11th. This allowed Verstappen to close the gap. A safety car on lap 56, triggered by Kimi Antonelli’s retirement due to engine failure, prompted all three race leaders to pit for fresh tires. McLaren executed a flawless double stack. Unfortunately for Verstappen, his only remaining fresh set was a set of hard tires. Red Bull may have anticipated the safety car would come out earlier, leaving them at a disadvantage when racing resumed on lap 61. Under pressure from Charles Leclerc, Verstappen lost control exiting the final corner and ran wide, allowing Leclerc to overtake. Shortly after, Verstappen gained a position on George Russell by going off track. While being instructed to return the place, he caused a collision and received a 10-second penalty, ultimately demoting him to P10 after the checkered flag. Great Weekend for Hulkenberg Having not scored any points since his P7 finish in the season opener in Australia, it looked like another tough weekend for Hülkenberg and the Stake team after he qualified 15th and teammate Gabriel Bortoleto started 12th. However, to much surprise, Hülkenberg delivered an impressive performance and fought his way to a strong P5 finish. The German driver got off to an amazing start including making up 5 places in the opening two laps and some great duels with the home favorite Fernando Alonso. Red Bull’s Self-Inflicted Wound and Tsunoda’s Struggles Continues After nine races, Red Bull finds itself fourth in the Constructors' Championship, trailing Mercedes by 15 points and McLaren by a staggering 218. While the car is clearly lacking pace, Verstappen continues to extract strong results. The same can't be said for Yuki Tsunoda, whose best finish since his promotion to the senior team has been a solitary P9. He has failed to score points in four of the nine races so far. While not all of the blame falls squarely on Tsunoda’s shoulders, results need to start coming soon—as the team’s hopes in the Constructors' standings are quickly fading. Verstappen also could have challenged for a fourth-place finish in a weekend where he qualified third, but a collision while he was being told to return his position to George Russell resulted in him being punished by a 10-second penalty added on to the end of his race. Rookie Report It was a rough weekend for rookies, but Isack Hadjar managed to finish seventh, marking his third consecutive points-scoring race. The French driver now sits ninth in the drivers' standings, with twice as many points as Red Bull-promoted Yuki Tsunoda and four times as many as his teammate, Liam Lawson. He leads all rookies—except for Kimi Antonelli—by a comfortable margin. Speaking of the Italian wunderkind, Antonelli appeared set for a solid weekend after qualifying sixth, but was forced to retire due to engine issues. It was his second DNF in the last three races. Racing Refresh Driver of the Day Nico Hulkenberg, Stake F1 Final Points Finishing Positions 1st: Oscar Piastri 2nd: Lando Norris 3rd: Charles Leclerc 4th: George Russell 5th: Nico Hulkenberg 6th: Lewis Hamilton 7th: Isack Hadjar 8th: Pierre Gasly 9th: Fernando Alonso 10th: Max Verstappen Next on the F1 Schedule: Canadian Grand Prix: June 13-15

Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images By Adam Carabine & Logan Morris Logan Morris:  Hey, Adam!  Adam Carabine: Hello Logan, or should I say… Howdy? NASCAR was just in Nashville, after all! We had an overall pretty exciting race in Music City, and I’m excited to discuss it with you.  Shall we start with the winner?  Ryan Blaney’s up-and-down season hits a high note (see what I did there?) and he locks himself into the playoffs.  Thoughts on his race Sunday? LM: I thought this was the best Nashville race we’ve seen thus far! The changing track temp constantly kept things evolving. This was one of those rare races where we had everything in one race. Blaney showed some prowess in the final stage, chaos ran wild in stage two, and strategy was being formed in stage one. Blaney breaks the bad luck string, and he’s now locked in, but there was great racing everywhere! I really enjoyed it.  AC: It was a fun race, for sure.  It’s funny to me, Blaney has had such an up and down year, and yet his winless streak only dates back to the Martinsville playoff race last season.  It felt like it had been longer for some reason, but I’m sure he’s pleased to finally lock himself into the playoffs.  Blaney is tied for the most DNFs this year, and yet the races he finishes are great.  He was certainly in the conversation to point his way into the playoffs if he ended up staying winless all season, but now he doesn’t have to worry. It was a gutsy call by his crew chief in that first stage that really led to all of this.  Traditionally once you’re in that fuel window, whoever can pit first under green has an advantage - and then everyone else panics and pits quickly thereafter.  Because tire fall-off at Nashville is much less than at a more abrasive track, Blaney’s crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, kept him out in front much longer than anyone else, and he managed to salvage some track position, and let him stay there for the duration of the race.  LM: Remember, Penkse has a history of gutsy calls here. Paul Wolfe and Joey Logano famously squeezed more fuel out of the 22 car last season than we ever thought possible. Penske prides itself on being a team, so I think it’s fair to wonder if that is something Hassler was keeping in mind. No matter what, it paid off and got the 2023 champion back into the playoffs.  AC: Fair enough, at this point it’s probably fair to point to Team Penske as some of the best at fuel savings.  I think we also need to talk about Carson Hocevar, the young phenom.  Sure, there are some bumps and bruises along the way, and certainly his racecraft could use some polishing, but boy he’s been exciting to watch these last few weeks.  He was definitely in the conversation last week at the Coca-Cola 600 until his engine blew up, and this week he earned a very respectable P2.  All of this happening on the same day where Ricky Stenhouse Jr. might not think there’s anything respectable about the guy.  Thoughts? LM: He is a future star. He has a personality in an era that lacks it. But in Nashville, his immaturity or rawness was obvious again.  He didn’t need to drive so aggressively at that point in the race, especially in Nashville, where you’re racing the track as much as you are the fellow drivers because of the constantly changing conditions.  He could be a future champion. But his “77 against the world” mindset is doing him no favors. Fans may like it, and I get it. But the drivers are the ones who keep and return the receipts.  AC: Yeah, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in his exit interview definitely made reference to “needing to do something about that” in the future, so Hocevar may want to watch out.  But on the other end of things, Stenhouse is going to have to catch him.  There’s certainly some raw talent there, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we’ve seen him up front in the last few races.  My bold hot take prediction at the start of the year was that we’d see him win more than one race - I’m feeling more comfortable about that now than I was when I first said it!  We briefly touched on it, but I like Nashville as a track.  It was announced that it was a sellout for the third year in a row, and so clearly there’s some fan buy-in.  Why don’t we get two dates at this track, rather than at some of the others who have been unfortunately producing some duds? LM: Great question! I think if we keep seeing races like tonight, you could see that conversation take place. However, we’re in era where the demand for NASCAR to come to various tracks feels like it’s at an all-time high. Perhaps that’s false. I’m sure during the sport’s heyday of the 90s and early 2000s was astronomical, but the leadership wasn’t willing to field many offers. Now, we’re heading to Mexico in two weeks for a points-paying race. Point being, times have changed, and getting two dates anywhere besides the “tried and true” places feels like corn-dogs fighting for kennel space.  AC: You’re probably right, and with the schedule already probably longer than it should be, realistically, we probably won’t see a double Nashville race anytime soon, but a guy can dream!  I wonder if we could see Nashville move into the playoffs, or at least into a more pivotal part of the schedule just so the stakes are higher in the future - that might be fun! Someone else I think we need to discuss is Kyle Larson.  I’m not sure what’s going on with that 5 team, but they seem to be magicians each week.  It was looking like Larson might not even finish on the lead lap, and suddenly you blink your eyes and it’s the end of the race and he’s in the Top 10.  Do you chalk this up to him being the ‘greatest in the world’ right now? Or is there something special in the water at Hendrick - particularly at Larson’s team? LM: I’m going to say both! He, almost without question, is the best in the world, right now. But, we know NASCAR takes a team. Cliff Daniels and his guys are making all the right calls, and that’s not easy. We also know what HMS is capable of as an organization. But, it takes all of it to do the types of things they’re doing right now. If you get all the ingredients of a cake and just sat them on a stove, it doesn’t mean anything. You have to blend and cook it properly. The 5 team is just that.   AC: It must be so demoralizing to be a team that has one of their best days, and to watch Kyle Larson struggle all day and still finish ahead of you.  Though I suppose that’s part of what makes Larson so good, his killer instinct.  Anything else we should get to before our weekly awards? LM: No sir! Let’s see where we shake out this week!  Best Performer LM: For best performer, I’m going to go outside the box and say Erik Jones of Legacy Motor Club. His P7 doesn’t tell the whole story. For a considerable amount of time, he had a top-four car. This season has been disappointing for the 43 crew so far, but Sunday was a big step in the right direction.  AC: It’s not a bad pick, Jones has looked good in the last couple of weeks, and so has Legacy as a whole.  I hope they continue to get better!  For my best performer I’m actually going to give props to Denny Hamlin.  With a new baby on the way (possibly being born during the race, who knows), and then some issues with his helmet, so he’s not getting any cool air pumped through to his head.  That’s a miserable day, and he still was a contender all day long, finishing P3. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Biggest Move of the Race LM: It has to be Hassler’s calls atop the box of the 12 crew. Jonathan Hassler and Ryan Blaney truly won that race together.  AC: I usually like to pick something different than you do just for the sake of our readers, but it’s hard to argue with that.   Biggest Disappointment LM: I’m going to go with Chase Eliott. He has a win at Nashville, so I expected a better showing than P15. As much as we praise the 5 team. Something feels a little off at the 9.  AC: I’m going to go outside the box here and say I’m disappointed that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn’t stick around to ‘have a chat’ with Carson Hocevar after the race.  He was quoted as saying he wasn’t going to talk to him after because “it’s too expensive,” likely referring to the fines he had to pay last time he got in a post-race altercation.  But boy it would have been fun to have another Stenhouse chat meme. What to Watch for Next Weekend LM: Next week, we head to a whole new ball game - the two-mile track in Michigan. Strictly two-mile tracks don’t pop up often, so I’m very curious to see what next week looks like. Hot take, I think we get a new winner next week! This is another track where someone like the 9 could break through.  AC: Do you mean like a first-time winner? Or just someone who hasn’t yet won this year?  Because the way Carson Hocevar has been going, I could see him getting his first-ever Cup Series win next week!  Though keep an eye on Zane Smith and Ty Gibbs, both drivers have a decent history at the track too. LM: I could be coy and say I’m not going to tell you either way, so I can be right in either case, but we are the land of hot takes, so I’m going to say a brand new first-time winner next week! AC: I look forward to it! Enjoy the races everyone!

Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday. This weekend NASCAR travels to Lebanon, Tennessee for the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.   Nashville Superspeedway is a 1.33-mile tri-oval speedway that opened in 2001.  Relatively new to the NASCAR circuit, Kyle Larson was the first Cup Series winner at the track, winning in 2021.  Last year’s winner at this race was Joey Logano.   Tomorrow’s race will be 300 laps long (for a total of 399.90 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 90 – 185 – 300.  Pit road speed is 45 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 55 mph.  The fuel window is between 67-73 laps.   This year, the NASCAR Cup Series has run 3,731 laps, for 5,038.64 miles so far this season.  No driver has completed every single lap, but Chase Elliott is one lap behind, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is three behind.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Nashville: Zane Smith 2.00 over 1 race Kyle Larson 4.50 over 4 races (1 win) Joey Logano 9.75 over 4 races (1 win) Ross Chastain 10.25 over 4 races (1 win) Denny Hamlin 10.50 over 4 races   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Nashville: Riley Herbst 37.00 over 1 race Ty Dillon 31.50 over 2 races JH Nemechek 31.00 over 1 race Chase Briscoe 29.25 over 4 races Cole Custer 28.00 over 2 races   Nashville is an Intermediate Track.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks: Denny Hamlin 12.08 over 341 races (28 wins) Kyle Larson 12.25 over 170 races (18 races) Kyle Busch 12.46 over 357 races (29 races) Joey Logano 12.47 over 287 races (19 wins) Chase Elliott 12.48 over 160 races (6 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks: JH Nemechek 22.94 over 46 races Ty Dillon 22.36 over 127 races Ryan Preece 22.26 over 93 races SVG 22.13 over 11 races Josh Berry 21.40 over 28 races (1 win)   Because of Nashville’s recent introduction to the Cup Series schedule, there have only been four races there – and each time has been a different winner.  So Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and Ross Chastain are all tied for winningest at this track.   Notable drivers who have not won at Nashville: Kyle Busch (has won at 24 other tracks) Denny Hamlin (has won at 19 other tracks) Brad Keselowski (has won at 17 other tracks) Christopher Bell (has won at 10 other tracks) William Byron (has won at 10 other tracks)   No drivers have scored their first Cup Series victory at Nashville.   Based on average finish, Zane Smith and Kyle Larson list Charlotte as their BEST track, and Chase Briscoe lists it as his WORST.   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 2024 Tyler Reddick +629 pts Chris Buescher +449 pts William Byron +433 pts Bubba Wallace +403 pts Chase Briscoe +326 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2024 Brad Keselowski -440 pts Ty Gibbs -334 pts Joey Logano -234 pts Josh Berry -204 pts Todd Gilliland -199 pts   Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:   Best Career Year William Byron 9.54 Christopher Bell 10.92 Chase Elliott 11.23 Ross Chastain 12.92 Chase Briscoe 14.23 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 16.85 Todd Gilliland 18.77 JH Nemechek 18.85 Ryan Preece 18.92 Josh Berry 20.46   Worst Career Year Brad Keselowski 25.46 Cole Custer 25.23 Carson Hocevar 23.08 Ty Gibbs 20.85 Zane Smith 20.38   Rookie of the Year Battle SVG 161 Riley Herbst 160   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 477 Toyota 459 Ford 437   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings Hendrick 467 Joe Gibbs 445 Penske 386 Trackhouse 373 RFK 339 23XI 332 Front Row 310 Spire 310 RCR 303 Legacy MC 286 Kaulig 280 Hyak 262 Wood Bros 220 Haas Factory 153 Rick Ware 87   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 128 William Byron 128 Ryan Blaney 107 Tyler Reddick 94 Bubba Wallace 90 Denny Hamlin 88 Alex Bowman 83 Chase Elliott 77 Christopher Bell 73 Austin Cindric 71   Milestone Watch Chase Elliott Looking for his 20th Career Win Erik Jones Looking for his 40th Career Top 5 Denny Hamlin This will be his 700th Career Cup Series Start Ricky Stenhouse Jr. This will be his 450th Career Cup Series Start   Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Justin Haley 154 races Cole Custer 110 races Bubba Wallace 92 races Erik Jones 92 races Kyle Busch 70 races Michael McDowell 61 races Daniel Suarez 47 races Chase Elliott 40 races Brad Keselowski 36 races AJ Allmendinger 33 races   The race begins Sunday, June 1st at 7:00 pm EST (4:00 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!   Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter  @RacingRefresh   Is there an error? 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Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images By Adam Carabine A look at the Top Ten in our weekly Power Rankings, plus the biggest movers! While finishing position is important, it’s not always indicative of the full picture.  StatChat rankings are determined using a large number of statistical inputs, with an emphasis placed on the most recent 5 races.   Chase Briscoe – This week: 10 – Last week: 16 Two Top-5s in a row, including a P3 at the Coca-Cola 600 this past weekend, and Briscoe has broken into the Top 10 of our Power Rankings.  He started on the pole, but it was nothing but chaos for the rest of the day.  Heck of a battle to get back onto the podium.   Ryan Preece – This week: 9 – Last week: 13 Suddenly without really realizing it, Preece has become the points leader of RFK.  This was probably helped by Buescher’s 60 pt penalty, but Preece has been solid lately.  He’s had two Top-10s in a row, and co-owner Brad Keselowski might be turning things around too – things could be looking up for RFK.    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – This week: 8 – Last week: 10 It might be time to stop marvelling at Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s appearances in our Power Rankings Top Ten.  His average finish over the last five races (the most heavily weighted in our Power Ranking formula, ps) is 14.  For a driver on an underfunded one-car team, that’s probably better than they could have hoped to start this year.   Joey Logano – This week: 7 – Last week: 8 In what seemed like an off-day for Team Penske at Charlotte, Joey Logano was the bright(er) spot. He barely hung onto the lead lap, but his underlying numbers weren’t terrible.  He’ll be riding some of the positive momentum of a win three weeks ago at Texas.      Tyler Reddick – This week: 6 – Last week: 5 Another week, another Reddick car that looked at one point like it could contend for a victory, but winds up with a disappointing finish.  On the final pitstop of the race, often referred to as the money stop, he was caught speeding on pit exit. What had been a great day to that point turned into a P26, two laps down.  He nearly wiped out both himself and leader-at-the-time William Byron, possibly leading to Byron surrendering the lead.   Christopher Bell – This week: 5 – Last week: 6 It seemed like somewhat of a quiet day for Christopher Bell at the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday.  At times he was near the front, but then something would happen off-screen and he’d be back in the teens.  Props to him for salvaging a Top-10 at one of the most physically demanding races of the season, but it did seem like that car might have had more to give.      Ross Chastain – This week: 4 – Last week: 7 Starting literally last, and making his way to the front, passing for the lead with 5 to go, and winning the race – I’m sure Chastain would have preferred to stay up front all day instead, but it showed some resilience we haven’t yet seen from Trackhouse this year.  This wasn’t Chastain ‘backing into a win,’ this was a clinical pass in the dying moments of the race – stealing victory from Byron.   Chase Elliott – This week: 3 – Last week: 3 Mr. Not-so-flashy-but-consistent, Chase Elliott has been on a solid roll pretty much from the start of the season.  He hasn’t finished better than 4th, or worse than 20th.  He might need to ramp up the excitement level in order to defend his title as NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver, but even without a win yet this year, he’s solidly in the playoff picture.    William Byron – This week: 2 – Last week: 2 William Byron had a near-perfect race slip through his fingers in the final five laps.  You’ve got to feel for the guy, at least for a minute or two.  Then you remember that he already has a win and is locked into the playoffs. You also remember that he scored 65 of a possible 70 points at Charlotte to pad his lead atop the points standings.  He’ll be okay.       Kyle Larson – This week: 1 – Last week: 1 A majorly disappointing day for Larson, and the Cup Series race was only half of it.  After crashing out early from the Indy 500, he flew to Charlotte only to crash out of the Coca-Cola 600. He did spin on his own early in the race, but managed to fight back, only to be taken out by a rogue Daniel Suarez who either misread the distance between him and Chase Briscoe, or received some faulty data from his spotter.  Larson’s dominance at a few of the recent races salvages his spot atop the Power Rankings, but he’s no longer as infallible as he was last week.   Biggest Movers   Ryan Blaney – This week: 12 – Last week: 4 Falls 8 places   Brad Keselowski – This week: 29 – Last week: 36 Gains 7 places   Rest of the List 11. Denny Hamlin LW: 11 -- 12. Ryan Blaney LW: 4 -7 13. Austin Cindric LW: 9 -4 14. Carson Hocevar LW: 15 +1 15. Kyle Busch LW: 12 -3 16. Josh Berry LW: 17 +1 17. Todd Gilliland LW: 18 +1 18. Erik Jones LW: 20 +2 19. Alex Bowman LW: 14 -5 20. JH Nemechek LW: 19 -1 21. Noah Gragson LW: 26 +5 22. Austin Dillon LW: 23 +1 23. Justin Haley LW: 21 -2 24. Michael McDowell LW: 30 +6 25. Ty Gibbs LW: 25 -- 26. Bubba Wallace LW: 22 -4 27. Zane Smith LW: 24 -3 28. AJ Allmendinger LW: 34 +6 29. Brad Keselowski LW: 36 +7 30. Ty Dillon LW: 29 -1 31. SVG LW: 31 -- 32. Riley Herbst LW: 32 -- 33. Cole Custer LW: 33 -- 34. Chris Buescher LW: 27 -7 35. Daniel Suarez LW: 28 -7 36. Cody Ware LW: 35 -1

Photo from www.x.com/f1 By Ryan Wu Norris Seizes back Momentum for Championship Battle On a circuit where on-track overtakes are incredibly rare, qualifying at Monaco has become paramount. Lando Norris stole the pole position from the home favorite and defending winner Charles Leclerc on his last flying lap of Q3 by being the only driver to record a time in the 1:09s. He then started off the race with some drama as the British driver locked up going into the first corner but was able to retain his lead nonetheless. He led for most of the race but found himself being backed up by Max Verstappen in the closing stages and had Leclerc hot on his tail. However, Verstappen had yet to stop for the second time as he would have been in fourth if he stopped on the second lap and the Red Bull team was clearing hoping that a red flag would be employed which would have won him the race. However, such an event did not transpire and when Verstappen finally pitted with two laps to go, Norris had free track ahead of him and ultimately won the race by just over 3 seconds. This was an important result for Norris in the championship fight with teammate Oscar Piastri (finished P3), as the Australian driver had clearly stolen momentum from Norris over the past few races. The gap between the two McLaren drivers is now 3 points as we head into the Spanish Grand Prix next week. Monaco Changes Yielded Mixed Results Monaco remains the crown jewel of the F1 calendar, but in recent years it has become clear that changes are needed. The sheer size of modern F1 cars has significantly reduced the quality of racing and, in turn, the entertainment value of the event. In response to growing concerns and criticism, F1 leadership introduced a mandatory two-stop rule for this race. The change produced mixed results, but it did lead to some intriguing strategic decisions. Many teams opted to undercut with one driver while instructing the other to hold up the pack, allowing their teammate to rejoin the race in a favorable position. Williams executed this strategy well, turning a 10th and 11th place start into a double-points finish on a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult. Carlos Sainz was tasked with holding up the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli to allow for his teammate, Alex Albon to pit. Albon later returned the favor. Red Bull also deployed an interesting strategy and had Verstappen wait until the final lap to complete his second and last mandatory pit stop. Ultimately, the order of the top four drivers after the checkered flag remained unchanged from qualifying, though the new rule change did bring great intrigue to the rest of the field who were vying for positions. A Rough Weekend for Mercedes Kimi Antonelli was hoping to bounce back from his DNF at Imola, but his weekend took another unfortunate turn when he crashed at the end of Q1, leaving him to start 15th on the grid. His teammate, George Russell, didn’t fare much better. Russell made a questionable move by clearly cutting the Nouvelle Chicane to overtake Alex Albon, mistakenly assuming the stewards would issue only a mild penalty. Instead, he was handed a drive-through penalty, which severely impacted his race and left him finishing just outside the points in 11th. Rookie Report Racing Bulls had a standout weekend, executing team tactics brilliantly under the new two-stop strategy. Liam Lawson played a key supporting role by backing up the field, allowing Isack Hadjar to make his first stop for soft tires on lap 14 and rejoin the track ahead of him. Hadjar continued to demonstrate impressive pace and pitted again on lap 19 for hard tires, once again rejoining ahead of Lawson. It was a display of strategic sacrifice from Lawson and strong performance from Hadjar. Ultimately, both drivers secured valuable points for the team, with Hadjar finishing P6 and Lawson P8—both ahead of Yuki Tsunoda. No other rookie driver was able to secure points this weekend. Racing Refresh Driver of the Day Lando Norris, McLaren Final Points Finishing Positions 1st: Lando Norris 2nd: Charles Leclerc 3rd: Oscar Piastri 4th: Max Verstappen 5th: Lewis Hamilton 6th: Isack Hadjar 7th: Esteban Ocon 8th: Liam Lawson 9th: Alex Albon 10th: Carlos Sainz Next on the F1 Schedule: Spanish Grand Prix: May 30th-June 1st

Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images By Adam Carabine & Logan Morris Logan Morris:  Hey, Adam! After a few weeks away, we’re back after a wild Coca-Cola 600.  Ross Chastain gets it done, and spoils a great run by William Byron Adam Carabine: Hey Logan, good to catch up with you after a few weeks off from the Post Race Inspection.  We come back for one of NASCAR’s Crown Jewel races (also its longest), and you are right - Chastain did spoil Byron’s party.  What did you think of the race? LM: Overall. I enjoyed it. It’s also notable because it officially served as Prime’s NASCAR debut. I gotta say, besides the lack of Mike Joy, I thought the broadcast was a breath of fresh air! What did you think? AC: The broadcast was chef’s kiss, my friend.  More on that later.  Sunday was billed as the ‘Greatest Day in Motorsports,’ and I’m not going to lie, I did #TheTriple.  I watched F1 early in the morning, then the Indy 500, then NASCAR in the evening.  And if I’m entirely honest, I think NASCAR took the cake as the most exciting race.  It may have also been the longest, but there was excitement throughout.   I think the part of me that likes to root for an underdog from time to time had me happy to see Ross Chastain sneak this one away from the dominant William Byron, but there was much more to the race than just those two!  Shall we discuss the Amazon Prime Video broadcast? I thought it was amazing. LM: I feel like this was a complete race. It had everything you could have wanted. The underdog surprise, the dominant car, just enough chaos sprinkled in to keep you on the edge of your seat. The broadcast was wonderful. Dale Jr’s passion was missed in a big way, we got a full pre- and post-show. Fox has been a valuable partner for a few decades now, and that relationship will continue, but it’s nice to see NASCAR feel like a true priority again.   AC: I’m not even sure I can be as nice to the Fox crew.  It felt like as soon as they got the rights to IndyCar, NASCAR was a much lower priority.  Heck, they’ve even been stealing Bob Pockrass away from NASCAR events!   But yes, Prime did an awesome job covering the race.  Even just some of the decisions made in the director’s chair - we got to see a lot of battles throughout the field, not always just the race for the lead.  At times, Byron was so dominant there wasn’t really much to watch up there, but any time two cars got close to each other, we had a smaller box showing the battle.  And don’t even get me started on the commercial-free run to the finish!? The final 63 laps were commercial-free.  We would never have seen that during Fox’s tenure (and probably won’t when NBC takes over later this year too).  How refreshing!  (See what I did there?) LM: I did, in fact, see what you did there! To be fair, Prime is a subscription service, so they can do more and have freedom regarding commercials. I’m hopeful that Fox, TNT, and NBC will incorporate some of the things we will enjoy over these next five weeks into their coverage as well.   AC: I understand, but boy was it nice.  Let’s turn our attention to some of the storylines in the race - and there were MANY.  How about Kyle Larson attempting The Double, and not faring so well.  He crashed out of the Indy 500 on his own (though he took two others with him), and while at first it looked like he might have done the same thing at Charlotte (he spun on his own early in the race), it was actually Daniel Suarez that eventually took him out.  Twitter users did the math, and his entire day came in under 600 miles.  What do you make of that performance from someone often hailed as the GOAT? LM: It was a tough day for Larson, no doubt. However, I think the veiled criticism he’s gotten online in some circles today has been silly. Great drivers have bad days. It takes a lot of boldness to attempt The Double, and it’s one hell of an undertaking. He showed last year that he can drive an IndyCar. We know what he can do in a stock car, and his ability on dirt is legendary. I have no idea if he’ll try it for a third consecutive year next season, but I’d lay down some money on him doing it again in the next five years. He’s got to have some serious heartburn about his day. But that may be bad news for some, because a more motivated Kyle Larson is a scary thought.  AC: I would tend to agree with you.  He doesn’t deserve the hate.  I mean, I attempted and completed The Triple today, so I recognize that makes me a better driver than him, but he can settle for second-best.  Jokes aside, he’s a very talented driver, and even the best make mistakes - especially over the course of a very long day.  And to be fair, the reason he had a DNF in the Cup Series race wasn’t really his fault.  I love the idea of him trying it again, and actually think it might be cool to see like 4 or 5 drivers try it all at once.  They could carpool! Shall we talk about William Byron’s rough day as well? Carry on a theme of sad Hendrick drivers? LM: Well, he won 3 stages, and finished second, and while it was no doubt a bitter pill, there are a lot of drivers that would have fallen over themselves for that type of day. Until the last 10 laps or so, it looked to be his day, HMS has owned Charlotte thanks to names like Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. In some ways, Byron was putting on a vintage Hendrick performance much of the night.  AC: In this one-off race with four stages, 65 points out of a possible 70 certainly isn’t bad, and Byron will maintain his lead in the Regular Season Championship race, and adds three extra playoff points.  But bitter pill might be an understatement.  Byron looked dejected coming home P2, and the poor guy also had to sit in with the Prime panel and relive it all because there was an actual post-race show!   After just having signed a contract extension for a few years, I’m sure he can wipe his tears with a few extra Benjamins, but these guys are all competitors, and it’s got to suck to have the best car of the day and not win.  Any other storylines you wanted to touch on before we hit up our weekly awards? LM: Let’s get to the awards!  Best Performer LM: I know he didn’t win, but how can it be anyone but William Byron? He dominated much of the race. As you mentioned 65 out of 70 possible points. A good day at the office, even if he couldn’t see it in the immediate aftermath. AC: Though Byron is the obvious choice, and I’d also like to go outside the box with mentioning the Prime broadcast, I’m going to choose someone else just for the sake of discussing someone new.  Chase Briscoe!  He earned the pole, and then had a terrible start to the day.  An uncontrolled tire issue on the first round of pit stops put his day in jeopardy.  He rallied back and never gave up, and ended up finishing P3.  That’s a gutsy performance on a day where most eyes were elsewhere. Biggest Move of the Race LM: The biggest move of the race was Byron over-driving the car in the final laps. He ended up making contact with the wall in turn two and took away any chance he had of mounting a rally of his own against Chastain’s push. AC: That was certainly huge, but I’m going to rewind a couple of laps and give the biggest move to Ross Chastain and his pass for the lead over Byron.  They talked about this on the post-race show a bit, but this was a patient and poised Ross Chastain.  He clearly had the faster car at this point of the race, but he bided his time and made the pass when the time was right.  Any sooner and he might have wrecked, and if he’d waited any longer, the opportunity may never have presented itself again.  It’s nice to see an aggressive, yet clean pass for the win. Biggest Disappointment LM: I’m going outside the box on this one and say Jimmie Johnson. While he has struggled mightily in his limited next-gen starts, Charlotte is a place he used to absolutely own. At one point, he had three straight Coke 600 wins. Don’t even get me started on his domination of the place in the fall. In no way was I expecting him to truly contend, but there’s something kind of sad about the fact that struggles to merely log laps, sometimes to no fault of his own, at places he rewrote the record book.  AC: He will walk away still holding the record for winningest driver at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but it is sad to see someone once so dominant suddenly unable to perform.  This week he chalked it up to a “rookie mistake” on his part.   I’m going to go with Carson Hocevar as my biggest disappointment.  He was looking strong, and even looked at one point like he might contend for the win, and out of nowhere his car blew up on a restart.  It’s one thing to be disappointed when your driver makes a mistake, but when a day is ruined by something completely out of the driver’s hands, it’s even more difficult to grasp.  Though he was quite colourful on the radio, he’s showing some signs of maturing in that car as well.  Don’t count him out yet. What to Watch for Next Weekend LM: Next week, we head to Music City, Nashville! We’re now getting a real feel for what Nashville looks like on the schedule. Don’t sleep on Ross Chastain’s ability to go back-to-back. Joey Logano may be another name to keep an eye on, though the Fords were extremely slow on Sunday. It’s not quite a mile and a half at around 1.3 miles, but that makes it pretty unique.  AC: Yes, Nashville Superspeedway! You brought up the two drivers I was going to bring up.  Chastain has won at Nashville, and he’s riding the momentum of a big win at Charlotte.  Logano won the race last year in Nashville, so he’s looking for the repeat as well.  Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott are the other two previous winners at this track which hasn’t been on the NASCAR schedule for very long.  The unique length, paired with the relative new-ness, could make for some interesting racing.  Or at the very least, a few more mistakes than we’re used to seeing out of the Cup Series, and that could be entertaining. Until next week, see you then! LM: Are you sure Hank done it this way?

By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday. This weekend NASCAR travels to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.   Charlotte is a 1.5-mile quad-oval speedway that was built in 1960.  Joe Lee Johnson won the first NASCAR race there that same year.  Last year’s winner at this race was Christopher Bell.   Tomorrow’s race will be 400 laps long (for a total of 600 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 100 – 200 – 300 – 400.  Pit road speed is 45 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 55 mph.  The fuel window is between 63-68 laps.   This year, the NASCAR Cup Series has run 3,331 laps, for 4,438.64 miles so far this season.  No driver has completed every single lap, but Chase Elliott is one lap behind, and Tyler Reddick is two behind.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Charlotte: Tyler Reddick 7.67 over 6 races Josh Berry 10.00 over 1 race Denny Hamlin 12.42 over 33 races (1 win) Joey Logano 13.12 over 26 races (1 win) Kyle Busch 13.78 over 36 races (1 win)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Charlotte: Noah Gragson 32.67 over 3 races Michael McDowell 28.68 over 25 races Cody Ware 28.67 over 3 races Austin Cindric 28.33 over 3 races SVG 28.00 over 1 race   Charlotte is an Intermediate Track.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks: Denny Hamlin 12.08 over 340 races (28 wins) Kyle Larson 12.17 over 178 races (18 races) Joey Logano 12.46 over 286 races (19 races) Kyle Busch 12.46 over 356 races (29 wins) Chase Elliott 12.53 over 159 races (6 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks: Shane Van Gisbergen 23.00 over 10 races JH Nemechek 22.81 over 45 races Ty Dillon 22.40 over 126 races Ryan Preece 22.40 over 92 races Josh Berry 21.32 over 27 races (1 win)   Jimmie Johnson is the winningest driver at Charlotte, with 8 victories there.  Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip are tied for 2nd with 6 wins each.  Brad Keselowski is the winningest of current drivers, with 2 wins.   Notable drivers who have not won at Charlotte: William Byron (has won at 10 other tracks) Tyler Reddick (has won at 8 other tracks) Alex Bowman (has won at 8 other tracks) Chris Buescher (has won at 6 other tracks) Ross Chastain (has won at 5 other tracks)   Austin Dillon scored his first ever Cup Series win at Charlotte – it was his 133rd Cup start.   Based on average finish, no drivers list Charlotte as their BEST track, but Noah Gragson lists it as his WORST.   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 2024 Tyler Reddick +613 pts Bubba Wallace +467 pts Chris Buescher +457 pts William Byron +351 pts Chase Briscoe +290 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2024 Brad Keselowski -494 pts Ty Gibbs -320 pts Joey Logano -217 pts Josh Berry -217 pts Todd Gilliland -198 pts   Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:   Best Career Year William Byron 10.17 Christopher Bell 11.17 Chase Briscoe 15.17 JH Nemechek 18.17 Todd Gilliland 18.83 Ryan Preece 19.75   Worst Career Year Brad Keselowski 27.17 Cole Custer 25.58 Carson Hocevar 22.17 Ty Gibbs 20.58 Zane Smith 18.83   Rookie of the Year Battle Riley Herbst 151 SVG 138   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 437 Toyota 425 Ford 405   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings Hendrick 432 Joe Gibbs 411 Penske 366 Trackhouse 333 23XI 321 RFK 307 Front Row 283 RCR 281 Spire 280 Legacy MC 262 Kaulig 247 Hyak 236 Wood Bros 195 Haas Factory 137 Rick Ware 75   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 128 Ryan Blaney 107 William Byron 98 Bubba Wallace 90 Alex Bowman 83 Austin Cindric 71 Chase Elliott 71 Tyler Reddick 70 Joey Logano 68 Denny Hamlin 66   Milestone Watch Chase Elliott Looking for his 20th Career Win William Byron Looking for his 60th Career Top 5 Erik Jones Looking for his 40th Career Top 5 Ty Gibbs This will be his 100th Career Cup Series Start Ryan Preece This will be his 200th Career Cup Series Start   Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Justin Haley 153 races Cole Custer 109 races Bubba Wallace 91 races Erik Jones 91 races Kyle Busch 69 races Michael McDowell 60 races Daniel Suarez 46 races Chase Elliott 39 races Brad Keselowski 35 races AJ Allmendinger 32 races   The race begins Sunday, May 25th at 6:00 pm EST (3:00 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!