By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday. This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series travels to Bristol, Tennessee for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.   Bristol is a 0.533-mile short track oval, with a concrete surface and heavy banking in the corners.  The track was built in 1961, and has been a staple on the Cup Series calendar ever since.  Jack Smith won the first Cup race there that same year.  Christopher Bell won the most recent race at Bristol last fall, and Kyle Larson won it in the spring last year.   Tomorrow’s race will be 500 laps long (for a total of 266.5 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 125 – 250 – 500.  Pit road speed is 30 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 35 mph.  The fuel window is approximately 165-180 laps, but tire wear may be more of a factor determining pit stops.   This year, the NASCAR Cup Series has run 1,838 laps, for 2,464.30 miles so far this season.  Four drivers have completed 100% of them so far (Keselowski, Elliott, Reddick, and Preece).   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Bristol: Christopher Bell 11.58 over 12 races (2 wins) Chase Elliott 12.42 over 19 races Ty Gibbs 12.43 over 7 races Kyle Larson 13.09 over 22 races (3 wins) Chase Briscoe 13.50 over 10 races       Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Bristol: SVG 32.00 over 2 races Cody Ware 28.00 over 5 races Noah Gragson 25.33 over 6 races Michael McDowell 24.84 over 31 races Ty Dillon 24.50 over 16 races   Bristol is a Short Track   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Joey Logano 11.23 over 198 races (13 wins) Chase Elliott 11.52 over 111 races (5 wins) Christopher Bell 11.94 over 67 races (7 wins) Ryan Blaney 11.96 over 115 races (6 wins) William Byron 12.63 over 89 races (5 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Cody Ware 31.81 over 42 races Riley Herbst 27.75 over 14 races Connor Zilisch 27.50 over 2 races Michael McDowell 26.19 over 175 races Ty Dillon 25.76 over 87 races   Darrell Waltrip is the king of Bristol, having won there 12 times – the most of any driver.  Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt, Kyle Busch, and Rusty Wallace all are tied for 2 nd -most wins, with 9 each.   Drivers who ran their first Cup Series race at Bristol: AJ Allmendinger 2007 – P40   Drivers who earned their first Cup Series win at Bristol: No one --   Drivers whose most recent Cup Series Victory was at Bristol: Christopher Bell 2025   Notable drivers who have not won at Bristol: Chase Elliott (has won at 15 other tracks) Ryan Blaney (has won at 12 other tracks) William Byron (has won at 11 other tracks) Tyler Reddick (has won at 11 other tracks) Alex Bowman (has won at 8 other tracks)   Based on average finish, no driver lists Bristol 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 2025 Tyler Reddick +782 pts Ty Gibbs +348 pts Daniel Suarez +279 pts Brad Keselowski +261 pts Chris Buescher +170 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2025 Alex Bowman -641 pts (Currently not racing due to vertigo) Chase Briscoe -450 pts Kyle Larson -202 pts Ross Chastain -197 pts Christopher Bell -163 pts   Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:   Best Career Year Tyler Reddick 5.71 Chase Elliott 9.00 Ryan Blaney 10.14 William Byron 10.86 Ty Gibbs 11.86 Ryan Preece 14.43 SVG 15.71 Carson Hocevar 16.57 Riley Herbst 25.00   Worst Career Year Cole Custer 28.00 Todd Gilliland 25.29 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 25.14 Josh Berry 23.29 Austin Dillon 23.29 Austin Cindric 22.57 Kyle Busch 21.57 Chase Briscoe 20.86   The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (55 for 1 st , 35 for 2 nd , 34 for 3 rd , etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.   Manufacturer Standings Toyota 345 Chevrolet 261 Ford 248   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings 23XI 301 Hendrick 243 Joe Gibbs 239 Penske 235 RFK 194 Spire 189 Trackhouse 181 Front Row 154 Legacy MC 141 RCR 130 Kaulig 124 Wood Bros 98 Hyak 83 Haas Factory 64 Rick Ware 58   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 Bubba Wallace 60 Tyler Reddick 58 Ryan Blaney 55 William Byron 55 Denny Hamlin 50 Austin Cindric 47 Kyle Larson 44 Ty Gibbs 43 Chris Buescher 41 Christopher Bell 37   Milestone Watch Ross Chastain Looking for his 40 th  Career Top 5 Chase Briscoe Looking for his 30 th  Career Top 5 Cody Ware This will be his 150 th  Career Cup Series Start Tyler Reddick Looking for his 50 th  Career Top 5 Austin Cindric Looking for his 30 th  Career Top 10 Brad Keselowski Looking for his 280 th  Career Top 10 Chris Buescher Looking for his 90 th  Career Top 10   Scorigami Update Martinsville was the first time that: Connor Zilisch finished 26 th     Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Cole Custer 140 races Erik Jones 124 races Kyle Busch 100 races Michael McDowell 91 races Daniel Suarez 77 races Brad Keselowski 66 races AJ Allmendinger 63 races Alex Bowman 51 races Chris Buescher 51 races Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 48 races   The race begins Sunday, March 29 th   at 3:30 pm EST (12:30 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!

By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of O’Reilly Stats Friday. This weekend the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series travels to Bristol, Tennessee for the Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.    Bristol is a 0.533-mile short track oval, with a concrete surface and heavy banking in the corners.  The track was built in 1961, and has been a staple on the O’Reilly Series calendar since its inception in 1982.  Phil Parsons won the first O’Reilly Series race there that same year.  Aric Almirola won the most recent race at Bristol last fall, and Kyle Larson won it in the spring last year.   Tomorrow’s race will be 300 laps long (for a total of 159.9 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 85 – 170 – 300.  Pit road speed is 30 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 35 mph.  The fuel window is 160-175 laps, but tire wear will likely cause more frequent pit stops.   This year, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has run 1,395 laps, for 1,771.46 miles so far.  No driver has completed 100% of all laps, but Jesse Love and Brennan Poole are each 2 laps down.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Bristol: Harrison Burton 9.43 over 7 races Justin Allgaier 10.89 over 27 races (2 wins) Jesse Love 11.67 over 3 races Sam Mayer 12.00 over 7 races Brandon Jones 12.06 over 18 races   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Bristol: Austin Green 34.50 over 2 races Dean Thompson 32.50 over 2 races Josh Bilicki 29.83 over 6 races Blaine Perkins 28.50 over 4 races Ryan Ellis 27.00 over 7 races   Bristol is a Short Track.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Justin Allgaier 12.12 over 161 races (13 wins) Harrison Burton 12.19 over 36 races (1 win) Taylor Gray 12.92 over 16 races (1 win) Jesse Love 13.36 over 22 races (1 win) Brandon Jones 13.43 over 103 races (2 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Josh Bilicki 30.06 over 32 races Austin Green 28.63 over 7 races Blaine Perkins 27.04 over 33 races Ryan Ellis 26.12 over 50 races Kyle Sieg 25.88 over 35 races   Kyle Busch is the winningest driver in this series at Bristol, having scored 9 wins.  Kevin Harvick had 5, and Morgan Shepherd had 4.  Justin Allgaier leads current drivers with 2 wins.   Drivers who ran their first O’Reilly’s Series race at Bristol: Harrison Burton 2019 – P10   Drivers who earned their first O’Reilly’s Series win at Bristol: Justin Allgaier 43 rd  Career O’Reilly’s Start   Drivers whose most recent O’Reilly Series Victory was at Bristol: No one --   Notable drivers who have not won at Bristol: Austin Hill (has won at 7 other tracks) Sam Mayer (has won at 6 other tracks) Brandon Jones (has won at 4 other tracks) Harrison Burton (has won at 4 other tracks) Sammy Smith (has won at 3 other tracks)   Based on average finish, no driver lists Bristol 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 2025 Justin Allgaier +477 pts Sheldon Creed +316 pts William Sawalich +203 pts Sammy Smith +177 pts Jesse Love +108 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2025 Nick Sanchez -473 pts Sam Mayer -373 pts Harrison Burton -371 pts Dean Thompson -228 pts Kyle Sieg -144 pts   Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:   Best Career Year Justin Allgaier 6.63 Sheldon Creed 7.50 Sammy Smith 9.13 Jesse Love 9.50 Parker Retzlaff 12.38 William Sawalich 17.50 Blaine Perkins 22.63 Dean Thompson 23.00   Worst Career Year Kyle Sieg 27.88 Ryan Ellis 27.50 Nick Sanchez 26.57 Jeremy Clements 26.13 Harrison Burton 24.25 Sam Mayer 20.38   Rookie of the Year Battle Patrick Staropoli 119 Lavar Scott 98   The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (40 for 1 st , 35 for 2 nd , 34 for 3 rd , etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.   Manufacturer Standings Chevrolet 419 Toyota 247 Ford 120   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings JR Motorsports 373 RCR 271 Haas Factory 255 Joe Gibbs 244 Hendrick 225 Viking 208 Jordan Anderson 194 RSS Racing 179 Alpha Prime 162 Sam Hunt 147 SS-Green Light 129 Big Machine 119 DGM 119 Young’s 109 Jeremy Clements 88 Peterson 83 Hettinger 78 AM Racing 75 Barrett-Cope 50 Joey Gase 13   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 Justin Allgaier 120 #88 Car 92 Jesse Love 75 #1 Car 70 Brandon Jones 59 Austin Hill 51 Corey Day 47 Taylor Gray 43 Sammy Smith 37 Brent Crews 37   Milestone Watch Sheldon Creed Looking for his 40 th  Career Top 5 Jesse Love Looking for his 20 th  Career Top 5 Taylor Gray Looking for his 10 th  Career Top 5 Jeb Burton Looking for his 50 th  Career Top 10 Harrison Burton Looking for his 60 th  Career Top 10 Justin Allgaier Looking for his 310 th  Career Top 10   Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Jeremy Clements 117 races Jeb Burton 98 races Harrison Burton 75 races Sammy Smith 31 races Nick Sanchez 23 races Sam Mayer 19 races Brandon Jones 13 races Taylor Gray 9 races Jesse Love 8 races Austin Hill 7 races   The race begins Saturday, April 11 th  at 7:30 pm EST (4:30 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!

By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, you might be familiar with the Cup Series’ Stats Saturday article, but this year we are branching it out to the Top 3 Series.  It’s now time for another Truck Stats Thursday. This weekend the Craftsman Truck Series travels to Bristol, Tennessee for the Tennessee Army National Guard 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.   Bristol is a 0.533-mile short track oval, with a concrete surface and heavy banking in the corners.  The track was built in 1961, and has been a staple on the Truck Series calendar since its inception in 1995.  Joe Ruttman won the first Truck Series race there that same year.  Layne Riggs won the last race at Bristol last fall, and Chandler Smith won it in the spring last year.   Friday’s race will be 250 laps long (for a total of 133.25 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 65 – 130 – 250.  The fuel window is between 130-145 laps, though tire wear will likely impact pit schedules quicker than fuel.    This year, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has run 664 laps, for 994.6 miles so far this season.  Only Chandler Smith has completed all of them.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Bristol: Layne Riggs 4.50 over 4 races (2 wins) Daniel Hemric 6.25 over 4 races Grant Enfinger 8.00 over 14 races Justin Haley 10.33 over 3 races Ben Rhodes 11.13 over 16 races   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Bristol: Kris Wright 33.67 over 3 races Frankie Muniz 31.00 over 1 race Cole Butcher 23.00 over 1 race Tyler Ankrum 19.67 over 12 races Dawson Sutton 17.00 over 2 races   Bristol is a Short Track   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Layne Riggs 5.69 over 23 races (4 wins) Grant Enfinger 8.31 over 75 races (5 wins) Ty Majeski 9.75 over 39 races (5 wins) Chandler Smith 10.57 over 34 races (4 wins) Justin Haley 11.98 over 23 races (1 win)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Frankie Muniz 28.58 over 9 races Kris Wright 27.98 over 13 races Dawson Sutton 20.24 over 12 races Tanner Gray 18.93 over 50 races Cole Butcher 18.67 over 3 races   The winningest Truck driver at Bristol is Kyle Busch, who has 5 Truck wins there.  As far as current drivers go, Chandler Smith and Layne Riggs each have 2 wins.   Drivers who ran their first Truck Series race at Bristol: Justin Haley 2015 – P14 Cole Butcher 2025 – P23   Drivers who WON their first Truck Series race at Bristol: Chandler Smith 34 th  Career Truck Series Start Ty Majeski 40 th  Career Truck Series Start   Drivers whose most recent Truck Series Victory was at Bristol: Layne Riggs 2025       Notable drivers who have not won at Bristol: Grant Enfinger (has won at 11 other tracks) Stewart Friesen (has won at 4 other tracks) Justin Haley (has won at 3 other tracks) Tyler Ankrum (has won at 2 other tracks)   Based on average finish, no driver lists Bristol 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 2025 Stewart Friesen +183 pts Kaden Honeycutt +90 pts Frankie Muniz +33 pts Chandler Smith +32 pts Gio Ruggiero +27 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2025 Daniel Hemric -313 pts Grant Enfinger -248 pts Tyler Ankrum -247 pts Jake Garcia -121 pts Dawson Sutton -102 pts   Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:   Best Career Year Kaden Honeycutt 8.00 Gio Ruggiero 11.00 Frankie Muniz 24.00   Worst Career Year Dawson Sutton 23.20 Andres Perez de Lara 19.80 Grant Enfinger 17.80 Ty Majeski 14.60 Christian Eckes 14.00   Rookie of the Year Battle Cole Butcher 95 Brenden Queen 93 Mini Tyrell 60   The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (40 for 1 st , 35 for 2 nd , 34 for 3 rd , etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.   Manufacturer Standings Toyota 211 Ford 202 Chevrolet 187 RAM 141   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings Front Row 291 TRICON 235 Spire 222 Niece 219 ThorSport 217 McAnally-Hilgemann 210 Kaulig RAM 194 Reaum Bros 123 Halmar Friesen 117 CR7 Motorsports 112 Rackley WAR 82 Freedom Racing 63 Young’s 0   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 #1 Truck 57 Ty Majeski 56 Layne Riggs 48 Kaden Honeycutt 45 #45 Truck 38 #7 Truck 35 Chandler Smith 33 #77 Truck 33 Christian Eckes 28 Tanner Gray 22   Milestone Watch Layne Riggs Career Truck Series Start Number 60 Christian Eckes Looking for his 10 th  Career Truck Series Win Kaden Honeycutt Looking for his 10 th  Career Top 5 Gio Ruggiero Looking for his 10 th  Career Top 5 Ty Majeski Looking for his 70 th  Career Top 10   Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Ben Rhodes 65 races Grant Enfinger 32 races Ty Majeski 30 races Daniel Hemric 25 races Tyler Ankrum 23 races Justin Haley 10 races Christian Eckes 8 races Stewart Friesen 8 races Gio Ruggiero 7 races Chandler Smith 4 races   The race begins Friday, April 10 th  at 7:30 pm EST (4:30 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!

By Adam Carabine Welcome to the StatChat NASCAR Games!   If you’re new here, this year I thought it might be fun to share some of the silly little games I play on my NASCAR Excel Sheet throughout the season as we follow along.   BRACKET GAMES These games are similar to NASCAR’s In-Season Tournament, as created by Denny Hamlin, but my version lasts all season long.    Drivers are originally seeded by a mixture of performance from last year, with some creative discretion from myself.  Each week, whichever driver finishes better in each matchup moves on to the next round.    Winning also gives you points which grow with each round. Round 1 win: 1 pt Round 2 win: 2 pts Round 3 win: 3 pts Round 4 win: 4 pts Finals win: 5 pts   Those points then determine the seeding for the next round of the Bracket Games, and they continue until the end of the season.  Whichever driver has the highest points at the end of the season wins the Bracket Game!   There is a bracket for each of the three NASCAR Series – let’s see how things look in Week 8:   Cup Series Ryan Preece finished three spots ahead of No. 1 seed Tyler Reddick to eliminate him early in this round.   O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Sammy Smith also uprooted the top seed, Jesse Love at Rockingham   Craftsman Truck Series The final matchup of this bracket came down to Chandler Smith and Kaden Honeycutt. Even if Smith hadn't had a DQ, Honeycutt would have won with his P2 finish. ELIMINATION GAMES These games are just another fun way I like to keep things interesting throughout the grind of the long NASCAR season.  These games only follow the NASCAR Cup Series, though that could change in the future.    Because there are 36 races, and 36 full-time drivers in the Cup Series, this works out very nicely.  The first elimination happens after Race #2, and continues through the season, so there will be a final two head-to-head matchup at the final race.    Each week, a new driver is eliminated in each game.  The criteria for each game is different, so it’s not always the same driver being eliminated in each game.    Power Rankings Elimination Whichever driver has the worst score in the StatChat Power Rankings gets eliminated.    After Week 2, Josh Berry was eliminated.   After Week 3, Erik Jones was eliminated.   After Week 4, Cole Custer was eliminated.   After Week 5, Alex Bowman was eliminated.   After Week 6, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was eliminated.   This week, Cody Ware was eliminated.   Last Place Elimination Whichever driver finishes the worst out of all the remaining drivers is eliminated.   After Week 2, Josh Berry was eliminated   After Week 3, Chase Briscoe was eliminated   After Week 4, Noah Gragson was eliminated   After Week 5, SVG was eliminated   After Week 6, Cody Ware was eliminated   This week, Ty Dillon was eliminated   Average Finish Elimination Whichever driver has the worst average finish out of all the remaining drivers at the end of each week is eliminated.   After Week 2, Austin Dillon was eliminated   After Week 3, Alex Bowman was eliminated   After Week 4, Austin Cindric was eliminated   After Week 5, Connor Zilisch was eliminated   After Week 6, Cody Ware was eliminated   This week, Cole Custer was eliminated   Stay tuned each week to see who is winning the StatChat NASCAR Games!

Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images By Adam Carabine The StatChat Power Rankings return in 2026! 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. Let's look at the Top 10:   Kyle Larson – This week: 10 – Last week: 9 It was neither a dominant nor a terrible performance from Kyle Larson at Martinsville.  Larson can be hit or miss, where he’s crashing out early, or dominating with tons of laps led.  He didn’t lead any at Martinsville but finished with a respectable P9.  The expectations for him are higher than that, but he didn’t really lose any ground in the points standings.   Bubba Wallace – This week: 9 – Last week: 3 It was a weekend to forget for Bubba Wallace at Martinsville.  Whether his move on Carson Hocevar (which eventually took Bubba out of the race) was some poorly-timed aggression, or an attempt at retaliation, we don’t know.  But he came out on the bad end of it and finished P36.     Brad Keselowski – This week: 8 – Last week: 7 While Keselowski’s Martinsville race wasn’t quite the P2 finish he had the week before in Darlington, so he was bound to fall down in the Power Rankings.  His P13 is still impressive at a track like Martinsville where footwork is important, and Keselowski is still recovering from a broken leg.  He is firmly in The Chase as the points stand right now, up 48 points to the cut line.    Chase Elliott – This week: 7 – Last week: 11 Chase Elliott pops up into the Top 10 this week after his win at Martinsville.  It wasn’t entirely a dominant performance – it was buoyed by a gutsy strategy call by his crew chief, Alan Gustafson – but neither Chase Elliott nor his fans are complaining.  Denny Hamlin likely had the car to beat at Martinsville, but Chase did it.   Ty Gibbs – This week: 6 – Last week: 8 I think it’s time I stop predicting that Ty Gibbs is going to break through and get that first Cup Series win.  I keep saying it, it keeps not happening.  It was another great performance from the young driver at Martinsville – finishing P4, earning points in both stages, and having an average running position of 3 rd  all day.  He’s 6 th  in the points standings.   William Byron – This week: 5 – Last week: 4 William Byron falling down one spot in the Power Rankings is mostly due to Denny Hamlin’s big surge.  Byron had a great day at Martinsville.  He started on the front row, earned points in both stages, and led 6 laps.  His P5 finish put him into the Top 5 of the Points Standings as well.  Blame Hamlin for his dip in the Power Rankings!   Christopher Bell – This week: 4 – Last week: 6 Also partially to blame for Byron slipping down this week is Christopher Bell.  While he didn’t finish as well as Byron did, he topped the entire field in quality passes (60 total), and had a great average running position (9 th ).  It was a nice bounce back after a mediocre turn at Darlington for Bell.   Ryan Blaney – This week: 3 – Last week: 2 Blaney also had a great weekend in Martinsville, but was thwarted by a super-surging Denny Hamlin.  Points in both stages, laps led, P6 finish, etc.  Blaney was solid at Martinsville, and has proven to be quite consistent this season – he’s now 2 nd  in points behind Tyler Reddick.    Denny Hamlin – This week: 2   – Last week: 5 Hamlin had one of those classic super frustrating days at Martinsville – when you dominate but don’t actually end up winning the race.  He started on the pole, he won both stages, he led an incredible 292 laps, had the fastest car all day, had an average running position just above 1 st , etc.  While he finished 2 nd  to Chase Elliott, his underlying stats pushed him way up into the 2 nd  spot in our Power Rankings.   Tyler Reddick – This week: 1 – Last week: 1 Martinsville was actually Reddick’s worst finish of the season so far.  He still managed a Top-15, but he’s been so lights-out so far that this turned out to be his worst.  Fear not, Reddick fans – he still has an 82-point lead over 2 nd  place in the Points Standings, and even when things aren’t going as well for him, he manages to capitalize.  He still earned points in both stages.   Biggest Movers   Bubba Wallace – This week: 9 – Last week: 3 Falls 6 places   Riley Herbst – This week: 31 – Last week: 25 Falls 6 places   Josh Berry – This week: 28 – Last week: 35 Gains 7 places   Rest of the List 11. Chris Buescher LW: 10 -1 12. SVG LW: 14 +2 13. Ryan Preece LW: 15 +2 14. Joey Logano LW: 16 +2 15. Carson Hocevar LW: 13 -2 16. Austin Cindric LW: 21 +5 17. Ross Chastain LW: 12 -5 18. Michael McDowell LW: 19 +1 19. Daniel Suarez LW: 17 -2 20. AJ Allmendinger LW: 18 -2 21. Chase Briscoe LW: 24 +3 22. Kyle Busch LW: 22 -- 23. Zane Smith LW: 20 -3 24. Erik Jones LW: 26 +2 25. Todd Gilliland LW: 27 +2 26. Austin Dillon LW: 31 +5 27. Ty Dillon LW: 23 -4 28. Josh Berry LW: 35 +7 29. JH Nemechek LW: 29 -- 30. Connor Zilisch LW: 30 -- 31. Riley Herbst LW: 25 -6 32. Noah Gragsxon LW: 28 -4 33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. LW: 33 -- 34. Cody Ware LW: 32 -2 35. Cole Custer LW: 36 +1 36. Alex Bowman injured --

Photo from www.x.com/f1 By Ryan Wu Clearly not satisfied with ‘just’ being one of the youngest drivers to win an F1 Grand Prix, Kimi Antonelli can now add ‘The first teenager to win back-to-back races’ and the youngest ever Championship leader to his resume. Not bad for a driver who won’t even be legally allowed to drink at the location of the next race in Miami. Oscar Piastri rebounded beautifully with a second-placed finish (and completed his first Grand Prix lap of the season to boot) while Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium positions. Race Recap Starting from third, Oscar Piastri caught the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell off guard as he stormed off the line to take the lead before the first corner. The speed of the Mercedes was again on display as Antonelli quickly clawed back positions, overtaking Lewis Hamilton on lap 2 to fight his way up to fifth. Up ahead, George Russell took the lead on lap 8 as he sliced through the leaders. However, the importance of battery conservation was on full display, and Piastri quickly retook the lead as the “pass and repass” pattern of this generation of F1 cars showed itself throughout the race. Mercedes opted to pit Russell ahead of Antonelli, but a safety car on lap 22, triggered by an Oliver Bearman crash while attempting to pass Franco Colapinto, favored the young Italian and drew visible ire from Russell over the radio as Antonelli was able to get a “free stop.” Russell struggled after the safety car period as he was noticeably down on power, resulting in him losing position to Charles Leclerc and dropping to fifth. A great duel once again unfolded between the two Ferraris, with Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc battling for third throughout the latter stages of the race. Hamilton ultimately lost positions to both Lando Norris and George Russell, finishing sixth. Max Verstappen Openly Questions Future in Formula 1 Despite the team bringing upgrades to the Suzuka Circuit, Max Verstappen was unable to compete once again. The Dutchman qualified in 11th and ultimately finished the race in eighth place. He has been the loudest critic among drivers against the new engine regulations, going as far as to say “This is not racing.” Verstappen is well known for his interests across other motorsport disciplines, from pulling all-nighters doing virtual racing, to recently winning (and then being disqualified) the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. Following the race in Japan, he said that while he remains fully committed to the sport, he may not be going about it in the healthiest way given the challenging period for the team. His current contract runs through 2028, but he would not be the first, nor the last high-profile athlete to walk away early. Racing Refresh Driver of the Day Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes Final Points Finishing Positions 1st:  Kimi Antonelli 2nd: Oscar Piastri 3rd: Charles Leclerc 4th: George Russell 5th: Lando Norris 6th: Lewis Hamilton 7th: Pierre Gasly 8th: Max Verstappen 9th: Liam Lawson 10th: Esteban Ocon Next on the F1 Schedule: Miami Grand Prix: May 1st-3rd

By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday. This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series travels to Ridgeway, Virginia for the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway   Martinsville is a 0.526-mile oval track, nicknamed “The Paperclip,” because of its uniquely tight corners and longer straightaways.  It opened in 1947, with Red Byron winning the first NASCAR race there in 1949.  Denny Hamlin and William Byron won the races at this track last year.   Tomorrow’s race will be 400 laps long (for a total of 210.4 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 80 – 180 – 400.  Pit road speed is 30 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 35 mph.  The fuel window is approximately 155-170 laps.   This year, the NASCAR Cup Series has run 1,438 laps, for 2,253.90 miles so far this season.  Five drivers have completed 100% of them so far (Keselowski, Elliott, Buescher, Reddick, and Preece).   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Martinsville: Ryan Blaney 8.15 over 20 races (2 wins) Denny Hamlin 10.45 over 40 races (6 wins) Joey Logano 10.62 over 34 races (1 win) Chase Elliott 11.33 over 21 races (1 win) William Byron 13.13 over 16 races (3 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Martinsville: Riley Herbst 33.50 over 2 races Cody Ware 31.14 over 7 races Michael McDowell 27.63 over 30 races JH Nemechek 27.33 over 6 races Zane Smith 25.40 over 5 races   Martinsville is a Short Track   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Joey Logano 11.26 over 197 races (13 wins) Chase Elliott 11.58 over 110 races (4 wins) Ryan Blaney 11.98 over 114 races (6 wins) Christopher Bell 12.02 over 66 races (7 wins) William Byron 12.69 over 88 races (5 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Cody Ware 31.80 over 41 races Connor Zilisch 29.00 over 1 race Riley Herbst 27.69 over 13 races Michael McDowell 27.69 over 174 races SVG 25.75 over 13 races   Richard Petty is far and away the winningest driver at Martinsville.  He has 15 wins. Darrell Waltrip has 11 wins, and Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have tied for third with 9 wins each. Denny Hamlin is the winningest current driver with 6.   Drivers who ran their first Cup Series race at Martinsville: Michael McDowell 2008 – P26 Chase Elliott 2015 – P38   Drivers who WON their first Cup Series race at Martinsville: No one --   Drivers whose most recent Cup Series Victory was at Martinsville: William Byron 2025   Notable drivers who have not won at Martinsville: Tyler Reddick (has won at 11 other tracks) Ross Chastain (has won at 6 other tracks) Chris Buescher (has won at 6 other tracks) SVG (has won at 5 other tracks) Austin Dillon (has won at 4 other tracks)   Based on average finish, no driver lists Martinsville 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 2025 Tyler Reddick +917 pts Bubba Wallace +328 pts Daniel Suarez +317 pts Brad Keselowski +288 pts Ty Gibbs +243 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2025 Alex Bowman -634 pts (Currently not racing due to vertigo) Chase Briscoe -477 pts Josh Berry -237 pts Kyle Larson -212 pts Ross Chastain -206 pts   Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:   Best Career Year Tyler Reddick 4.17 Chase Elliott 10.33 Ryan Blaney 10.83 Bubba Wallace 13.00 Ty Gibbs 13.17 Ryan Preece 14.83 Carson Hocevar 16.50 SVG 16.50 Riley Herbst 23.33   Worst Career Year Cole Custer 27.50 Todd Gilliland 25.67 Josh Berry 25.50 Austin Cindric 25.00 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 24.33 Austin Dillon 23.00 Chase Briscoe 22.00 Kyle Busch 21.17   The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (55 for 1 st , 35 for 2 nd , 34 for 3 rd , etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.   Manufacturer Standings Toyota 310 Ford 214 Chevrolet 206   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings 23XI 279 Joe Gibbs 204 Penske 201 Hendrick 188 RFK 169 Spire 169 Trackhouse 155 Front Row 140 Legacy MC 125 RCR 117 Kaulig 114 Hyak 76 Wood Bros 71 Haas Factory 58 Rick Ware 53   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 Bubba Wallace 60 Tyler Reddick 52 Ryan Blaney 45 Kyle Larson 42 Chris Buescher 41 William Byron 40 Christopher Bell 37 Austin Cindric 36 Denny Hamlin 30 Ty Gibbs 27   Milestone Watch Ross Chastain Looking for his 40 th  Career Top 5 Chase Briscoe Looking for his 30 th  Career Top 5 Brad Keselowski This will be his 600 th  Career Cup Series Start Denny Hamlin Looking for his 250 th  Career Top 5 Tyler Reddick Looking for his 50 th  Career Top 5 Brad Keselowski Looking for his 280 th  Career Top 10 Denny Hamlin Looking for his 380 th  Career Top 10 Chris Buescher Looking for his 90 th  Career Top 10   Scorigami Update Darlington was the first time that: Connor Zilisch finished 32 nd   Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Cole Custer 139 races Erik Jones 123 races Kyle Busch 99 races Michael McDowell 90 races Daniel Suarez 76 races Brad Keselowski 65 races AJ Allmendinger 62 races Alex Bowman 51 races Chris Buescher 50 races Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 races   The race begins Sunday, March 29 th   at 3:30 pm EST (12:30 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!

By Adam Carabine Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of O’Reilly Stats Friday. This weekend the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series travels to Ridgeway, Virginia for the NFPA 250 at Martinsville Speedway.    Martinsville is a 0.526-mile oval track, nicknamed “The Paperclip,” because of its uniquely tight corners and longer straightaways.  It opened in 1947, though O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races started taking place the same year the series started – 1982.  Sam Ard won the first race there in this series.  Austin Hill won this race last year in the spring, and Taylor Gray won the one in the fall.   Tomorrow’s race will be 250 laps long (for a total of 131.5 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 60 – 120 – 250.  Pit road speed is 30 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 35 mph.    This year, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has run 895 laps, for 1,404.96 miles so far.  Jesse Love is the only driver to have completed 100% of all laps.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Martinsville: Sammy Smith 6.29 over 7 races Justin Allgaier 8.91 over 11 races (1 win) Sheldon Creed 9.88 over 8 races Harrison Burton 12.60 over 5 races (1 win) Sam Mayer 12.78 over 9 races   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Martinsville: Kyle Sieg 28.83 over 6 races William Sawalich 28.00 over 3 races Austin Green 24.00 over 1 race Brennan Poole 23.71 over 7 races Josh Bilicki 23.00 over 1 race   Martinsville is a Short Track.   Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Harrison Burton 11.39 over 34 races (1 win) Taylor Gray 12.83 over 14 races (1 win) Justin Allgaier 12.99 over 159 races (12 wins) Sammy Smith 13.09 over 31 races (2 wins) Brandon Jones 13.94 over 101 races (2 wins)   Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks: Josh Bilicki 28.12 over 30 races Austin Green 27.63 over 5 races Blaine Perkins 27.56 over 31 races William Sawalich 26.71 over 13 races Lavar Scott 26.67 over 3 races   Sam Ard is the winningest driver in this series at Martinsville, as he has 5 victories under his belt.  Harry Gant, Jimmy Hensley, and Tommy Houston are all tied for 2 nd  with 3 wins each.    Drivers who ran their first O’Reilly’s Series race at Martinsville: Patrick Staropoli 2025 – P16 Corey Day 2025 – P21   Drivers who WON their first O’Reilly’s Series race at Martinsville: Taylor Gray 44 th  Career O’Reilly’s Start   Drivers whose most recent O’Reilly Series Victory was at Martinsville: Harrison Burton 2020 Taylor Gray 2025   Notable drivers who have not won at Martinsville: Sam Mayer (has won at 6 other tracks) Sammy Smith (has won at 3 other tracks) Jesse Love (has won at 3 other tracks) Jeremy Clements (has won at 2 other tracks)   Based on average finish, no driver lists Martinsville 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 2025 Justin Allgaier +419 pts Sheldon Creed +315 pts Jesse Love +284 pts Sammy Smith +160 pts Austin Hill +65 pts   Drivers Faring Worse than in 2025 Harrison Burton -436 pts Nick Sanchez -423 pts Dean Thompson -289 pts Sam Mayer -268 pts Taylor Gray -186 pts   Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:   Best Career Year Jesse Love 6.17 Justin Allgaier 8.17 Sheldon Creed 8.33 Sammy Smith 9.67 Parker Retzlaff 13.33 William Sawalich 19.83 Blaine Perkins 23.50   Worst Career Year Nobody --   Rookie of the Year Battle Patrick Staropoli 95 Lavar Scott 61   The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (40 for 1 st , 35 for 2 nd , 34 for 3 rd , etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.   Manufacturer Standings Chevrolet 330 Toyota 162 Ford 99   Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:   Chartered Team Standings JR Motorsports 284 RCR 214 Haas Factory 191 Hendrick 163 Joe Gibbs 162 Jordan Anderson 154 Viking 153 RSS Racing 123 Alpha Prime 116 SS-Green Light 111 Big Machine 95 Sam Hunt 93 Jeremy Clements 75 Young’s 72 AM Racing 71 DGM 71 Peterson 71 Hettinger 60 Barrett-Cope 32 Joey Gase 7   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 Justin Allgaier 94 #88 Car 73 Jesse Love 68 #1 Car 66 Austin Hill 41 Brandon Jones 36 Sammy Smith 28 Sam Mayer 28 Sheldon Creed 27 Taylor Gray 26   Milestone Watch Brandon Jones Looking for his 50 th  Career Top 5 Jesse Love Looking for his 20 th  Career Top 5 Taylor Gray Looking for his 10 th  Career Top 5 Jeb Burton Looking for his 50 th  Career Top 10 Harrison Burton Looking for his 60 th  Career Top 10 Taylor Gray Looking for his 20 th  Career Top 10   Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:   Winless Streaks Jeremy Clements 115 races Jeb Burton 96 races Harrison Burton 73 races Sammy Smith 29 races Nick Sanchez 22 races Sam Mayer 17 races Brandon Jones 11 races Taylor Gray 7 races Jesse Love 6 races Austin Hill 5 races   The race begins Saturday, March 28 th  at 3:30 pm EST (12:30 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!

By Adam Carabine Welcome to the StatChat NASCAR Games!   If you’re new here, this year I thought it might be fun to share some of the silly little games I play on my NASCAR Excel Sheet throughout the season as we follow along.   BRACKET GAMES These games are similar to NASCAR’s In-Season Tournament, as created by Denny Hamlin, but my version lasts all season long.    Drivers are originally seeded by a mixture of performance from last year, with some creative discretion from myself.  Each week, whichever driver finishes better in each matchup moves on to the next round.    Winning also gives you points which grow with each round. Round 1 win: 1 pt Round 2 win: 2 pts Round 3 win: 3 pts Round 4 win: 4 pts Finals win: 5 pts   Those points then determine the seeding for the next round of the Bracket Games, and they continue until the end of the season.  Whichever driver has the highest points at the end of the season wins the Bracket Game!   There is a bracket for each of the three NASCAR Series – let’s see how things look in Week 6:   Cup Series After Tyler Reddick won the first bracket matchup last week, drivers were re-seeded based on how many points they had and a new bracket was started.   O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Like the Cup Series, Jesse Love won the first bracket, and drivers were re-seeded.   Craftsman Truck Series Because the Truck Series has many more off weeks, they're still in their first bracket. ELIMINATION GAMES These games are just another fun way I like to keep things interesting throughout the grind of the long NASCAR season.  These games only follow the NASCAR Cup Series, though that could change in the future.    Because there are 36 races, and 36 full-time drivers in the Cup Series, this works out very nicely.  The first elimination happens after Race #2, and continues through the season, so there will be a final two head-to-head matchup at the final race.    Each week, a new driver is eliminated in each game.  The criteria for each game is different, so it’s not always the same driver being eliminated in each game.    Power Rankings Elimination Whichever driver has the worst score in the StatChat Power Rankings gets eliminated.    After Week 2, Josh Berry was eliminated.   After Week 3, Erik Jones was eliminated.   After Week 4, Cole Custer gets eliminated.   After Week 5, Alex Bowman gets eliminated.   This week, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. gets eliminated.   Last Place Elimination Whichever driver finishes the worst out of all the remaining drivers is eliminated.   After Week 2, Josh Berry was eliminated   After Week 3, Chase Briscoe was eliminated   After Week 4, Noah Gragson was eliminated   After Week 5, SVG was eliminated   This week, Cody Ware was eliminated   Average Finish Elimination Whichever driver has the worst average finish out of all the remaining drivers at the end of each week is eliminated.   After Week 2, Austin Dillon was eliminated.   After Week 3, Alex Bowman was eliminated.   After Week 4, Austin Cindric was eliminated.   After Week 5, Connor Zilisch was eliminated.   This week, Cody Ware was eliminated.   Stay tuned each week to see who is winning the StatChat NASCAR Games!

Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images By Adam Carabine The StatChat Power Rankings return in 2026! 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. Let's look at the Top 10:   Chris Buescher – This week: 10 – Last week: 13 It was a great day, not just for Chris Buescher, but for the entire RFK Team, as they at one point were running 1-2-3.  Buescher had a very fast car until a poorly timed pit call led to some contact with Tyler Reddick.  But before that, Buescher earned points in both stages, led 41 laps, and looked to be the one who could challenge teammate Brad Keselowski.   Kyle Larson – This week: 9 – Last week: 7 Another driver where things started out well in Darlington, and turned for the worse near the end.  Larson earned points in both stages, led 20 laps, and had a great running position most of the day – until some of the final laps.  The TV broadcast didn’t get to show us much, but he took an unscheduled pit stop late, and looked to have some toe link damage.  He wound up finishing 32 nd .    Ty Gibbs – This week: 8 – Last week: 8 A solid day for Ty Gibbs, who now finds himself 11 th  in the NASCAR points standings.  Gibbs led a single lap, likely just on pit cycles, but it counts! He earned a couple of points in Stage Two, and looked pretty fast out there.  He didn’t have a car to compete for a win, but he brought it home P6.   Brad Keselowski – This week: 7 – Last week: 18 What a day for Keselowski in Darlington! He was on fire (not literally), and looked like he could take it all the way to victory lane.  He won both stages, led the most laps of anyone (142), and his average running position on the day was 2 nd .  That’s quite the accomplishment.  In the end, his older tires weren’t enough to battle Reddick for the win, but he should be happy.  Did we mention he still has a BROKEN LEG!   Christopher Bell – This week: 6 – Last week: 3 Darlington was an uncharacteristically quiet day for Bell, as he ran a little farther back than we’re used to seeing out of him.  He finished a lap down, P19, and just really didn’t have a whole lot to show for his efforts.       Denny Hamlin – This week: 5 – Last week: 5 While Erik Jones might not be a big fan of him right now, after an incident they shared on track that sent Jones spinning, Denny Hamlin is still looking strong in that 11 car.  He didn’t earn any stage points, but he was in the Top 15 for most of the day, and finished P11.  He sits 64 points above the Chase Cutoff Line at this point.   William Byron – This week: 4 – Last week: 6 It feels like Byron has been a little quieter to start this year, but he’s still showing up consistently.  He earned points in both stages at Darlington, finished in the Top 10, and is only 3 points out of the Top 5 of the points standings.  He has great underlying numbers too, but he’s just not super flashy.  If this translates to his first Cup Series title, I’m sure it won’t matter how flashy he is.   Bubba Wallace – This week: 3 – Last week: 2 Both Bubba Wallace and his 23XI teammate Tyler Reddick looked strong early in Darlington.  They qualified on the front row together, and Bubba got some points at the end of Stage One, but there was an incident on the track that was mostly caused by the team boss, Denny Hamlin, and Wallace sustained too much damage to be able to compete from there.  He did earn the Xfinity fastest lap of the race early, but ended up finishing P34.    Ryan Blaney – This week: 2   – Last week: 4 What really showcases the new points system, and how much more valuable a win is – look at how well Ryan Blaney has fared this year, and he’s still 95 points behind Tyler Reddick in the battle for the Regular Season Championship.  Blaney had a great day at Darlington, finishing P3, and earning 8 stage points.  In any other year, we’d be discussing the consistency of Blaney and how well he’s doing, but this isn’t any other year.    Tyler Reddick – This week: 1 – Last week: 1 Tyler Reddick puts together a gutsy performance in Darlington, gets his 4 th  win of this young season, and somehow manages to do it with no cool suit, and a faulty alternator.  Points in both stages as well, bringing his total points earned on the day to 70, he was in an absolute rocket.  At the start of the year, one of my bold predictions for Reddick was that he would win 5 races this year – and I thought I was pushing it.  Now he just needs one more and he has 30 more races to do it.   Biggest Movers   Austi Dillon – This week: 31 – Last week: 24 Falls 7 places   Brad Keselowski – This week: 7 – Last week: 18 Gains 11 places   Rest of the List 11. Chase Elliott LW: 9 -2 12. Ross Chastain LW: 15 +3 13. Carson Hocevar LW: 17 +4 14. SVG LW: 10 -4 15. Ryan Preece LW: 14 -1 16. Joey Logano LW: 11 -5 17. Daniel Suarez LW: 19 +2 18. AJ Allmendinger LW: 12 -6 19. Michael McDowell LW: 16 -3 20. Zane Smith LW: 20 -- 21. Austin Cindric LW: 25 +4 22. Kyle Busch LW: 22 -- 23. Ty Dillon LW: 21 -2 24. Chase Briscoe LW: 27 +3 25. Riley Herbst LW: 23 -2 26. Erik Jones LW: 30 +5 27. Todd Gilliland LW: 26 -1 28. Noah Gragson LW: 28 -1 29. JH Nemechek LW: 28 -1 30. Connor Zilisch LW: 31 +1 31. Austin Dillon LW: 24 -7 32. Cody Ware LW: 32 -- 33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. LW: 33 -- 34. Alex Bowman Injured ** 35. Josh Berry LW: 35 -- 36. Cole Custer LW: 36 --

Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images By Adam Carabine 2026 has shown that the key to success is how well you can battle adversity.  Tyler Reddick, battling alternator issues all day long, gambled on tire strategy and earned his fourth win of this young season.   Reddick earned the pole, but within the first two laps he noticed that he was having some voltage issues.  He was unable to run his cool suit, had to run with less throttle at times to preserve power, and at one point had to take an elongated pit stop just to switch out a battery in his car.  Regardless, he managed to snag the victory on fresher tires than the other leaders, and coasted to a 5-second lead at the end of the Goodyear 400 in Darlington!   Lap 1: It’s a 23XI front row again, as Reddick takes the pole, and Bubba Wallace starts by his side.   Lap 10:   With tire fall-off, lap times have already fallen about 1.5 seconds from the first laps of the race.   Lap 30:   Expanding on the previous update, now lap times have fallen to 2.5 seconds slower.   Lap 37: A couple of early takers on pit road.  Stage One was too long to do on a single run of fuel, but the halfway point would have been lap 45.  Some early cars come to pit road to try and short pit.   Lap 45:  As most have pitted by this point, leader Tyler Reddick has stayed out a little longer to try and preserve a tire advantage at the end of the stage.  He pits but it’s a slow stop with some trouble on the tires – falls to P7 after the cycle.  Brad Keselowski takes the lead through this pit cycle.   Lap 88:  With three to go in the stage, Tyler Reddick has battled his way back up to P3, and those fresher tires are starting to come into play.    Lap 89:  Reddick gets P2 from Ryan Blaney, but the gap to Keselowski is too far.   Lap 90: Keselowski wins Stage One!   Lap 96: Tyler Reddick’s alternator issues are diagnosed, and the team replaces a battery during pit cycles.  He pitted too soon and will start from the back of the pack.  A couple of slow stops for both Ryan Blaney (who once again had a loose wheel that had to be tightened up in someone else’s pit box) and Bubba Wallace.  Michael McDowell got nabbed for speeding.   Lap 101: Kyle Larson leads the field to green for Stage Two.   Lap 111:   CAUTION comes out for an incident with Denny Hamlin spinning Erik Jones.  Bubba Wallace was an innocent bystander who got some damage too.    Lap 117: Back to green flag.   Lap 133: RFK Racing has made their way up to run 1-2-3, with Keselowski at the lead.   Lap 138: Those who took the wavearound under that previous caution are pitting, as the others have more fuel in their tanks.   Lap 146: More takers on pit road now, pretty much everyone comes down for four tires and fuel.   Lap 150: Chase Elliott is the lone driver who hasn’t pitted, and he’s in the lead.    Lap 151: Elliott pits, Keselowski retakes the lead.   Lap 180: Some sort of issue for Denny Hamlin? It might be a tire coming apart? He’s slowed down on the track, but it stays green.  Eventually he gets it going again but holds on as Stage Two is almost done.   Lap 182: Keselowski is getting pressure from teammate Chris Buescher for the lead, but once again there isn’t enough time for Keselowski to be caught.   Lap 185:  Brad Keselowski wins Stage Two, sweeping both stages.   Lap 194: Green flag for the Final Stage.   Lap 195: Immediately Chase Briscoe takes over the lead.   Lap 197: CAUTION – Riley Herbst spins on his own and hits the inside wall.   Lap 199: Chris Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez, SVG, Austin Dillon, Michael McDowell all stay out under caution and move to the front, as the rest of the field opts for new tires, even though it’s been a very short run.   Lap 203: Green flag – Buescher leads.   Lap 240: The green flag pit cycle starts up again, early takers are Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell.   Lap 241: Chris Buescher and his team make a last-minute decision to pit, and slow down in front of an unaware Tyler Reddick.  Reddick smashes into the back of Buescher, Buescher bounces off the outside wall a few times, but somehow the race stays green.  Minimal damage to Reddick and he carries on.   Lap 242: Buescher and Keselowski get to pit road (Buescher and his team later admitted that the incident the lap prior was their fault).  Tyler Reddick takes over the lead.   Lap 247: Reddick pits from the lead, the pit cycle concludes, and Brad Keselowski retakes the lead, though Reddick has fresher tires now, after staying out an extra 5 or so laps.   Lap 259: 35 to go, Reddick has managed to work his new tires to his advantage and has charged back up to P2.   Lap 266: Reddick passes Keselowski (with a slight bump, no less) and takes the lead.   Lap 282: 12 to go, Carson Hocevar is on the same tire strategy as Reddick, but farther back in the field.  He’s flying through the field, but is there enough time for him to catch up?   Lap 287: Kyle Larson takes an unscheduled pit stop.  The TV broadcast doesn’t really end up explaining why, though it appears a broken toe link is to blame.   Lap 288: Hocevar has charged up to P4, but still 12 seconds off Reddick’s lead.   Lap 290: Kyle Larson is back out on track but he’s way off the pace.  NASCAR warns him that he’s below minimum speed and needs to pick it up, but can he keep the car straight and not bring out a late caution?   Lap 292: A couple of cars hit the wall – Chase Briscoe and Riley Herbst! But it stays green.   Lap 293: Tyler Reddick WINS the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, securing his fourth win of the season!  Keselowski finishes P2.     Next weekend we head to Martinsville!