Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Fact Sheet
http://racing-reference.info/factshe...ts_2009-17.htm
Track facts:
New Hampshire Motor Speedway hosted its first Sprint Cup race on July 11, 1993, with Rusty Wallace winning that event.
There have been 2 Sprint Cup races per season at New Hampshire since 1997 and Sunday's race will be the 29th at this track.
Track records:
Most lead changes: 23 in 1996 and 2002.
Closest finish: Denny Hamlin's .068 second margin over Jeff Gordon in 2007.
Most caution flags: 17 in 1994.
From 2001-2008 a typical New Hampshire race had 14 lead changes, 9 cautions for 45 laps, and an average green-flag run of 25.3 laps.
Manufacturers / Owners:
Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 12 victories at New Hampshire, followed by Ford (11), Dodge (3) and Pontiac (2).
Roush-Fenway Racing has 7 wins at Loudon, followed by Hendrick Motorsports (6) and Penske Racing with 4.
Driver Notes:
* Two drivers have swept a season's races at New Hampshire:
Jimmie Johnson in 2003 and Kurt Busch in 2004.
* A driver has won a New Hampshire Sprint Cup race from the pole on 4 occasions, the last time being Clint Bowyer's win in 2007.
The worst starting spot for a race winner is 38th, by Jeff Burton in 1999.
* Jeff Burton led all 300 laps here in his 2000 victory, the only time a driver has led every lap in a race at New Hampshire.
Burton also set the mark for the fewest laps led by a race-winning driver, leading just 2 laps in his 1999 win.
* Four drivers have competed in all 28 previous events at this track:
Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Joe Nemechek.
* Currently-active drivers hold all of the career marks in the above categories.
Mark Martin has participated in Sprint Cup races at New Hampshire 24 times without a DNF.
Best average finish among active drivers at New Hampshire
(3 or more starts):
№11 Denny Hamlin (7.2) - Toyota
№1 Martin Truex, Jr. (9.8) - Chevy
№48 Jimmie Johnson (9.9) - Chevy
№5 Mark Martin (11.0) - Chevy
№24 Jeff Gordon (11.6) - Chevy
№17 Matt Kenseth (12.6) - Ford
№29 Kevin Harvick (12.6) - Chevy
№20 Tony Stewart (12.6) - Chevy
Worst average finish among active drivers at New Hampshire
(3 or more starts):
#44 A.J. Allmendinger (38.0)
#71 David Gilliland (34.4)
#** Travis Kvapil (30.3)
#78 Regan Smith (29.5)
Random semi-significant driver facts covering
Sprint Cup races at New Hampshire ONLY:
* Clint Bowyer won from the pole here in 2007, collecting his first Sprint Cup victory, but aside from that race Clint's average finish at New Hampshire is 24th place.
* Jeff Burton leads all drivers with 4 victories at Loudon, winning one race each year here from 1997-2000.
Burton has recorded just one top-5 finish since his last victory, a 4th place result in the September, 2008 event.
* 2008 was Kurt Busch's best season at New Hampshire since his 2004 sweep;
Kurt came home 1st and 6th in last year's races here after averaging a 26th place finish in 2006-2007.
* On the other hand, 2008 was not a good year at New Hampshire for Kyle Busch.
Kyle's average finish here was 29.5, and he only posted a worse average than that at two other tracks (Pocono, Martinsville) during his successful 2008 season.
* Dale Earnhardt, Jr. hasn't won here in 19 tries, his best result being a 4th place finish in 2007.
However, Earnhardt has 7 top-10s in his last 12 New Hampshire events, and the 108 laps he led here in 2008 were the second most of any driver.
* Carl Edwards has just 2 top-10 finishes at this track in 9 career races, but his most recent outing was also his most successful one:
Edwards started on the outside pole and finished third in September, 2008.
* Jeff Gordon has 3 career wins at New Hampshire, but none since 1998 although he does have 8 top-5 finishes since that victory.
* Robby Gordon achieved his first Sprint Cup victory here in 2001 - his only career victory on an oval track - but his best finish since that win is 15th place.
* Denny Hamlin has posted 5 top-10s in 6 New Hampshire races, and has never finished worse than 15th here.
* Ryan Newman posted at least one top-10 finish at New Hampshire every season from 2002-2007 but that streak ended in 2008.
Newman's 520 laps led in his career is the fourth-most of any driver at Loudon and the three drivers ahead of him have all raced at least 6 more times at this track than Newman has.
* David Reutimann has made 4 starts at New Hampshire, registering an average finish of 32nd place in 2007 but improving to an average of 17th in 2008.
* Tony Stewart led the most laps of any driver at this track in 2008, but only managed finishes of 13th and 8th.
* Martin Truex, Jr.'s average finish of 9.8 is the second-best of any current driver at New Hampshire.
Truex has a streak of 4 top-10 finishes in a row here and has completed every lap in all 6 of his starts.
* Elliott Sadler (5th) and Michael Waltrip (2nd) both achieved their career-best finishes here during last year's rain-shortened event.
In both cases it was their first and only top-5 finish at this track.