Talladega Superspeedway

2020 NASCAR by Numbers: The Drivers

Although Santa’s making a list, we here at Building Speed are also in the list-making mode. In the third part of this seemingly never-ending series, we examine at how individual drivers fared in 2020. Please […]

Statistics

NASCAR by the Numbers 2020: Penalties

Penalties can make or break a driver’s race — or season — so here’s a look at all the penalties assessed in 2020, who got them and when. We’ll investigate all three types of penalties: […]

Talladega Superspeedway
NASCAR XFINITY Series

Racing in the Rain

The NASCAR XFINITY race at Charlotte Motor Speedway — aka the Roval in the Rain — prompted some fans to suggest NASCAR ought to be able to race anywhere in the rain. But ‘can’ and […]

Race Reports

Kansas 2020-33 Race Report

There was a lot of debate about the end of the Kansas 2020-33 race. Some loved watching Harvick try (and fail) to pass Logano. Others felt Harvick’s inability to pass was a clear indictment of […]

Charlotte Roval

Race 2020-32: Roval Rundown by the Numbers

The Charlotte Roval was a runaway win for Chase Elliott, with a margin of victory of almost four seconds. But there’s more to the story of this race. Here’s your Roval Rundown for race 2020-32. […]

Racing

Laps Led and Lead Changes: All Laps are Not Created Equal

NASCAR provides lots of statistics, but beware: the numbers can be deceiving. That’s especially true for laps led and lead changes Laps Led The box score for each race always includes statistics like how many […]

Column chart showing the percentage of each race taken up by cautions
Race Reports

Talladega 2020-31 Race Report

Talladega 2020-31 was a race of attrition and mistakes, which is reflected in the large number of cautions and cars that didn’t finish the race or finished laps down. A caution on lap 1 is […]

The lead-o-gram bar chart showing who lead 2020 Las Vegas II, how long they led, and under what conditions they took the lead
Race Reports

2020 Las Vegas II Breakdown

2020 Las Vegas II produced the first surprise winner of the playoffs due to late-race cautions. How else was this race different than the usual Las Vegas race? Qualifying matters at Las Vegas, so the […]

grip

Grip: How NASCAR Decides If There’s Enough

Without grip — aka ‘friction’ — there is no racing. But how do you know how much grip a racetrack has? The primary tool for tuning racing grip is the tire. Goodyear produces different tire […]