Eric Jones and John Hunter Nemechek had really strong runs at the first playoff race — despite neither having made the playoffs. Their performances got me wondering whether the Next Gen car helps non-playoff drivers win in the playoffs. […]
When I started writing about NASCAR in 2007, drivers usually practiced Friday morning in preparation for that afternoon’s qualifying. Two Saturday practices gave them time to dial in their car for Sunday’s race. […]
NASCAR drivers who didn’t make the playoffs now just want to win. But how likely is a driver who didn’t win in the regular season wins in the playoffs? […]
Every new NASCAR season brings new driver/crew chief pairings, but 2019 will be first time in 17 seasons that Chad Knaus will not be on Jimmie Johnson’s pit box. Let’s look at why the switch was made and its likely implications. […]
Retirement He didn’t use the word ‘retirement’, but the sad news last week was that Matt Kenseth won’t have a Cup ride in 2018. It’s partly his choice. He could have done a Kasey Kahne […]
Now that the season is over, it’s time to look through the statistics from the year. Â One big story this year was Danica Patrick’s rookie season in Sprint Cup. Â She didn’t set the world on […]
Hard to believe it’s winter, but we got our first snow already. Here’s the news of the week. It’s holiday shopping time – great idea for your gearhead: magazine subscriptions. Racecar Enginering has some special […]
NOTE: I’ve revisited this topic in a more-recent blog that has additional data. I’d encourage you to look there, as well There are a lot of things people say in NASCAR that have been said […]
One of the commentators after the final race in Homestead mentioned that Jimmie Johnson should be happy he finished in third because it allows him to avoid the “dreaded second-place curse”.
Anytime someone says something like that, it makes me wonder whether there really is a curse, or whether that person had just been talking to Carl Edwards. So I analyzed a little data and guess what… there really IS a second place curse. […]
Just out of curiosity, I pulled up some data from racing-reference.info on different drivers’ rookie years in the Cup series. The data are from each driver’s first full year as a Cup driver. I picked […]
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