NASCAR NUMBERS

NASCAR NUMBERS

By Reid Spencer­

­­1,278: The combined number of laps led in 26 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this season by Brad Keselowski, a career-best and most in the series thus far. Keselowski blew right through the 1,000-laps-led mark on Saturday night at Richmond, where he was out front for 383 laps, a record for a 400-lap race at the .75-mile short track.

1: Of the 16 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, the number who have been running at the finish of every race this season. That distinction belongs to Jeff Gordon, and it’s no coincidence that Gordon was the regular-season points leader in the Cup series.

400: The number of all-time wins by Team Penske following Keselowski’s victory at Richmond. The Roger Penske-owned team will look to add to that total in the Chase as Keselowski and Joey Logano attempt to bring the organization its second NASCAR Sprint Cup title.

2: The number of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories recorded at Chicagoland Speedway by Kevin Harvick, the only 2014 Chase driver with more than one triumph there. Harvick won back-to-back in 2001 and 2002. Non-Chaser Tony Stewart has three victories at the first playoff track.

577: The number of laps led by Jimmie Johnson at Chicagoland Speedway, most ever for a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. Only one problem: Johnson has never won at the 1.5-mile track. Doubtless he’d like to cross Chicagoland off his checklist on Sunday.

 

NASCAR NOTES

Brad Keselowski capped off the regular season by notching his series-high fourth win in dominant fashion, leading all but 17 of the 400 laps in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond on Saturday. The win locked Keselowski in as Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s No. 1 seed. He needs just one more victory to tie his career-high total of five from 2012 when he won his first Chase title.  … After totaling a series-best 10 wins in the regular season, Hendrick Motorsports sends all of its drivers to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup for the third consecutive year. Drivers Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson each have three victories on the season and are seeded 2-4 entering the Chase, while Kasey Kahne (one win) occupies the 11th seed. Represented by 25 percent of the drivers in the Chase field, HMS will attempt to add to its record of 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series titles. … Clint Bowyer put a scare into Greg Biffle Saturday night at Richmond, but was unable to secure the victory needed to bump him from the 16th and final spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field. Since a winless driver did not take the checkered, Ryan Newman and Biffle locked themselves into the Chase with respective ninth and 19th-place finishes.