More Numbers!

We are kept well-aware of the points leaders, but here are some leaders you don’t normally keep tabs on:

2011’s Top 10 Finishers… Wins and top finishes

1. Kyle Busch with 3 wins, 10 top 5’s and 12 top 10’s

2. Kevin Harvick with 3 wins, 6 top 5’s and 10

3. Matt Kenseth with 2 wins, 7 and 11

4. Jeff Gordon with 2, 7 and 9

5. Carl Edwards with 1, 10 and 13

6. Jimmie Johnson with 1, 7 and 12

7. Ryan Newman with 1, 6 and 9

8. Kurt Busch with 1, 4 and 11

9. Denny Hamlin with 1, 4 and 7

10. Paul Menard with 1, 4 and 6

2011’s Top 10 Driver’s Completing the Most Laps

This is not only a measure of a driver but also of the equipment and the racing team as a whole…

1. Kurt Busch with 5,746 laps completed

2. Jimmie Johnson with 5,729

3. Juan Montoya with 5,723

4. Ryan Newman with 5,703

5. Bobby Labonte with 5,692

6. Tony Stewart with 5,690

7. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. with 5,681

8. Greg Biffle with 5,666

9. Denny Hamlin with 5,636

9. Clint Bowyer with 5,636

There's one single car team up above (Bobby Labonte with JTG Daugherty) but they're really affiliated with Michael Waltrip Racing so most of the major Cup team owners are represented here.

2011’s Top 10 with Most Laps Led (% of Total Laps Run)

Who are the front runners?

1. Kyle Busch with 1,069 (19.57%)

2. Kurt Busch with 510 (8.8%)

3. Jimmie Johnson with 493 (8.61%)

4. Carl Edwards with 429 (7.76%)

5. Matt Kenseth with 375 (6.67%)

6. Tony Stewart with 340 (5.98%)

7. Denny Hamlin with 321 (5.70%)

8. Jeff Gordon with 301 (5.43%)

9. Ryan Newman with 262 (4.65%)

10. Clint Bowyer with 262 (4.59%)

I find it interesting that Kyle isn’t in the top 10 concerning laps completed but here he is with more than double the total on laps led as compared to the second place laps led driver, his brother Kurt, and that darn near 20% of the laps Kyle has driven have been while leading the pack. Ah yes, those Busch boys like clean air…

2011’s Top 10 in Highest Average Driver Rating

The rating formula is based on 3 sections of statistics (Primary [Finish, Average Running Position, Average Speed, and Fastest Lap], Fixed Bonus Points [Win, Top 15 Finish, Led Most Laps, Lead Lap Finish, Average Running Position better than 10.0, Average Running Position better than 6.0 and Average Running Position better than 2.0] and Variable Bonus Points [Green Flag Fastest Laps, Green Flag Laps Led and Green Flag Laps on Track]) on a per race basis. A perfect race rating is 150.0 while the poorest rating is 23.3.

I think this is a little complicated… But, here are the leaders through 20 races in 2011:

1. Kyle Busch - 107.46

2. Carl Edwards - 99.76

3. Kurt Busch – 98.20

4. Jimmie Johnson – 96.51

5. Matt Kenseth – 94.76

6. Jeff Gordon – 93.53

7. Denny Hamlin – 91.96

8. Kevin Harvick – 90.97

9. Tony Stewart – 90.87

10. Kasey Kahne – 90.44

2011’s Top 10 Finishers versus Starting Position (with 20 starts)

Which drivers consistently improve their track position from where they start? Or better yet, in this day and age of ever more important pit strategy: Which teams are making the right calls? Another way of looking at this is which drivers don’t do too well in qualifying and thus start back in the pack with plenty of room for improvement!

1. Kevin Harvick – Average Start – 18.95, Average Finish – 11.50, Net +7.45

2. David Gilliland – Start – 33.35, Finish 26.20 – Net +7.15

3. Matt Kenseth – 17.80, 11.60, +6.20

4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 19.70, 14.10, +5.60

5. Dave Blaney – 35.20, 29.80, +5.40

6. Kyle Busch – 15.95, 11.75, +4.20

7. Tony Stewart – 17.10, 14.25, +2.85

8. Jimmie Johnson – 13.80, 11.15, +2.65

9. Greg Biffle – 17.85, 16.40, +1.45

10. Carl Edwards – 11.00, 10.75, +0.25

And finally, 2011’s Top 10 Money Makers (20 Starts)

I like the average dollars earned per start versus the total earnings… Evidently Carl has done well on the higher paying racing venues since he’s averaging close to $40,000 more than second place Matt Kenseth per start. (I guess second place at the 500 will do that for you!)

If I had included Trevor Bayne he’d have come in second since he’s averaging $218,956 in 11 Cup starts thanks to winning at Daytona!

1. Carl Edwards – Total - $4,394,800, Ave. per Start - $219.740

2. Matt Kenseth – 3,623,342, 181,167

3. Kevin Harvick – 3,593,657, 179,683

4. Kyle Busch – 3,569,025, 178,451

5. Jimmie Johnson – 3,470,286, 173,514

6. Kurt Busch – 3,416,026, 170,801

7. Jeff Gordon – 3,389,008, 169,450

8. Clint Bowyer – 3,279,140, 163,957

9. Denny Hamlin – 3,182,976, 159,149

10. Tony Stewart – 3,138,390, 156,920

 So you be the judge… Who’s doing the best job so far this season?