NASCAR Winston Cup Series Notes (week of 9/15/97)
16 September 1997
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - Bobby Hamilton's third-place run Sunday was his
first top-10 (or top-five) finish since finishing second at
Martinsville 17 races ago.
- Ricky Craven's fifth-place finish Sunday was his first top-five
since Rockingham, 23 races ago, and his first finish of better than
12th since running ninth in California 10 races ago.
- Steve Grissom's fourth-place finish was his third top-10 and his
second top-five in the last six races.
- Hut Stricklin's 10th-place finish was his first top-10 this
season. In fact, it was his first finish better than 14th this season.
- Ricky Rudd, the only driver in the field who had finished in the
top 10 in all five previous NASCAR Winston Cup races at New Hampshire,
saw the string come to an end with an accident on lap 235, ending with
a 42nd-place finish.
- Only one driver Hamilton, who started in the top-five Sunday,
finished there. He started second and finished third.
- The average starting position for the drivers finishing in the top
five Sunday was 16.8.
- The average finishing position for the drivers starting in the top
five Sunday was 25.0.
TOP 10
- TENTH: Jeremy Mayfield has moved back into the top 10 in the
standings for the first time since leaving Michigan four races ago
despite having just one top-10 finish in the last six races.
- NINTH: Ted Musgrave has maintained a spot in the top 10 in the
standings despite finishes of 29th and 30th in two of the last three
races.
- EIGHTH: Bill Elliott has posted six top-10 and seven top-15
finishes in the last nine races.
- SEVENTH: Bobby Labonte has four top-10 finishes in his last seven
races. His average finish in the other three? 28.66.
- SIXTH: Dale Earnhardt's eighth-place finish Sunday was his first
top-10 in the last four races and only his second in the last eight.
- FIFTH: Terry Labonte's 41st-place finish Sunday was his worst
finish of the year.
- FOURTH: While Jeff Burton (with a little help from relief driver
Todd Bodine) did see his string of four straight top-10 finishes (and
three straight top-fives) come to an end Sunday, he did record his
ninth top-15 finish in the last 10 races.
- THIRD: Dale Jarrett Sunday posted his 11th top-10 finish in the
last 13 races.
- SECOND: Mark Martin now has posted 17 top-10 finishes in the last
19 races.
- FIRST: Jeff Gordon has 19 top-five finishes in 25 races this year
(10 wins). His average finish in the other six (in which no finish is
better than 21st)? 29.5.
Turning to Dover and the MBNA 400
- Since 1971, this race has been won back-to-back six times, by six
different drivers: David Pearson (1972, '73); Richard Petty (1974,
'75); Harry Gant (1984, '85); Ricky Rudd (1986, '87); Rusty Wallace
(1993, '94) and Jeff Gordon (1995, '96).
- Notice, those races were won in three four-year stretches.
- Of the 13 different drivers to win this event, nine have won it
more than once.
- Jeff Gordon has just two top-five finishes in this race in his
young career, but both of them were wins.
- Mark Martin, Gordon's closest competition in the point race, has
three top-fives in this race, but just one, last year, since 1990.
- Rusty Wallace has four consecutive top-five finishes in this race
on the line this weekend.
- This race has been won from the Busch Pole just four times, but
twice in the '90s: David Pearson in 1973; Cale Yarborough in 1976;
Bill Elliott in 1990 and Rusty Wallace in 1993.
STAT OF THE WEEK
Terry Labonte's 41st-place finish Sunday was the second time this
season he has finished 40th or worse (the other coming at
Indianapolis). The last time Labonte had two finishes that low in a
single season was 1990 when he finished 40th at Atlanta in the spring
and 42nd at Talladega in July.
By NASCAR Public Relations
