Driver Averages | Laps Led Leaders | Driver Ratings | Past Winners
Detailed driver notes and statistics to help set your fantasy racing lineup for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.
Who’s HOT at Kentucky
- Martin Truex Jr. has posted a 5.5 average finish in the two races since the track was reconfigured and led 152 laps on the current pavement en route to the win last season.
- Kyle Busch (two wins on old configuration) led 112 laps from the pole and finished fifth last season.
- Kevin Harvick led 128 laps in 2016 and finished ninth in the last two races.
- Brad Keselowski is a three-time winner, including the first race on the new configuration in 2016.
- Jamie McMurray has finished seventh in the last two races.
Keep an Eye On at Kentucky
- Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson have posted respective average finishes of 9.5 and 10.5 in the two races since Kentucky was reconfigured. Both drivers finished in the top five in last year’s race on the current track surface.
- Erik Jones finished sixth in his first Kentucky Cup start last year.
- Joey Logano (8.7), Clint Bowyer (10.3) and Kurt Busch (13.8) rank in the top 10 in average finish in the six races at 1.5-mile tracks this season.
- Aric Almirola led 70 laps – his most ever in a race and more than he had led in the last five seasons combined – in the last race at a 1.5-mile track (Chicagoland Speedway) before two loose wheels took him out of contention.
- Bowyer, William Byron, Logano, Ryan Newman and Truex Jr. participated in the Goodyear tire test at Kentucky in May. See notes below.
- Chase Elliott (second) and Ryan Blaney (10th) each finished in the top 10 in this event last year. Elliott’s crew chief Alan Gustafson is tied for the most top 10s all-time at Kentucky by a crew chief and Blaney has combined to lead 73 laps in two of the last three races at 1.5-mile tracks.
- Bubba Wallace finished 11th last season at Kentucky and eighth at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this season.
- Alex Bowman and Jimmie Johnson each have posted an average finish of 9.5 in the last two races at 1.5-mile tracks. Crashes have taken Johnson out of contention in the last two Kentucky races.
- Matt Kenseth, who won at Kentucky in 2013, saw his only finish outside the top 10 at Kentucky come last year. However, this weekend will mark his fifth start of the season with Roush Fenway Racing and his best finish at a 1.5-mile track in 2018 came at Charlotte in 17th.
Notes: This will be the third race since Kentucky was reconfigured and the second on the current asphalt…Teams will be using the same right-side tires as last season, but will have a new left-side tire code…Cup teams will have three sets for practice, one set for qualifying and seven sets for the race…all three series will race the same tire code…Ty Dillon, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard and JJ Yeley will be competing in both the Xfinity and Cup Series race…Four of the seven winners at Kentucky have come from a front-row starting position…A Chevrolet has not won at Kentucky in the Cup Series…Team Penske (all with Brad Keselowski) and Joe Gibbs Racing lead all organizations with three victories each.
*Best Average Finish at Kentucky
| Last # of Races | Driver | Average Finish |
| Two Races | Martin Truex Jr. | 5.5 |
| Three Races | Kyle Busch | 6.0 |
| Four Races | Kyle Busch | 5.0 |
| Five Races | Kyle Busch | 5.0 |
| Seven Races | Kyle Busch | 5.1 |
* – The best average finish is based off a driver entered in the race who has competed in EVERY race during that time span.
Laps Led Leaders at Kentucky
| Last # of Races | Driver | Laps Led |
| Two Races | Martin Truex Jr. | 198 |
| Three Races | Kyle Busch | 275 |
| Four Races | Brad Keselowski | 336 |
| Five Races | Brad Keselowski | 336 |
| Seven Races | Kyle Busch | 549 |
Click Here to view all laps led leaders at Kentucky over the past 7 races.
Kentucky Loop Data Stat Leaders (2011-2017, 7 Races)
| Average Running Pos. | Laps in Top 15 |
| 1. Kyle Busch – 4.6 | 1. Kyle Busch – 1,796 |
| 2. Matt Kenseth – 8.0 | 2. Matt Kenseth – 1,763 |
| 3. Erik Jones – 8.1 | 3. Kevin Harvick – 1,674 |
| 4. Kevin Harvick – 8.2 | 4. Brad Keselowski – 1,455 |
| 5. Martin Truex Jr. – 10.7 | 5. Martin Truex Jr. – 1,303 |
| Fastest Laps Run | Driver Rating |
| 1. Kyle Busch – 268 | 1. Kyle Busch – 125.9 |
| 2. Brad Keselowski – 267 | 2. Brad Keselowski – 109.6 |
| 3. Martin Truex Jr. – 160 | 3. Matt Kenseth – 106.4 |
| 4. Jimmie Johnson – 134 | 4. Kevin Harvick – 104.1 |
| 5. Matt Kenseth – 96 | 5. Erik Jones – 102.7 |
Stage 1 &2 Points Earned at Kentucky
| Driver | Points Earned |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 20 |
| Kyle Busch | 18 |
| Kevin Harvick | 14 |
| Matt Kenseth | 13 |
| Jamie McMurray | 11 |
| Erik Jones | 9 |
| Kyle Larson | 8 |
| Denny Hamlin | 7 |
| Kurt Busch | 4 |
| Clint Bowyer | 2 |
| Chase Elliott | 2 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 2 |
2017 Kentucky Stage Finishes
| Stage 1 | Stage 2 |
| 1. Martin Truex Jr. | 1. Martin Truex Jr. |
| 2. Kyle Busch | 2. Kyle Busch |
| 3. Kyle Larson | 3. Matt Kenseth |
| 4. Kevin Harvick | 4. Kevin Harvick |
| 5. Jamie McMurray | 5. Erik Jones |
| 6. Matt Kenseth | 6. Jamie McMurray |
| 7. Denny Hamlin | 7. Kurt Busch |
| 8. Erik Jones | 8. Denny Hamlin |
| 9. Jimmie Johnson | 9. Clint Bowyer |
| 10. Chase Elliott | 10. Chase Elliott |
Rookie Report
Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Bubba Wallace has made one Monster Energy Cup Series start at Kentucky, finishing 11th last year in this event. Wallace also finished in the top 10 in each of his four starts in the Xfinity Series with two coming since the track was reconfigured. Byron, who leads the rookie standings by 26 points, won the Kentucky Camping World Truck Series race in 2016 and finished seventh in the July Xfinity Series race last year. Both drivers recorded their first top 10s in the Cup Series at a 1.5-mile track in April at Texas Motor Speedway.
MRN.com Staff Picks
Jeff Wackerlin: Kyle Busch
Pete Pistone: Martin Truex Jr.
Tyler Burnett: Kevin Harvick
Driver Notes – Ordered by Average Finish (Top 15) in the Last Five Races at Kentucky
Kyle Busch has posted an 8.5 average finish in the two races since Kentucky was reconfigured. He started on the pole and led 112 laps last year en route to a fifth-place finish. An additional four-inch layer of asphalt was laid down on the 1.5-mile track prior to the 2017 race. Busch, who won at Kentucky in 2011 and 2015, leads all drivers with a 5.1 average finish in the seven races. This season, Busch leads all drivers with a 3.7 average finish in the six races at 1.5-mile tracks. He is a three-time winner at 1.5-mile tracks in 2018 and has won the last two.
Erik Jones finished sixth in his first Cup Series start at Kentucky last season. This year, Jones has the fifth-best average finish (9.2) in the six races at 1.5-mile tracks.
Matt Kenseth has posted a 12.5 average finish in the two races since Kentucky was reconfigured when he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth, who won at Kentucky in 2013, is making his fifth start of the season with Roush Fenway Racing this weekend. His best finish at a 1.5-mile track in 2018 came at Charlotte Motor Speedway, 17th.
Kevin Harvick has finished ninth in each of the two races at Kentucky since it was reconfigured. He led 128 laps from the pole in 2016 after qualifying was rained out. Kentucky is one of two tracks on the schedule where Harvick has yet to win at. This season, Harvick has posted three wins and an average finish of 8.0 in the six races at 1.5-mile tracks.
Martin Truex Jr. is the defending race winner and has combined to lead 198 laps in the two races since Kentucky was reconfigured. His 5.5 average finish in the last two races leads all drivers. This season, Truex has yet to win at a 1.5-mile track, but has finished in the top five in the last three, including two runner-up finishes. Truex was one of the drivers that participated in the Goodyear tire test at Kentucky in May.
Bubba Wallace finished 11th last year in his first Cup start at Kentucky Speedway. The finish was his second-best in seven overall starts at 1.5-mile tracks in the Cup Series. He finished eighth in April at Texas Motor Speedway, a track that has a unique layout like Kentucky.
Joey Logano is coming off his first top 10 (eighth) in the two races at Kentucky since it was reconfigured. He participated in the Goodyear tire test at Kentucky in May. This season, Logano ranks third in average finish (8.7) in the six races at 1.5-mile tracks.
Kurt Busch led 10 laps and finished fourth in 2016, the first race since Kentucky was reconfigured. An engine issue last season relegated him to a 30th-place finish. Busch led 20 laps and finished 17th two weeks ago at Chicagoland Speedway to snap a streak of three consecutive top 10s at 1.5-mile tracks in 2018.
Ryan Newman finished third and 22nd, respectively, in the two races since Kentucky was reconfigured. He did get to participate in the Goodyear tire test at Kentucky in May as he still searched for his first top 10 at a 1.5-mile track in 2018.
Jamie McMurray is one of three drivers that has finished in the top 10 in both races since Kentucky was reconfigured. This season, McMurray has recorded an average finish of 17.8 in the six races at 1.5-mile tracks, including top 10s in two of the last four.
Brad Keselowski leads all drivers with three wins at Kentucky, including the first race on the new configuration in 2016. An accident on lap 87 of last year’s race relegated him to a 39th-place finish. This season, Keselowski has finished in the top 10 in four of the six races at 1.5-mile tracks, including the last two.
Clint Bowyer has yet to finish in the top 10 in the two races since Kentucky was reconfigured. He finished 13th last season in his first track start with Stewart-Haas Racing. This season, Bowyer has the seventh-best average finish (10.3) in the six races at 1.5-miel tracks. He had a strong car at Chicagoland, led 21 laps and bounced back from two pit road speeding penalties to finish fifth. Bowyer did participate in the Goodyear tire test at Kentucky.
Chase Elliott finished third in this event last year to lower his average finish to 17.0 in his two starts at Kentucky. This season, Elliott has only led four laps and finished in the top 10 (Atlanta) once in the six races at 1.5-mile tracks.
Daniel Suarez finished 18th in his first Cup Series start at Kentucky last year. Suarez finished 11th at Chicagoland Speedway two weeks ago for his best finish at a 1.5-mile track this season.
Kasey Kahne has two top 10s at Kentucky, but those came on the old configuration with Hendrick Motorsports. His best finish at a 1.5-mile track this season with Leavine Family Racing came at Texas Motor Speedway in April, 17th.
