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BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR's "Thunder Valley," staged its first stock car race in 1961. Since then, its springtime Food City 500 has created a sizeable log of statistical nuggets interspersed with facts and notes about the sport's best drivers.
.533 -- The length in miles of a lap at Bristol Motor Speedway. The track has 36-degree banking in its four turns and 16-degree banking on its straightaways. The front and backstretches are 650 feet long.
1 -- The number of times in the 84 Winston Cup races at Bristol in which the event was run caution-free. Charlie Glotzbach won the 1971 (fall) Volunteer 500, averaging 101.074 mph.
2 -- The number of times a Winston Cup race at Bristol has been shortened by rain, including the 1996 Food City 500.
3 -- The number of top-five finishes posted this season by Winston Cup point leader Matt Kenseth, Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip and Kurt Busch.
4 -- The number of career victories by Kurt Busch, the defending champion of the Food City 500 and the number of consecutive Bud Pole Awards won by Mark Martin at Bristol in 1995-96.
5 -- The number of Bud Poles scored at Bristol since 1995 by Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin. They each have seven career poles at Bristol.
5.55 -- Jeff Gordon's average start in 20 career races at Bristol, best of all active drivers.
6 -- The number of drivers that have won Bud Poles for team owner Robert Yates. Elliott Sadler joined that group at Darlington Raceway when he won his first career Bud Pole, in qualifying for the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.
7 -- The number of consecutive Bristol victories scored by Darrell Waltrip from spring 1981-spring 1984. Waltrip's streak tied the Winston Cup record for consecutive wins at one track set by Richard Petty at Richmond in 1970-73.
8 -- Jeff Gordon's worst finish in 13 of his last 16 Bristol starts. The streak includes five victories.
8.37 -- Rusty Wallace's average finish in 38 races at Bristol, best of all active drivers.
9 -- The number of Bristol Bud Pole Awards won by Cale Yarborough, the most of any driver.
10 -- The number of back-to-back victories posted at Bristol since 1980, including seven consecutive races by Darrell Waltrip, from spring 1981-spring 1984; the late Dale Earnhardt (both races, 1985 and 1987), the late Alan Kulwicki (fall 1991 and spring 1992) and Rusty Wallace (both races, 2000).
11 -- The number of top-10 finishes scored by Dale Jarrett in his last 16 races at Bristol.
11 -- The number of Bristol races won by Rusty Wallace (six) and Jeff Gordon (five) since the track was paved with concrete for the fall 1992 event (21 races total).
12 -- The number of career victories at Bristol by Darrell Waltrip. Tied for second in career victories at Bristol with nine each are Cale Yarborough, the late Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace.
13 -- The number of times that the same drivers has won both Bristol Winston Cup races in the same season. Rusty Wallace was the most recent driver to win both Bristol races in the same year, 2000.
15 -- Bill Elliott's best finish in his past 10 Bristol starts.
16 -- Joe Nemechek's best finish in 16 career starts at Bristol.
16 -- The number of drivers that have scored more than one Bud Pole Award at Bristol, among the 36 that have poles.
17 -- Dave Blaney's best finish in six career starts at Bristol.
18 -- The best finish by John Andretti, Todd Bodine and Ward Burton so far this season.
19 -- The best finish by Jeff Green so far this season.
20 -- The number of Bristol Motor Speedway Winston Cup races won from the pole (24 percent), the most of any starting position.
20 -- The number of career top-five finishes at Bristol by Rusty Wallace, who leads all active drivers in that category.
21 -- The number of Winston Cup victories at Bristol Motor Speedway by Junior Johnson. Holman-Moody is second in all-time owner victories at Bristol with eight and Roger Penske, Richard Childress Racing and Hendrick Motorsports are tied for third with seven victories apiece.
22 -- The number of drivers eligible, following Ricky Craven's victory in the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway, for the May 17 running of The Winston all-star race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
25 -- The position in the 2003 Winston Cup owners' standings that is the cutoff for being charged with a provisional starting position. The "Provisional Land update" says that after five races in the 2003 Winston Cup season, only the No. 4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports and No. 0 Haas CNC Racing teams have been charged for using two provisionals, at Daytona and Las Vegas and Las Vegas and Atlanta, respectively.
Five other teams, those of owners Jack Roush (No. 99), Rick Hendrick (No. 5), Bill Baumgardner (No. 74), Pattie Petty (No. 45) and Glen Wood (No. 21) each have used two uncharged provisionals. A.J. Foyt has used three provisionals, one charged and two uncharged, for son Larry's No. 14 car and owner/driver Derrike Cope has one charged and one uncharged provisional for his No. 37 car. Each team starts the season with four provisionals and gains one provisional spot each time it attempts to qualify for eight races.
27 -- Kurt Busch's starting position when he won the 2002 Food City 500. Busch was one of two first-time winners in the past two Food City 500s. Both winners pitted on the backstretch.
31 -- The number of drivers that have won Winston Cup races at Bristol since
1961. Twelve drivers have won more than once.
33 -- The number of career top-10 finishes at Bristol by Terry Labonte, who leads all active drivers in that category.
36 -- The number of victories by Chevrolets at Bristol Motor Speedway since the "Modern Era" began in 1972. Ford has 14 victories in that same time span.
38 -- The number of races in which Jimmie Johnson has remained in the top-10 in the Winston Cup standings, the longest such streak among active drivers. Johnson moved into the top 10 after the fourth race of his rookie 2002 season, at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
38 -- The furthest back in the field that a race winner has started at Bristol, by Elliott Sadler in the 2001 Food City 500.
40 -- The number of consecutive Winston Cup races in which Kyle Petty has been running at the finish.
45 -- The number of entries at Bristol this weekend. Owner/drivers Brett Bodine and Hermie Sadler must qualify in the top 36 to make the race since they are the lowest in the owner points among the entered cars. If they do, the next lowest in owner points are Derrike Cope, Larry Foyt and Tony Raines, in that order.
48 -- The number of Bristol Winston Cup races that have been won from the first four starting positions (57 percent). Only 13 races have been won from a starting position outside the top 10.
50 -- The number of Winston Cup starts at Bristol for Ricky Rudd, who is winless here. Rudd has scored 29 top-10 finishes at Bristol, however.
67 -- The number of races since Rusty Wallace last won. Wallace has posted 20 top-five finishes in 38 starts at Bristol, including nine wins and seven Bud Poles.
69 -- The number of laps led by Elliott Sadler in his only career victory, the 2001 Food City 500. Sadler led the final 69 laps in April 2001, but did not lead before that.
84 -- The number of Winston Cup races that have been held at Bristol Motor Speedway, two per season since 1961.
85 -- The percentage of Bristol's 84 Winston Cup races won from starting positions inside the top 10, a total of 71 events.
100.989 -- The spring race record average speed at Bristol Motor Speedway, set by Cale Yarborough in 1977, in two hours, 38 minutes and 20 seconds. Kurt Busch won the 2002 Food City 500 at an average speed of 82.281 mph, in three hours, 14 minutes and 20 seconds.
101.074 -- The Bristol Motor Speedway 500-lap race record average speed, set in the caution free fall 1971 Volunteer 500 by Charlie Glotzbach, in two hours, 38 minutes and 12 seconds.
127.216 -- The Food City 500 and Bristol Motor Speedway Bud Pole Qualifying record, set by Jeff Gordon in 2002, achieved in 15.083 seconds.
143 -- The number of points between Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth and fifth-place Ricky Craven, the series' most recent winner, at Darlington Raceway in the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.
266.5 -- The number of miles covered in 500 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway.
500 -- The number of laps led by Cale Yarborough in the 1973 (spring) Southeastern 500. It is the only time a driver led every lap in a Winston Cup race at Bristol.
916 -- The leading number of points earned in 2002's six short-track races, by Matt Kenseth.
2000 -- The number of Winston Cup races held, as of Bristol's Food
City 500. Richard Petty started in 1,177 races (59 percent) and won 10 percent of all 2000. He has been retired 10 years, since the end of the 1992 season.
60,000 -- The value of the NASCAR Winston Cup Leader bonus at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is available to the driver that wins the Food City 500 if he is also the Winston Cup point leader after the race.
4,593,829 -- The posted awards for the Food City 500.
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR's "Thunder Valley," staged its first stock car race in 1961. Since then, its springtime Food City 500 has created a sizeable log of statistical nuggets interspersed with facts and notes about the sport's best drivers.
.533 -- The length in miles of a lap at Bristol Motor Speedway. The track has 36-degree banking in its four turns and 16-degree banking on its straightaways. The front and backstretches are 650 feet long.
1 -- The number of times in the 84 Winston Cup races at Bristol in which the event was run caution-free. Charlie Glotzbach won the 1971 (fall) Volunteer 500, averaging 101.074 mph.
2 -- The number of times a Winston Cup race at Bristol has been shortened by rain, including the 1996 Food City 500.
3 -- The number of top-five finishes posted this season by Winston Cup point leader Matt Kenseth, Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip and Kurt Busch.
4 -- The number of career victories by Kurt Busch, the defending champion of the Food City 500 and the number of consecutive Bud Pole Awards won by Mark Martin at Bristol in 1995-96.
5 -- The number of Bud Poles scored at Bristol since 1995 by Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin. They each have seven career poles at Bristol.
5.55 -- Jeff Gordon's average start in 20 career races at Bristol, best of all active drivers.
6 -- The number of drivers that have won Bud Poles for team owner Robert Yates. Elliott Sadler joined that group at Darlington Raceway when he won his first career Bud Pole, in qualifying for the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.
7 -- The number of consecutive Bristol victories scored by Darrell Waltrip from spring 1981-spring 1984. Waltrip's streak tied the Winston Cup record for consecutive wins at one track set by Richard Petty at Richmond in 1970-73.
8 -- Jeff Gordon's worst finish in 13 of his last 16 Bristol starts. The streak includes five victories.
8.37 -- Rusty Wallace's average finish in 38 races at Bristol, best of all active drivers.
9 -- The number of Bristol Bud Pole Awards won by Cale Yarborough, the most of any driver.
10 -- The number of back-to-back victories posted at Bristol since 1980, including seven consecutive races by Darrell Waltrip, from spring 1981-spring 1984; the late Dale Earnhardt (both races, 1985 and 1987), the late Alan Kulwicki (fall 1991 and spring 1992) and Rusty Wallace (both races, 2000).
11 -- The number of top-10 finishes scored by Dale Jarrett in his last 16 races at Bristol.
11 -- The number of Bristol races won by Rusty Wallace (six) and Jeff Gordon (five) since the track was paved with concrete for the fall 1992 event (21 races total).
12 -- The number of career victories at Bristol by Darrell Waltrip. Tied for second in career victories at Bristol with nine each are Cale Yarborough, the late Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace.
13 -- The number of times that the same drivers has won both Bristol Winston Cup races in the same season. Rusty Wallace was the most recent driver to win both Bristol races in the same year, 2000.
15 -- Bill Elliott's best finish in his past 10 Bristol starts.
16 -- Joe Nemechek's best finish in 16 career starts at Bristol.
16 -- The number of drivers that have scored more than one Bud Pole Award at Bristol, among the 36 that have poles.
17 -- Dave Blaney's best finish in six career starts at Bristol.
18 -- The best finish by John Andretti, Todd Bodine and Ward Burton so far this season.
19 -- The best finish by Jeff Green so far this season.
20 -- The number of Bristol Motor Speedway Winston Cup races won from the pole (24 percent), the most of any starting position.
20 -- The number of career top-five finishes at Bristol by Rusty Wallace, who leads all active drivers in that category.
21 -- The number of Winston Cup victories at Bristol Motor Speedway by Junior Johnson. Holman-Moody is second in all-time owner victories at Bristol with eight and Roger Penske, Richard Childress Racing and Hendrick Motorsports are tied for third with seven victories apiece.
22 -- The number of drivers eligible, following Ricky Craven's victory in the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway, for the May 17 running of The Winston all-star race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
25 -- The position in the 2003 Winston Cup owners' standings that is the cutoff for being charged with a provisional starting position. The "Provisional Land update" says that after five races in the 2003 Winston Cup season, only the No. 4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports and No. 0 Haas CNC Racing teams have been charged for using two provisionals, at Daytona and Las Vegas and Las Vegas and Atlanta, respectively.
Five other teams, those of owners Jack Roush (No. 99), Rick Hendrick (No. 5), Bill Baumgardner (No. 74), Pattie Petty (No. 45) and Glen Wood (No. 21) each have used two uncharged provisionals. A.J. Foyt has used three provisionals, one charged and two uncharged, for son Larry's No. 14 car and owner/driver Derrike Cope has one charged and one uncharged provisional for his No. 37 car. Each team starts the season with four provisionals and gains one provisional spot each time it attempts to qualify for eight races.
27 -- Kurt Busch's starting position when he won the 2002 Food City 500. Busch was one of two first-time winners in the past two Food City 500s. Both winners pitted on the backstretch.
31 -- The number of drivers that have won Winston Cup races at Bristol since
1961. Twelve drivers have won more than once.
33 -- The number of career top-10 finishes at Bristol by Terry Labonte, who leads all active drivers in that category.
36 -- The number of victories by Chevrolets at Bristol Motor Speedway since the "Modern Era" began in 1972. Ford has 14 victories in that same time span.
38 -- The number of races in which Jimmie Johnson has remained in the top-10 in the Winston Cup standings, the longest such streak among active drivers. Johnson moved into the top 10 after the fourth race of his rookie 2002 season, at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
38 -- The furthest back in the field that a race winner has started at Bristol, by Elliott Sadler in the 2001 Food City 500.
40 -- The number of consecutive Winston Cup races in which Kyle Petty has been running at the finish.
45 -- The number of entries at Bristol this weekend. Owner/drivers Brett Bodine and Hermie Sadler must qualify in the top 36 to make the race since they are the lowest in the owner points among the entered cars. If they do, the next lowest in owner points are Derrike Cope, Larry Foyt and Tony Raines, in that order.
48 -- The number of Bristol Winston Cup races that have been won from the first four starting positions (57 percent). Only 13 races have been won from a starting position outside the top 10.
50 -- The number of Winston Cup starts at Bristol for Ricky Rudd, who is winless here. Rudd has scored 29 top-10 finishes at Bristol, however.
67 -- The number of races since Rusty Wallace last won. Wallace has posted 20 top-five finishes in 38 starts at Bristol, including nine wins and seven Bud Poles.
69 -- The number of laps led by Elliott Sadler in his only career victory, the 2001 Food City 500. Sadler led the final 69 laps in April 2001, but did not lead before that.
84 -- The number of Winston Cup races that have been held at Bristol Motor Speedway, two per season since 1961.
85 -- The percentage of Bristol's 84 Winston Cup races won from starting positions inside the top 10, a total of 71 events.
100.989 -- The spring race record average speed at Bristol Motor Speedway, set by Cale Yarborough in 1977, in two hours, 38 minutes and 20 seconds. Kurt Busch won the 2002 Food City 500 at an average speed of 82.281 mph, in three hours, 14 minutes and 20 seconds.
101.074 -- The Bristol Motor Speedway 500-lap race record average speed, set in the caution free fall 1971 Volunteer 500 by Charlie Glotzbach, in two hours, 38 minutes and 12 seconds.
127.216 -- The Food City 500 and Bristol Motor Speedway Bud Pole Qualifying record, set by Jeff Gordon in 2002, achieved in 15.083 seconds.
143 -- The number of points between Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth and fifth-place Ricky Craven, the series' most recent winner, at Darlington Raceway in the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.
266.5 -- The number of miles covered in 500 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway.
500 -- The number of laps led by Cale Yarborough in the 1973 (spring) Southeastern 500. It is the only time a driver led every lap in a Winston Cup race at Bristol.
916 -- The leading number of points earned in 2002's six short-track races, by Matt Kenseth.
2000 -- The number of Winston Cup races held, as of Bristol's Food
City 500. Richard Petty started in 1,177 races (59 percent) and won 10 percent of all 2000. He has been retired 10 years, since the end of the 1992 season.
60,000 -- The value of the NASCAR Winston Cup Leader bonus at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is available to the driver that wins the Food City 500 if he is also the Winston Cup point leader after the race.
4,593,829 -- The posted awards for the Food City 500.