Stat Pack Recap: 2024 Cup Series YellaWood 500
Another super speedway win for Ricky Stenhouse, and a calamitous day for Penske.
Race: Results | Analytics | Loop Data | Lap-by-lap Download
Qualifying: Results and lap download
Ricky Stenhouse won his fourth career race, each of which has come on a super speedway. Those four wins put him tied for most on the drafting tracks since 2017, when he won his first two — William Byron and Ryan Blaney also have four. He's also been involved in the most cautions over that period: 32, seven more than second-most Kyle Larson's 25. He is a 200 196 mph bowling ball.
In the preview for this race, I said:
The Penske drivers love running up front, but for Logano (and Austin Cindric), doing so is fraught:
Driver Car Starts Wins Top 10s ARP AFP Finishes Joey Logano Ford 11 2 4 9.84 17.27 9 Austin Cindric Ford 11 0 3 10.30 17.36 9 Aric Almirola Ford 6 0 1 10.84 18.50 4 Ryan Blaney Ford 11 1 7 11.47 13.36 8 Kyle Larson Chevy 11 0 0 12.56 25.64 5
The pattern continued in this race. Cindric (4.33), Blaney (6.91), and Logano (10.09) had the highest average running positions in this race. They finished 32nd, 39th, and 33rd respectively. Blaney got bumped and spun at the end of the second stage; he had been running as high as second a lap or two before the incident. Cindric and Logano were caught up in The Big One, leading to a red flag and overtime. The last lap Lap Raptor has on Cindric scores him in first place. Logano had been running in near the front of the pack. Penske loves their cars working together, and it may be easiest to do so near the front, but it's a dangerous game.
Michael McDowell started on the pole today, his sixth of the year. He's started first in 19% of Cup races this season, including five of the six super speedway points races; Gateway is the other. That helps explain his terrible -4.122 PFAE and 39% success race this season, both the second-worst of his career. Still, his best finish is eighth at Atlanta. His finishes in his last five poles:
- Spring Talladega: 21
- Gateway: 25
- Fall Daytona: 30
- Fall Atlanta: 22
- Fall Talladega: 37
Another case of being out front on supers not working.
| Driver | Start | Finish | ARP | PGAE | GR-LR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 32 | 1 | 11.74 | 41.74 | 8.07 |
| Brad Keselowski | 13 | 2 | 20.10 | 2.17 | 1.94 |
| William Byron | 16 | 3 | 14.59 | 41.63 | 3.89 |
| Kyle Larson | 12 | 4 | 13.65 | 44.13 | 5.77 |
| Erik Jones | 30 | 5 | 24.07 | 11.03 | -1.99 |