NASCAR on Course for a Unique Statistic After the First Three Cup Races to Kickstart New Era

In the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, four races are done and dusted, including the Clash at the Coliseum. On those occasions, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, and Alex Bowman won. However, they were hardly dominant, as they did not lead the most laps, especially Alex Bowman. In light of this, NASCAR has created a unique record.

First and foremost, the drivers who led the most laps at each race did not win. At the Daytona 500, Brad Keselowski registered 67 laps as the race leader, but the win went to rookie driver Cindric. Tyler Reddick banged in an astounding 90 laps at the Auto Club Speedway, but it was Kyle Larson who won. Finally, Ross Chastain racked up 83 laps, but it was Bowman who emerged victorious at the end.

When was the last time this happened in NASCAR?

Apparently, the last time such a situation occurred, was in the 2019 NASCAR Cup season. At that time, Kyle Busch broke the streak when he reached Victory Lane at Phoenix. Interestingly, in the 2006 season, the driver who did not lead the most laps winning the race was stretched across four races. At that time, Jimmie Johnson won the Daytona 500, despite leading a paltry 24 laps. Meanwhile, Matt Kenseth led only 40 laps at the Auto Club Speedway but still managed to win the race. Moving on to Las Vegas, Johnson was back on Victory Lane once again. This time though, he only led one single lap, the one that actually counted for the race win. Finally, Kasey Kahne won at Atlanta, after leading 85 laps on the track.

Admittedly, one should not expect this kind of streak to continue further. However, the sport has proven that it can be unpredictable. Considering that many still don’t know the full capabilities of the Next Gen cars, it is highly possible that the next race winner could snap the streak at the Phoenix Raceway next weekend.

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