The Importance Of Starting Up Front At Bristol
Starting up front at Bristol is very important. Since 1961 only 10 times has this race been won from a starting position outside the top fifteen. August 2012 marked the first race on the current Bristol track configuration and since then the average starting position of a winner is 5.5, with four of the six winners starting in the top five. The lowest a winner started over this stretch is 12th.
This spring at Bristol Matt Kenseth started first and finished first. All the other drivers who started in the top ten failed to finish in the top ten. Only four of the drivers who started in the top ten finished in the top twenty-three!
Last August the attrition rate was lower and Logano won from his 5th place starting position. In that race 7 of the drivers who started in the top ten finished in the top 11.
