Occasionally all this number digging and stat crunching pays off. I know our "NASCAR Now" analysts appreciate it, but let's be honest, it's nice when I sound smart.

Nearly two months ago, before the Kentucky race, I wrote that despite being third in the Sprint Cup points, Kyle Busch had been the strongest driver, making him my championship favorite. A couple of wins later, Busch is leading the points and primed to be the top seed in the Chase.

What has been impressive is how Busch has reacted to poor finishes this year. He's statistically the top driver in the series on restarts but faltered on one last week at Watkins Glen. The next week, he blew away the field on the final restart at Michigan.

This was the fourth time this season Busch had entered the race as the points leader. In the first three, he finished 38th, 16th and 36th and lost the lead all three times. But all three times he rebounded to get back to the top.

Let's take a deeper look at Busch's performance:

Big gains

In 2008, Busch entered the Chase as the points leader, but a few bad finishes to start the playoff derailed his title hopes.

The next year, Busch didn't even make the Chase. At this point in the 2009 season, Busch had five top-5s and an average finish of 17.6.

In 2010, he made the Chase, but his performance wasn't near his 2008 level. After 23 races, he had five top-5s and an average finish of 13.8, and he was eighth in points.

This year, Busch has more than twice as many top-5s -- 13 through 23 races -- and his 10.5 average finish is much closer to his 2008 mark of 10.1 through 23 races.

Trivia break! Which active driver did Busch tie on the all-time wins list?

Across the shop

Meanwhile, Busch's teammate Denny Hamlin switched from a Joe Gibbs Racing engine to a Toyota Racing Development engine for Michigan. I'm sure the move made him some friends in the shop.

Hamlin had a rough day, finishing 35th, dropping to 14th in points but hanging on to the second Chase wild-card spot.

Since winning in June at Michigan, a win that everybody thought signaled his turnaround, Hamlin has one top-10 in eight races, a third at New Hampshire. He's 26th in points during that span.

Trivia break! Who has the most points in the past eight races?

Variety adds spice

If you're a regular reader of my blog (why wouldn't you be?), you know that I love variety -- love to see different winners and a whole mess of guys running up front.

Naturally, I love Michigan.

Busch on Sunday became the 15th different winner in the August race at Michigan, the longest active streak of any race in the Cup series.

If you're curious, the last driver to win this race twice was Dale Jarrett, with wins in 1996 and 2002.

Trivia break! What race has the second-longest string of different winners?

Trivia break answers

1. Kyle Busch tied his brother Kurt with 23 career Cup wins.
2. Jeff Gordon is the points leader in the past eight races.
3. The Daytona 500 has had 10 winners in the past 10 years.

This NASCAR season has me befuddled, and I love it.

There have been 15 different race winners already, with five of them winning for the first time.

There's been no dominant driver, as Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick co-lead the series with three wins apiece. Only three other drivers have multiple wins this season, and none of those won at all last season.

Even ol' five-time, Jimmie Johnson, has only won a single race, and he did it in a plate race, where a host of drivers can win. Proof in point, the other two plate races this season have been won by first-time winners.

In my spring Michigan pre-race blog, I made a case that even though Johnson was winless at Michigan, he was among the favorites based on his strong numbers there. Well, now I'm reversing my course, as I'm apt to do.

It's not that he was never strong at Michigan, if not for a gallon more fuel, he might have a couple wins there. In 2009, Johnson led 279 of 400 total laps, plus he ran the fastest lap on a whopping 135 of those circuits.

In the three Michigan races since, Johnson's led only 14 laps and run the fastest lap 10 times. Plus, he spun out all by his lonesome here in the spring race.

So, who do I think will excel at Michigan? I like the Roush boys.

In the spring race, although none of them won, you could argue that they had the three fastest cars, as Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards ranked 1-2-3 in fastest laps run.

Since 2005, Edwards has put up the most impressive runs at Michigan, ranking first in the field in driver rating, average running position and overall green-flag speed.

He also ranks no worse than third in any speed category, while Biffle ranks no worse than fourth in any major loop data category.

So, we could see Biffle -- the pole sitter for Sunday's Pure Michigan 400 (1 p.m. ET, ESPN) -- become the 16th race winner this season, or perhaps Edwards pick up his second win.

Or maybe I'm completely off base and Johnson gets his first Michigan win, making me look the fool.

The Eliminator: Michigan

Most people just pick winners, some by hunches, some by stats, and some by just picking a name off the top of their head.

I don't pick winners, I pick losers. I'll make my race pick by telling you why all but one driver in the field just can't win.

1) There's been one first-time winner in 84 all-time Michigan races. (14 drivers eliminated, 32 remaining).

2) Of the last 83 Michigan winners, 82 had a previous top-5 finish at the track (10 eliminated, 22 remaining).

3) There have been 14 different winners in the last 14 second Michigan race (10 eliminated, 12 remaining).

4) The last seven Michigan winners finished in the top 20 in their last Michigan races (six eliminated, six remaining).

5) The last six Michigan winners finished in the top 20 in each of the last three Sprint Cup Series races (five eliminated, one remaining).

Your winner: Kyle Busch

Marty Smith broke the news Wednesday that we all expected to hear for quite some time: Danica Patrick will be heading to NASCAR full time starting next season. She'll drive a full Nationwide Series schedule for JR Motorsports, with the possibility of eight to nine Cup races in Stewart-Haas Racing cars. All of this could lead to a full-time Sprint Cup ride in 2013.

The news begs the question: Why hasn't there ever been a really successful female driver in NASCAR? While I can't speculate on the lack of successful female drivers in NASCAR's top levels, I can break down some numbers.

In 1949, NASCAR's inaugural season, three women started Cup series races, highlighted by Sara Christian, who finished fifth in a race at Heidelberg Raceway in Pittsburgh.

Up until earlier this season, Christian was the only woman to finish in the top five in a race in any of the NASCAR National Touring Series, which include the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Trucks series. That is, until Patrick finished fourth in a Nationwide race at Las Vegas earlier this season.

In 1950, another three female drivers started Cup races, meaning we had six women in NASCAR's first two Cup seasons. Since 1950, only nine others have started Cup races, and only one since 1990, that being Shawna Robinson, who made eight starts from 2001-02.

The most successful female driver in NASCAR history is Janet Guthrie, who made 33 Cup starts from 1976-80. She had five top-10 finishes, with a best finish of sixth at Bristol in 1977.

Other than Guthrie, no other woman has made more than 11 starts in the Cup series. Plus, there has been only a total of 13 Cup starts from three drivers in the 31 seasons since Guthrie's final start. That's the eight from Robinson, five from Patty Moise and two by Robin McCall.

Despite Patrick's brief Nationwide career, only 19 races deep heading to Montreal this weekend, she already has the fourth-most starts of any female driver in Nationwide Series history.

Patrick's three top-10 finishes in her 19 Nationwide Series starts already rank as the second most by a woman in series history, trailing only Moise's four, which came over 133 races.

The lack of women in NASCAR is somewhat of a surprise, seeing as in the other major racing series in the United States, the Izod IndyCar Series, there are several full-time female drivers.

In the marquee IndyCar Series race of the season, the Indianapolis 500, there have been at least three women in the field in each of the past five seasons, with promising drivers such as Simona de Silvestro in the mix.

So love or hate Danica Patrick, or if you're anywhere in between, her moving full time to NASCAR could open some long-closed doors for female drivers in the sport.

Let's face it, the Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen had just about everything.

We had a first-time winner, courtesy of a pass in a three-car battle during a green-white-checkered finish. Cars were flipping or on fire, as just about everybody with a stake in the wild-card chase had a rough day. There was even a rain postponement! OK, maybe that part wasn't nearly as good.

Or, as my friend, former researcher and one of the voices of ESPN's "SportsNation" Matt Ketaineck said, "That was the best last lap in NASCAR history."

That being said, there's little questioning how exciting the racing has been this season. And if you think the races are boring, there's a good chance you're never going to like stock car racing, or maybe just anything in general.

There are so many storylines off this race that simply can't be broken down statistically, whether it's if Cup cars should race on rain tires (trust me, you wouldn't want to see it) or if Boris Said should pay a home visit to Greg Biffle.

But what I can break down for you is Marcos Ambrose's winning effort for a much-overdue victory, among other tidbits coming out of my homeland of upstate New York.

From the land Down Under

After three Nationwide Series wins, a blunder last year at Sonoma and three top-3 finishes at Watkins Glen, Ambrose finally got himself in Victory Lane in the Cup series.

In doing so, he became the first Australian-born driver to win a Cup race, and just the fourth foreign-born driver to win in NASCAR's top series. See the ol' accompanying list.

But wait, there's more! The Tasmanian driver now has four wins across the three NASCAR national touring series -- in Cup, Nationwide and Trucks. That's the second most in NASCAR history among foreign-born drivers, which brings me to …

Trivia break! What foreign-born driver holds the record for most NASCAR national series wins?

Feels like the first time

After having no first-time winners in the Cup series last year, Ambrose became the fifth first-time winner this season.

That's the most first-time winners in a season since 2002, when Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and Johnny Benson each got their first Cup win.

Ambrose also is the fourth driver this year to get his first Cup win after waiting more than 100 races, joining Regan Smith, David Ragan and Paul Menard. This is the first season in Cup history with four such drivers.

Trivia break! Who is the only other driver to get his first career Cup win at Watkins Glen?

Viva variety!

I wrote about this briefly after Menard won at the Brickyard, but we now have 15 different winners this season, with some notables still in the dark.

The Cup record is 19, last done in 2001, but this is the second fastest we've reached 15. In 2003, we had 15 different winners in the first 21 races. This year, we needed a whopping 22.

With drivers such as Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer still looking for a win, expect this note to come up again.

Trivia break! In 2001, there were a record-tying 19 winners. Who won the season finale in New Hampshire to become the 19th winner?

Trivia break answers

1. Canada's Ron Fellows has six wins.
2. Steve Park got his first win at the Glen in 2000.
3. Robby Gordon was the 19th different winner.

When you talk about road course racing in the Sprint Cup Series, two names instantly come to mind: Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.

Gordon has nine wins in 37 road course starts, Stewart has seven in 27 starts. That ranks one-two in Cup history, with no other driver having more than six (each of the four drivers tied with six have at least 46 road course starts).

Among active drivers, only Mark Martin (with four) has more than two wins, and no active driver has a better winning percentage on road courses than Gordon and Stewart.

Here's why I think one of those two will struggle while the other excels Sunday at Watkins Glen (1 p.m. ET on ESPN):

First, let's talk about Stewart, who could definitely use a win to solidify his Chase hopes. Smoke's the all-time wins leader at the Glen with five, all coming in the past nine races, with no finish worse than 11th.

Stewart has been dominant lately at The Glen. Over the past six races, he ranks first in overall speed, and his loop-data ranks are blowing away the field.

Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon has four Watkins Glen wins, but those all came from 1997-2001. Since then, he hasn't finished better than ninth over a nine-race span.

Last year, Gordon ran over 92 percent of the laps inside the top 15 but never ran higher than seventh. Over the past two races at The Glen, he hasn't had a single fastest lap run, and in 2008 he had only a pair of fastest laps.

Over the past six years, Gordon's average speed ranks 10th in the series. Not terrible, but not great considering he is the all-time leader in road course wins.

Two road course icons, but two different trends at The Glen to watch out for on Sunday.

The Eliminator: Watkins Glen

Most people just pick winners -- some by hunches, some by stats and some by just picking names off the top of their heads.

I don't pick winners -- I pick losers. I'll make my race pick by telling you why all but one driver in the field just can't win.

1. The past eight and 16 of the past 18 Watkins Glen winners finished in the top 15 in the previous year's race there (32 eliminated, 14 remaining).

2. The past 10 Watkins Glen winners finished eighth or better in the most recent Richmond race (10 eliminated, four remaining).

3. The past four and 11 of the past 14 Watkins Glen winners had a top-10 in the most recent Sonoma race (three eliminated, one remaining).

Your winner: Carl Edwards.

The biggest story coming out of Pocono is definitely what Brad Keselowski did on a fractured ankle. And I have to say, I'm thoroughly impressed. I sprained an ankle playing in the ESPN Flag Football League a couple years ago, and that was bad enough on its own.

But what's even more impressive is the history of NASCAR drivers not only running while fighting injuries but excelling.

Monday on NASCAR Now, we revisited some of the notable ones. Terry Labonte running the final two races of his 1996 championship season with a broken wrist, Ricky Rudd winning at Martinsville after being burned and doing his Victory Lane interview laying down with ice bags and an oxygen mask.

Even recently, drivers have shown that they can put physical issues aside to win. Carl Edwards on a broken foot, Denny Hamlin with a torn ACL and now Keselowski with a fractured ankle.

I know NASCAR isn't like traditional sports in that you don't have to able to run fast, jump high or throw far, but physical conditioning is important, and having to press down on a fractured ankle hundreds of time a race is taxing. Plus, just a momentary lapse in concentration could be costly.

Now, let's dig a little deeper into Keselowski's performance.

Moving Up A Rung

Last season, Keselowski became the 22nd driver to win what is now called a Nationwide Series championship. With the new one-series rules in effect, he'll likely not be running for another anytime soon.

Of those 22 previous champions, Keselowski is only the ninth to win at least three Sprint Cup Series races. If he reaches five, he'd be just the seventh to do so.

Trivia break: Who holds the record for most Cup wins among Nationwide Series champions?

Penske Powered

Keselowski's first Cup win, in 2009, came with Phoenix Racing with support from Hendrick Motorsports. His Kansas win earlier this season was his first with Penske, and now, he's the fifth driver to win multiple Cup races with Penske Racing.

To compare, teammate Kurt Busch is in his sixth season with Penske and has won only nine Cup races.

Keselowski's turnaround has been amazing. He didn't have any top-5 finishes last season and didn't have a top-10 finish until the 32nd race. He had no finish better than 10th all year. This year, he already has three top-5s and six top-10s.

Trivia break: Keselowski is the 97th driver to win three Cup races. Who is the only other active driver with that many? (Hint: He's racing full-time in another series.)

Nice Cup Of Joe

Lost in the fun of Keselowski's win was how impressive the Joe Gibbs Racing cars were, despite their finishes.

Kyle Busch finished second after leading 27 laps. Hamlin was 15th after leading 65 laps. Joey Logano led 44 laps, but finished 26th.

To do the math, that means the three JGR cars led a combined 136 of the 200 laps, and were one rainstorm away from picking up the win.

Trivia break: Who are the only two drivers with more Pocono wins than Hamlin's four?

Trivia Break Answers

1. Kyle Busch has 22 Cup wins, one more than Bobby Labonte.
2. Elliott Sadler has three career Cup wins.
3. Jeff Gordon and Bill Elliott each have five wins at Pocono.

The theme to this weekend's race in Pocono?

Triangles! All sorts of triangles!

No, wait, that's not it.

Let's go with redemption, like the sequel to a movie, with the sheriff riding back into town looking to reclaim his post. And I'm not referring to Sheriff Brian Vickers.

There are several drivers going into this week's Pocono race who are looking for redemption, coming off the Pocono race earlier this season and even last week's Brickyard 400.

Let's flash back to that most recent Pocono race, all the way back eight weeks, to look at drivers whose finishing positions weren't quite what they deserved.

Denny Hamlin is a Pocono master, his four wins there are only one behind Bill Elliott and Jeff Gordon for most in track history, and he's run only 11 races there. But earlier this season, he finished 19th, just his third career finish outside the top 10 at Pocono.

But Hamlin led the field in fastest laps run, with 34, and was in the top five in speed early and late in runs, along with overall speed. He was also the fastest car on restarts.

How about our points leader, Carl Edwards? Edwards spent some time in the garage and ended up 37th. But before those profound issues, Edwards ran the fastest lap 12 times. Impressive considering he ran only 59 laps the entire race. He was also the fastest car in traffic.

Let's change pace and reflect on last Sunday at Indianapolis. It seemed pretty clear that Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne had three of the fastest cars in the field.

Gordon and Kenseth's multiple wins apiece will likely be good enough to get them into the Chase, even if they have mini-meltdowns and fall outside the top 10 in points, but Kahne is going to need a victory.

At Indy, Kahne ran the second-most fastest laps and ranked fourth or better in many loop data categories, including third in average green-flag speed.

Now we head to Pocono, which is probably the most similar track on the schedule to Indianapolis. Heck, one of the three turns at the track was designed after Indianapolis.

So, it'll be redemption time at Pocono, either the points leader padding his lead, Hamlin locking up a Chase spot, or Kahne thrusting himself into the Chase picture.

The Eliminator: Pocono Edition

Most people just pick winners, some by hunches, some by stats, and some by just picking a name off the top of their head.

I don't pick winners, I pick losers. I'll make my race pick by telling you why all but one driver in the field just can't win.

1) Every Pocono winner since 1996 who had previously raced there had a top-5 finish at the track (20 drivers eliminated, 26 remaining).

2) Of the last 15 Pocono winners, 13 had a top-12 in the last California race (14 eliminated, 12 remaining).

3) The last six Pocono winners had a top-5 in one of the previous two Sprint Cup races overall (nine eliminated, three remaining).

4) The last six Pocono winners had a top-10 in the last Sonoma race (two eliminated, one remaining)

Your winner: Jimmie Johnson

Ah, another race, another surprise winner.

Say what you will about races being decided by pit strategy, but I love it. It's another element to add to the track. It takes a wonderful mix of speed and cunning to win these races.

But has that led to the most unpredictable season in Cup series history? Well, has it?!? I'll cut this top section short, and break it down a couple of ways …

They've waited their turn

We've had four first-time winners this season. From 2008-10, there was a total of three. We haven't had more than that in a season since 2002, when there were five.

Digging deeper, three of the winners this year -- Regan Smith, David Ragan and Paul Menard -- had made more than 100 starts before their first win. We had only three such winners in the previous nine seasons combined.

There has only been one other season where at least three drivers got their first win after waiting over 100 starts; in 1988, Lake Speed, Phil Parsons and Ken Schrader all did so. Only Schrader went on to win another race.

By the way, Menard won in his 167th start, tied for the 10th most before a driver's first win all time.

Trivia break! Who holds the record for most starts before his first win?

Variety show

Menard was the 14th winner in 20 races this season. That's tied for the third fastest to 14 different winners in a season in Cup series history. In 2003, there were 14 different winners in the first 17 races; in 1950, 14 in the first 19 races.

If we look at just the modern era, dating back to 1972 (when the series cut back from running 50 or so races a season), we've had only five previous seasons in which there were at least 15 winners, all coming from 2001-07.

The modern-era record is 19 winners, set in 2001. But that year, we didn't get our 14th different winner until the 23rd race.

Trivia break! Of the 19 winners in 2001, who are the two drivers who also have won this season?

Menard holds on

Let's give Paul Menard his due, too. He did what no other driver could do down the stretch -- conserve enough fuel to make it home (but let's give credit to the RCR engine department as well).

Then, when he saw Jeff Gordon in his mirror and could comfortably make it to the checkers, he dropped the hammer.

Over the final five laps, Menard's average lap time was a 53.42, nearly a full second faster than he averaged the previous five laps. Gordon, on the other hand, ran a 52.95 average over those final five laps, ahead of the pace he ran the previous 10 laps.

Trivia break! Menard now has four top-5 finishes this year. How many did he have entering the season?

Trivia break answers

1. Michael Waltrip won in his 463rd career start, 184 more than any other driver.

2. Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick won in both 2001 and 2011.

3. Menard had just two top-5 finishes entering the season.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for lack of a better word, is special.

I'm totally into the historic nature of the track, all the great races and moments that have taken place there, including this year's Indianapolis 500, which was both riveting and heartbreaking.

But this weekend is interesting for another reason. It's an opportunity for a driver to get an all-important win to move up the ranks in the wld card race to make the Chase. Currently, it'll just take one for the drivers between 11th and 20th in the points to get into a Chase spot. David Ragan could cement a Chase spot with another win, too.

First of all, when visiting "NASCAR Now" and Bristol, Conn., on Wednesday, Joey Logano told me he was going to win, so he's one of those wild card drivers who could use the leap.

But I also have statistics to back up three big drivers to watch at Indianapolis who are in need of a win in the next seven races.

Greg Biffle: Armed with a new crew chief, I hope notes were saved from the Greg Erwin regime on how to get around the Brickyard. Last year, despite not winning, Biffle had the best driver rating, average running position and overall green-flag speed in the race.

In 2009, Biffle ranked sixth in all those categories, so it isn't a one-year wonder for Biffle.

Juan Pablo Montoya: You could argue he could've won in 2009, or make the same argument with 2010. Dude's overdue to kiss the bricks and wash it down with some milk.

His numbers were more impressive in 2009, when he was second in average position and green-flag speed and first in driver rating, than they were last year. But he was the fastest car on 100 of the 320 laps run at Indianapolis the last two years, by far the most of any driver.

Mark Martin: His season has been a struggle so far, but sitting in 20th, one win puts him in that second wild card spot, and Indianapolis is as good a spot as any.

In 2009, when Martin finished second in points, he led the field in green-flag speed and average position. But last year, when Martin missed the Chase, he still ranked fourth in both of those areas. So, even with his late struggles, Indianapolis remains a strong point on the schedule.

The racing might not always be great at Indianapolis, but with drivers making a run for a Chase spot, it'll definitely be tense.

The Eliminator: Indianapolis

Most people just pick winners, some by hunches, some by stats, and some by just picking a name off the top of their head.

I don't pick winners, I pick losers. I'll make my race pick by telling you why all but one driver in the field just can't win.

1) There's never been a first-time Cup winner at Indy (17 drivers eliminated, 31 remaining).
2) Of the last 13 Indy winners, 12 had a previous top-five finish there (11 eliminated, 20 remaining).
3) Of the 17 all-time Brickyard winners, 16 had a win earlier in the season (11 eliminated, nine remaining).
4) The last 13 and 15 of the 17 all-time Indianapolis winners had a top-12 finish in the last Cup race overall (four eliminated, five remaining).
5) Of the last 16 Brickyard winners, 15 finished sixth or better in at least one of the previous two races (four eliminated, one remaining).

Your winner: Jimmie Johnson

One question I get asked more than others (besides that annoying "why do they always turn left?" question) is what driver do I root for?

Placing journalistic integrity (of which I have a little) aside, when I started watching NASCAR, I rooted for Bill Elliott, since he was who my friend who got me into the sport rooted for.

Now, I just root for tight finishes and a variety running up front. That's why this season has been such a treat for me.

In 19 races this season, we've already seen 13 different winners, ranging from the old guard of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon to new blood of Trevor Bayne, Regan Smith and David Ragan. It's not just a variety of drivers, it's a variety of teams, which I think bodes well for NASCAR.

We've already had just as many different winners this season as we did last season, with 17 races left. Last year, we didn't have a 13th different winner until the next-to-last race. There were 14 winners in 2009 and 12 in 2008.

With drivers such as Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. yet to win, we could see this season challenge the Cup series record of 19 winners in a season.

And that's music to my ears. The more competitive and unpredictable these races are, the better it is.

Now on to that 13th different winner ...

Newman's own record

There's no doubting Ryan Newman's ability to win poles; his 47 are the 10th most in Cup series history.

However, he hadn't been able to seal the deal when starting up front for some time. He'd last won from the pole position in July 2003 at Pocono.

That's 34 straight winless races after winning the pole, a Cup record. Second is a tie between Geoff Bodine and Ricky Rudd, both of whom went 26 straight.

Trivia break! Who are the only two active, full-time drivers with more career poles than Newman?

A team sport

I'm a researcher, but I have my limits. So I like to pass along great info if I hear it and give proper credit. So, I've seen this note both on Jayski.com via Marty Smith, and also on TNT after the race.

Newman and Stewart started 1-2, and finished 1-2. They're the first set of teammates to start and finish 1-2 in a race since Darrell Waltrip and Ken Schrader did so for Hendrick Motorsports in the 1989 Daytona 500.

Before 1989, the last time a driver started and won from the pole, with his teammate starting and finishing second, was April 1957 with Fireball Roberts and Paul Goldsmith for DePaolo Engineering. Great note.

Trivia Break!!! Who were the last pair of teammates to finish 1-2 this season?

Hitting the century mark

Kyle Busch won the Nationwide race at New Hampshire for his 100th career win across the three NASCAR National Touring Series, which includes the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series. It's something I've written at length before in this blog.

Only 22 percent of Busch's wins have come in Cup, while all of Richard Petty's and all but one of David Pearson's came at the elite level. However, Petty often ran against far weaker fields and Pearson rarely ran a full schedule, so judge the wins as you will.

It also was Busch's 49th Nationwide Series win, tying Mark Martin's career record. Busch has won 22.6 percent of his starts in that series, Martin 20.9. Among the rest of the top five on the wins list, none has a win percentage over 15.

Trivia break! Who are the rest of the top five on the Nationwide Series career wins list?

Trivia break answers

1. Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin have more poles than Newman.

2. Just two races ago, David Ragan and Matt Kenseth finished 1-2 at Daytona.

3. Kevin Harvick (37), Carl Edwards (33) and Jack Ingram (31) complete the top five.