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As was mentioned during the drivers who dominate piece, World Wide Technology Raceway is one of the most unique race tracks in NASCAR. An egg-shape like an inverted Darlington, but a 1.25 mile length unlike any other track on the schedule. With tracks the most similar to it being 1.0 mile tracks like Phoenix and New Hampshire, what are the drivers who tend to struggle at places like Gateway?
By the Numbers: 0 wins; 0 top 5s; 6 top 10s; 52 laps led; 19.2 avg. finish; 51 races
Breakdown: Austin Dillon does not have a finish better than seventh at tracks around 1.0 miles in length, and he has not had a top-10 at these types of track since 2020. Since then, Dillon has been aggressively mediocre at tracks like this with no finish better than 13th. That’s not awful, but it’s not very inspiring either.
By the Numbers: 0 Wins, 0 top 5s, 0 top 10s, 26 laps led, 20.9 avg. finish, 7 races
Breakdown: Austin Cindric is still early in his Cup Series career, but his performance on these types of tracks has not been stellar. Without a top 10 finish in seven races, Cindric has finished outside of the top 20 in four of the seven races on these tracks with a worst finish of 36th at Dover in 2022.
By the Numbers: 0 wins, 0 top 5s, 3 top 10s, 20 laps led, 21.7 avg. finish, 37 races
Breakdown: Buescher’s career average finish on tracks around 1.0 miles in length of 21.7 is lower than his career average finish 20.0. He has found some groove at these tracks recently with two top 10s at these types of tracks last season, but he has also finished outside of the top-20 in 19 of 37 races on tracks this length.
By the Numbers: 0 wins, 1 top 5, 2 top 10s, 4 laps led, 20.7 avg. finish, 26 races
Breakdown: Bubba Wallace has had only one single digit finish at tracks around 1.0 miles in length. That came at New Hampshire in 2021, and other then that, it has been a trying time for Wallace at these types of tracks. Since his move to 23XI Racing, Wallace had five finishes outside of the top 20 in races at tracks this length in 11 races.
By the Numbers: 0 wins; 0 top 5s; 0 top 10s; 0 laps led; 24.0 avg. finish; 19 races
Breakdown: Ryan Preece has struggled pretty much every time he has hit the track at places like Gateway. More than half of his races entered has had finishes outside of the top 20. With Stewart-Haas Racing continuing to struggle, it is hard to see where Preece will find a way to turn it around, but he has had success at New Hampshire in the Modifieds.
Again, this track is very unique. With this in mind, it is tough to really predict who will struggle this weekend. Some of these drivers can and probably will turn it around this weekend.
