How the Races Were Won in 1991

by Sean Wrona

Just because I compiled this column a day after the previous one doesn't mean I'm going to do so every day but I had the time to do so this weekend. I was unable to find any good video footage or online reporting or sufficient information from the Greg Fielden books I own with regard to whether Davey Allison passed Hut Stricklin on the track or during a green-flag pit stop exchange, and neither would surprise me. I will probably generally refrain from making many overall comments until the series is over, but I'll say already that even at this point there are some drivers whose ratios of natural wins to total wins surprise me.

Formula One

Phoenix	Ayrton Senna led the entire race	natural
Interlagos	Ayrton Senna led the entire race	natural
Imola	Senna inherited the lead when Riccardo Patrese pitted due to misfire	off-track
Monaco	Ayrton Senna led the entire race	natural
Montreal	Nelson Piquet inherited the lead when Nigel Mansell stalled his engine on the last lap	incidental
Mexico City	Patrese passed Mansell on track	natural
Magny-Cours	Mansell passed Prost on track	natural
Silverstone	Mansell led the entire race	natural
Hockenheim	Mansell passed Jean Alesi on track	natural
Hungaroring	Senna led the entire race	natural
Spa-Francorchamps	Senna inherited the lead when Alesi blew an engine	incidental
Monza	Mansell passed Senna on track	natural
Estoril	Patrese inherited the lead when Mansell lost a tire on pit road	incidental
Catalunya	Mansell passed Gerhard Berger on track	natural
Suzuka	Berger passed Senna on the last lap via team orders	incidental
Adelaide	Senna led the entire race	natural

Cumulative wins by type:

Driver	Total	Natural	Off-track	Incidental	Strategic Assist
Senna	13	11	1	1	0
Mansell	6	6	0	0	0
Prost	5	3	0	1	1
Patrese	3	2	0	1	0
Piquet	3	0	0	3	0
Boutsen	1	1	0	0	0
Berger	1	0	0	1	0

CART

Surfers	John Andretti inherited the lead when lapped Randy Lewis took out Rick Mears	incidental
Long Beach	Al Unser, Jr. passed Michael Andretti on track	natural
Phoenix	Arie Luyendyk passed Mario Andretti on track	natural
Indianapolis	Mears passed Mi. Andretti on track	natural
Milwaukee	Mi. Andretti inherited lead after Mears drove through pits with engine issues	incidental
Detroit	Emerson Fittipaldi inherited the lead when Luyendyk pitted	off-track
Portland	Mi. Andretti passed Fittipaldi on track and was only passed on pit cycles	natural
Cleveland	Mi. Andretti passed Fittipaldi on track	natural
Meadowlands	Bobby Rahal passed Mears on track	natural
Toronto	Mi. Andretti led the entire race	natural
Michigan	Mears inherited the lead when Luyendyk pitted	off-track
Denver	Unser passed Mi. Andretti on track	natural
Vancouver	Mi. Andretti passed Rahal on track	natural
Mid-Ohio	Mi. Andretti led the entire race except for pit stop exchanges	natural
Road America	Mi. Andretti passed Unser on green-flag pit cycle	off-track
Nazareth	Luyendyk won on fuel mileage and inherited lead when Rahal/Mi. Andretti pitted	off-track
Laguna Seca	Mi. Andretti led the entire race	natural

Cumulative wins by type:

Driver	Total	Natural	Off-track	Incidental	Strategic Assist
Mi. Andretti	13	9	1	2	1
Unser, Jr.	8	6	1	1	0
Luyendyk	3	2	1	0	0
Mears	3	1	2	0	0
Fittipaldi	2	1	1	0	0
Sullivan	2	1	0	1	0
J. Andretti	1	0	0	1	0
Rahal	1	1	0	0	0

NASCAR Winston Cup

Daytona	Ernie Irvan passed Dale Earnhardt on track	natural
Richmond	Earnhardt passed Ricky Rudd on track	natural
Rockingham	Kyle Petty passed Ken Schrader on track	natural
Atlanta	Schrader won on fuel mileage after Bill Elliott pitted	off-track
Darlington	Rudd won on fuel mileage after Davey Allison pitted	off-track
Bristol	Rusty Wallace passed Irvan on track	natural
North Wilkesboro	Darrell Waltrip passed Jimmy Spencer on track	natural
Martinsville	Earnhardt passed Petty on track	natural
Talladega	Harry Gant won on fuel mileage after Schrader pitted	off-track
Charlotte	Allison passed Earnhardt on track	natural
Dover	Schrader passed Earnhardt on track	natural
Sonoma	Allison inherited win after Rudd penalized for penultimate lap spinout	incidental
Pocono	Waltrip passed Earnhardt on track	natural
Michigan	Can't find evidence on whether Allison passed Hut Stricklin on or off track	?
Daytona	Elliott passed Allison on track	natural
Pocono	Wallace won on fuel mileage after Irvan pitted	off-track
Talladega	Earnhardt passed Wallace on track	natural
Watkins Glen	Irvan inherited the lead when Schrader had camshaft failure	incidental
Michigan	Dale Jarrett passed Allison on track	natural
Bristol	Alan Kulwicki passed Sterling Marlin on track	natural
Darlington	Gant passed Allison in pits	off-track
Richmond	Gant passed Allison on track	natural
Dover	Gant passed Wallace in pits	off-track
Martinsville	Gant passed B. Bodine on track	natural
North Wilkesboro	Earnhardt passed Gant on track	natural
Charlotte	G. Bodine won on fuel mileage after Allison pitted	off-track
Rockingham	Allison beat Gant on pit cycle	off-track
Phoenix	Allison passed Spencer on track after beating Jarrett out of the pits	strategic assist
Atlanta	Martin passed Earnhardt on track	natural

Cumulative wins by type:

Driver	Total	Natural	Off-track	Incidental	Strategic Assist
Earnhardt	13	10	3	0	0
Allison	7	1	2	2	1
Gant	6	3	3	0	0
Martin	4	3	0	1	0
G. Bodine	4	2	2	0	0
Wallace	4	2	2	0	0
Irvan	3	2	0	1	0
Elliott	2	2	0	0	0
Kulwicki	2	2	0	0	0
Petty	2	2	0	0	0
D. Waltrip	2	2	0	0	0
Cope	2	1	0	1	0
Schrader	2	1	1	0	0
Rudd	2	0	2	0	0
Jarrett	1	1	0	0	0
B. Bodine	1	0	0	1	0
Shepherd	1	0	1	0	0

Sean Wrona is the Managing Editor of racermetrics.com, the Webmaster of race-database.com, the winner of the 2010 Ultimate Typing Championship at the SXSW Interactive Conference in Austin, and the ratings compiler and statistician for the Mensa Scrabble-by-Mail SIG. He earned a master's in applied statistics from Cornell University in 2008 and previously digitized several seasons of NBA box scores on basketball-reference.com. You may contact him at sean@racermetrics.com.