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The 2011 Sprint Cup Series was the 63rd season of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The season began with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 20 and ended with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 20.

The 2011 season is considered to be one of the most exciting seasons in Cup Series history. There were 18 different winners over the course of the season, including several drivers winning their first races in the biggest and most prestigious races in the schedule. A number of drivers swapped the points lead through the regular season, and only 12 points separated first through twelfth when the Chase began, due to the low number of wins Chase drivers had during the regular season.

In a press conference at Michigan in August following a ninth place finish, when asked about qualifying for the Chase, Tony Stewart claimed that he would only be taking up a slot that should go to a more deserving driver and team. He entered Richmond just 23 points ahead of eleventh place, and needed an 18th place points finish to clinch a spot in the Chase. He did so with a seventh place finish. He was thus seeded last on account of his lack of wins in the season.

He then won at Chicagoland and New Hampshire, vaulting him to first in the standings. Finishes of 25th and 15th dropped him back down to 7th following Kansas, while decent finishes at Charlotte and Talladega, followed by wins at Martinsville and Texas led him to be second in the standings, 3 points behind Carl Edwards. Edwards and Stewart would finish second and third at Phoenix, but earned the same amount of points for that race. In the final race of the season, Edwards would lead the most laps but finish second to Stewart, who won the race. Stewart thus earned the 3 points he needed to be tied with Edwards for the Championship, and thus the Championship came down to a tiebreaker for the first time in Cup Series history- Stewart’s five wins versus Edwards’ one. Thus, Stewart won his third championship and first as an owner. It was the first time since 1992 that an owner-driver had won the championship.

There were several rules changes announced at the start of the season. Due to the development and implementation of the self-venting fuel can, the catch-can man was eliminated on pit crews. Drivers across NASCAR’s top three series could only compete for a championship in a chosen series, meaning that drivers who participated in series outside of their chosen series could compete in races but not earn points. The points system was modified, with the winner of the race earning 43 points, second place earning 42, and so on through the rest of the field. If a driver led a lap, they would earn 1 bonus point, 1 more for leading the most laps, and 3 bonus points for winning the race. Finally, The Chase was modified so that the eleventh and twelfth positions would be awarded to whoever had the most victories among drivers ranked 11th through 20th in driver’s points, effectively creating two ‘Wild Card’ slots. These drivers would not get bonus points for wins, ensuring they would begin the Chase in 11th and 12th.

The Car of Tomorrow was modified so that the splitter braces were removed, and the front end became a single molded piece, while an ethanol fuel mixture began to be used during the season.

Full Time Teams[]

Manufacturer Team Number Driver Sponsor
Chevrolet bowtie 2023 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing 1 Jamie McMurray Bass Pro Shops
McDonald's
42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target
Furniture Row Racing 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row
Hendrick Motorsports 5 Mark Martin GoDaddy
Carquest
24 Jeff Gordon AARP Drive to End Hunger
DuPont Finishes
48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's
88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Amp Energy / Mountain Dew
National Guard
Phoenix Racing 09/51 Landon Cassill (29)
Bill Elliott (4)
Boris Said (2)
Mike Bliss (1)
Thank a Teacher Today
Phoenix Construction
Richard Childress Racing 27 Paul Menard Menards
29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser
31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar
33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios
BB&T
Stewart-Haas Racing 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot
Mobil 1
39 Ryan Newman U.S. Army
Haas Automation
Tornados
Tommy Baldwin Racing 36 Dave Blaney (30)
Geoffrey Bodine (3)
Ron Fellows (1)
Mike Skinner (1)
Stephen Leicht (1)
Golden Corral
Dodge badge Penske Racing 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite
22 Kurt Busch Shell-Pennzoil
AAA
Robby Gordon Motorsports 7 Robby Gordon (25)
Scott Wimmer (4)
Johnny Sauter (2)
Reed Sorenson (5)
Speed Energy
Ford logo FAS Lane Racing 32 Mike Bliss (16)
Ken Schrader (8)
Terry Labonte (6)
Mike Skinner (2)
Patrick Carpentier (1)
Jason White (1)
Andrew Ranger (1)
T.J. Bell (1)
U.S. Chrome
C&J Energy Services
Front Row Motorsports 34 David Gilliland Taco Bell
38 Travis Kvapil (26)
J.J. Yeley (7)
Sam Hornish, Jr. (1)
Tony Ave (1)
Terry Labonte (1)
Long John Silver's
Richard Petty Motorsports 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Tools/DeWalt
43 A.J. Allmendinger Best Buy
Valvoline
U.S. Air Force
Roush Fenway Racing 6 David Ragan UPS
16 Greg Biffle 3M
17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal
99 Carl Edwards Aflac
Toyota Badge Germain Racing 13 Casey Mears Geico
HP Racing 66 Michael McDowell (33)
Todd Bodine (2)
Josh Wise (1)
Joe Gibbs Racing 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx
18 Kyle Busch (35)
Michael McDowell (1)
M&M's/Mars Incorporated
Interstate Batteries
20 Joey Logano Home Depot
JTG Daugherty Racing 47 Bobby Labonte Lance Snacks
Clorox
Kingsford
Bush's Baked Beans
Kleenex
Reese Towpower
Michael Waltrip Racing 00 David Reutimann Aaron's
Tums
56 Martin Truex, Jr. NAPA
NEMCO Motorsports 87 Joe Nemechek
Team Red Bull 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull
83 Brian Vickers Red Bull
[[Ford|Ford logo

]]
[[Chevrolet|Chevrolet bowtie 2023 ]]

Front Row Motorsports
Max Q Motorsports
37 Tony Raines (19)
Josh Wise (6)
Mike Skinner (4)
Scott Speed (3)
Robert Richardson (1)
Chris Cook (1)
Jeff Green (1)
Erik Darnell (1)
North Texas Pipe
Black Cat Fireworks
Whitney Motorsports 46 J.J. Yeley (16)
Scott Speed (13)
Erik Darnell (4)
Bill Elliott (1)
Andy Pilgrim (1)
Brian Simo (1)
Red Line Oil
TRG Motorsports 71 Andy Lally (32)
Hermie Sadler (3)
Mike Bliss (1)
Eco Fuel Saver
Interstate Moving Services

Major Part Time Teams[]

Manufacturer Team Number Driver Sponsor
Chevrolet bowtie 2023 Inception Motorsports 30 David Stremme
Ford logo Wood Brothers Racing 21 Trevor Bayne (17)
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (1)
Motorcraft
Front Row Motorsports 55 J.J. Yeley (11)
Travis Kvapil (6)
Jeff Green (1)
[[Toyota|Toyota Badge

]]
[[Chevrolet|Chevrolet bowtie 2023 ]]

Germain Racing 60 Mike Skinner (23)
Landon Cassill (3)
Todd Bodine (2)
Dave Blaney (1)
Big Red

Schedule[]

Round Date Race Name Track TV
February 12, 2011 Budweiser Shootout Daytona International Speedway FOX
February 17, 2011 Gatorade Duel 150s Daytona International Speedway SPEED Channel
1 February 20, 2011 Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway FOX
2 February 27, 2011 Subway Fresh Fit 500 Phoenix International Raceway FOX
3 March 6, 2011 Kobalt Tools 400 Las Vegas Motor Speedway FOX
4 March 20, 2011 Jeff Byrd 500 Presented by Food City Bristol Motor Speedway FOX
5 March 27, 2011 Auto Club 400 Auto Club Speedway FOX
6 April 3, 2011 Goody's Fast Relief 500 Martinsville Speedway FOX
7 April 9, 2011 Samsung Mobile 500 Texas Motor Speedway FOX
8 April 17, 2011 Aaron's 499 Talladega Superspeedway FOX
9 April 30, 2011 Crown Royal Presents the Matthew & Daniel Hansen 400 Richmond International Raceway FOX
10 May 7, 2011 Showtime Southern 500 Darlington Raceway FOX
11 May 15, 2011 FedEx 400 Benefitting Autism Speaks Dover International Speedway FOX
May 21, 2011 Sprint All-Star Challenge Charlotte Motor Speedway SPEED Channel
12 May 29, 2011 Coca-Cola 600 Charlotte Motor Speedway FOX
13 June 5, 2011 STP 400 Kansas Speedway FOX
14 June 12, 2011 5-Hour Energy 500 Pocono Raceway TNT
15 June 19, 2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 Michigan International Speedway TNT
16 June 26, 2011 Toyota / Save Mart 350 Infineon Raceway TNT
17 July 2, 2011 Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola Daytona International Speedway TNT
18 July 9, 2011 Quaker State 400 Kentucky Speedway TNT
19 July 17, 2011 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 New Hampshire Motor Speedway TNT
20 July 31, 2011 Brickyard 400 Indianapolis Motor Speedway ESPN
21 August 7, 2011 Good Sam RV Insurance 500 Pocono Raceway ESPN
22 August 14, 2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen Watkins Glen International ESPN
23 August 21, 2011 Pure Michigan 400 Michigan International Speedway ESPN
24 August 27, 2011 Irwin Tools Night Race Bristol Motor Speedway ABC
25 September 4, 2011 AdvoCare 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway ESPN
26 September 10, 2011 Wonderful Pistachios 400 Richmond International Raceway ABC
Chase for the Sprint Cup
27 September 18, 2011 GEICO 400 Chicagoland Speedway ESPN
28 September 25, 2011 Sylvania 300 New Hampshire Motor Speedway ESPN
29 October 2, 2011 AAA 400 Dover International Speedway ESPN
30 October 9, 2011 Hollywood Casino 400 Kansas Speedway ESPN
31 October 15, 2011 Bank of America 500 Charlotte Motor Speedway ABC
32 October 23, 2011 Good Sam Club 500 Talladega Superspeedway ESPN
33 October 30, 2011 Tums Fast Relief 500 Martinsville Speedway ESPN
34 November 6, 2011 AAA Texas 500 Texas Motor Speedway ESPN
35 November 13, 2011 Kobalt Tools 500 Phoenix International Raceway ESPN
36 November 20, 2011 Ford 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway ESPN

Results[]

Round Race Pole Winner Winner Make Cautions Caution Laps Average Speed Number of Lead Changes
2011 Budweiser Shootout Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Kurt Busch Dodge badge 4 12 153.584 28
2011 Gatorade Duel 150 (Race #1) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Kurt Busch Dodge badge 2 7 159.794 20
2011 Gatorade Duel 150 (Race #2) Jeff Gordon Jeff Burton Chevrolet bowtie 2023 5 14 136.571 22
1 2011 Daytona 500 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Trevor Bayne Ford logo 16 60 130.326 74
2 2011 Subway Fresh Fit 500 Carl Edwards Jeff Gordon Chevrolet bowtie 2023 8 43 102.961 28
3 2011 Kobalt Tools 400 Matt Kenseth Carl Edwards Ford logo 7 35 135.508 21
4 2011 Jeff Byrd 500 Presented by Food City Carl Edwards Kyle Busch Toyota Badge 10 57 91.941 17
5 2011 Auto Club 400 Juan Pablo Montoya Kevin Harvick Chevrolet bowtie 2023 4 16 150.849 18
6 2011 Goody's Fast Relief 500 Jamie McMurray Kevin Harvick Chevrolet bowtie 2023 11 72 74.195 31
7 2011 Samsung Mobile 500 David Ragan Matt Kenseth Ford logo 5 24 149.231 31
8 2011 Aaron's 499 Jeff Gordon Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet bowtie 2023 6 24 156.261 88
9 2011 Crown Royal Presents the Matthew & Daniel Hansen 400 Juan Pablo Montoya Kyle Busch Toyota Badge 8 60 95.280 14
10 2011 Showtime Southern 500 Kasey Kahne Regan Smith Chevrolet bowtie 2023 11 46 129.678 21
11 2011 FedEx 400 Benefitting Autism Speaks N/A Matt Kenseth Ford logo 6 28 125.578 23
2011 Sprint All-Star Challenge Kyle Busch Carl Edwards Ford logo 5 6 127.841 8
12 2011 Coca-Cola 600 Brad Keselowski Kevin Harvick Chevrolet bowtie 2023 14 64 132.414 38
13 2011 STP 400 Kurt Busch Brad Keselowski Dodge badge 5 22 137.184 17
14 2011 5-Hour Energy 500 Kurt Busch Jeff Gordon Chevrolet bowtie 2023 4 14 145.384 18
15 2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 Kurt Busch Denny Hamlin Toyota Badge 5 18 153.029 21
16 2011 Toyota / Save Mart 350 Joey Logano Kurt Busch Dodge badge 5 17 75.411 12
17 2011 Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola Mark Martin David Ragan Ford logo 6 21 159.491 57
18 2011 Quaker State 400 N/A Kyle Busch Toyota Badge 6 32 137.314 20
19 2011 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Ryan Newman Ryan Newman Chevrolet bowtie 2023 10 44 104.100 21
20 2011 Brickyard 400 David Ragan Paul Menard Chevrolet bowtie 2023 5 22 140.762 22
21 2011 Good Sam RV Insurance 500 Joey Logano Brad Keselowski Dodge badge 5 21 137.878 23
22 2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen Kyle Busch Marcos Ambrose Ford logo 5 14 99.417 14
23 2011 Pure Michigan 400 Greg Biffle Kyle Busch Toyota Badge 5 21 150.898 20
24 2011 Irwin Tools Night Race Ryan Newman Brad Keselowski Dodge badge 6 42 96.753 22
25 2011 AdvoCare 500 Kasey Kahne Jeff Gordon Chevrolet bowtie 2023 9 64 124.623 35
26 2011 Wonderful Pistachios 400 David Reutimann Kevin Harvick Chevrolet bowtie 2023 15 85 89.910 11
27 2011 GEICO 400 Matt Kenseth Tony Stewart Chevrolet bowtie 2023 6 25 143.306 22
28 2011 Sylvania 300 Ryan Newman Tony Stewart Chevrolet bowtie 2023 3 14 116.679 19
29 2011 AAA 400 Martin Truex, Jr. Kurt Busch Dodge badge 10 44 119.413 24
30 2011 Hollywood Casino 400 Greg Biffle Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet bowtie 2023 6 25 137.181 19
31 2011 Bank of America 500 Tony Stewart Matt Kenseth Ford logo 8 34 146.194 16
32 2011 Good Sam Club 500 Mark Martin Clint Bowyer Chevrolet bowtie 2023 9 37 143.404 72
33 2011 Tums Fast Relief 500 N/A Tony Stewart Chevrolet bowtie 2023 18 108 68.648 23
34 2011 AAA Texas 500 Greg Biffle Tony Stewart Chevrolet bowtie 2023 5 21 152.705 23
35 2011 Kobalt Tools 500 Matt Kenseth Kasey Kahne Toyota Badge 8 30 112.918 14
36 2011 Ford 400 Carl Edwards Tony Stewart Chevrolet bowtie 2023 8 54 114.976 26

Final Points Standings[]

Pos. Driver Races Wins Top 5s Top 10s Poles Points Difference
1 Tony Stewart 36 5 9 19 1 2403
2 Carl Edwards 36 1 19 26 3 2403 0
3 Kevin Harvick 36 4 9 19 0 2345 -58
4 Matt Kenseth 36 3 12 20 3 2330 -73
5 Brad Keselowski 36 3 10 14 1 2319 -84
6 Jimmie Johnson 36 2 14 21 0 2304 -99
7 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 36 0 4 12 1 2290 -113
8 Jeff Gordon 36 3 13 18 1 2287 -116
9 Denny Hamlin 36 1 5 14 0 2284 -119
10 Ryan Newman 36 1 9 17 3 2284 -119
11 Kurt Busch 36 2 8 16 3 2262 -141
12 Kyle Busch 35 4 14 18 1 2246 -157
13 Clint Bowyer 36 1 4 16 0 1047 -1,356
14 Kasey Kahne 36 1 8 15 2 1041 -1,362
15 A.J. Allmendinger 36 0 1 10 0 1013 -1,390
16 Greg Biffle 36 0 3 10 3 997 -1,406
17 Paul Menard 36 1 4 8 0 947 -1,456
18 Martin Truex Jr 36 0 3 12 1 937 -1,466
19 Marcos Ambrose 36 1 5 12 0 936 -1,467
20 Jeff Burton 36 0 2 5 0 935 -1,468
21 Juan Pablo Montoya 36 0 2 8 2 932 -1,471
22 Mark Martin 36 0 2 10 2 930 -1,473
23 David Ragan 36 1 4 8 2 906 -1,497
24 Joey Logano 36 0 4 6 2 902 -1,501
25 Brian Vickers 36 0 3 7 0 846 -1,557
26 Regan Smith 36 1 2 5 0 820 -1,583
27 Jamie McMurray 36 0 2 4 1 795 -1,608
28 David Reutimann 36 0 1 3 1 757 -1,646
29 Bobby Labonte 36 0 1 2 0 670 -1,733
30 David Gilliland 36 0 1 2 0 572 -1,831
31 Casey Mears 35 0 0 0 0 541 -1,862
32 Dave Blaney 35 0 1 1 0 508 -1,895
33 Andy Lally 30 0 0 0 0 398 -2,005
34 Robby Gordon 25 0 0 0 0 268 -2,135
35 J.J. Yeley 31 0 0 0 0 192 -2,211
36 Michael McDowell 32 0 0 0 0 139 -2,264
37 Tony Raines 12 0 0 0 0 129 -2,274
38 Ken Schrader 7 0 0 0 0 110 -2,293
39 Terry Labonte 8 0 0 0 0 102 -2,301
40 Bill Elliott 5 0 0 0 0 100 -2,303
41 David Stremme 18 0 0 0 0 80 -2,323
42 Michael Waltrip 3 0 0 1 0 56 -2,347
43 Boris Said 2 0 0 0 0 38 -2,365
44 Geoffrey Bodine 4 0 0 0 0 33 -2,370
45 T.J. Bell 5 0 0 0 0 29 -2,374
46 Stephen Leicht 1 0 0 0 0 20 -2,383
47 Andy Pilgrim 1 0 0 0 0 18 -2,385
48 Chris Cook 1 0 0 0 0 17 -2,386
49 Brian Simo 1 0 0 0 0 11 -2,392
50 Brian Keselowski 1 0 0 0 0 3 -2,400
51 Erik Darnell 2 0 0 0 0 2 -2,401
52 Steve Park 1 0 0 0 0 2 -2,401

Only Cup Series points-eligible drivers shown. Drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup are highlighted in yellow.

Complete statistics can be found at Racing-Reference.info.

Rookie of the Year[]

Andy Lally was the only driver eligible and thus won the Rookie of the Year Award for 2011.[1]

Position Driver Points Wins
1 Andy Lally 229 0

Manufacturer Standings[]

With 18 wins, Chevrolet won the Manufacturer's Championship for 2011.[2]

Position Make Points Race Wins
1 Chevrolet bowtie 2023 248 18
2 Ford logo 195 7
3 Toyota Badge 187 6
4 Dodge badge 162 5

References[]

NASCAR Cup Series seasons
1949
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