NASCAR (DAYTONA) - IN THE LOOP

'In The Loop' At Watkins Glen International

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Jeff Gordon The Top Closer; Stewart An Ace At The Glen

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 8, 2007) – There’s a reason why NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series points leader Jeff Gordon needs a telescope to see second-place Denny Hamlin. He’s better – far better – than any other driver during crunch time.

Gordon leads all drivers in the ‘Closer’ statistical category, picking up a net total of 80 positions during the last 10% of races – a prime reason he finds himself comfortably leading the series standings.

Gordon has more than double the amount of Closer positions of the second-place drivers in the category. David Gilliland and Robby Gordon are tied for second with 39 positions improved.

Below is a race-by-race breakdown of Gordon’s positions improved over the last 10% of each race, along with the points picked up because of the jump:

Jeff Gordon’s Closer Totals

Position With Race Positions Points Track 10% Remaining Finish Gained/Lost Gained/Lost Daytona 21st 10th 11 34 California 5th 2nd 3 15 Las Vegas 3rd 2nd 1 5 Atlanta 19th 12th 7 21 Bristol 5th 3rd 2 10 Martinsville 2nd 2nd 0 0 Texas 1st 4th -3 -25 Phoenix 2nd 1st 1 15 Talladega 14th 1st 13 64 Richmond 3rd 4th -1 -5 Darlington 2nd 1st 1 15 Lowe's 41st 41st 0 0 Dover 7th 9th -2 -8 Pocono 34th 1st 33 124 Michigan 12th 9th 3 11 Infineon 15th 7th 8 28 New Hampshire 3rd 2nd 1 5 Daytona 5th 5th 0 0 Chicagoland 10th 9th 1 4 Indianapolis 4th 3rd 1 5 Pocono 4th 4th 0 0

Gordon has picked up a total of 318 points because of an end-of-race combination of clutch performance and pit strategy. His lead in the series standings over Hamlin is 366.

New faces will pepper the field Sunday, as road course aces such as Boris Said, Patrick Carpentier, Scott Pruett and Ron Fellows get rare seat time.

But at Watkins Glen, a familiar name has consistently run up front – Tony Stewart.

His stats over the past two years – which were finishes of first (2005) and second (2006) – tower over the field. He ranks first a number of key Loop Data. Below is a sampling of is Watkins Glen stats:

Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen (2005-2006) Driver Rating: 140.1 Average Running Position: 2.5 Fastest Laps Run: 53 Laps in the Top 15: 182 of 182 Laps Led: 90

Stewart holds track-best marks over the past two years in a number of categories, including Driver Rating. In 2005, he earned a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0 – only five drivers have accomplish the feat. Below are the race-best numbers from Watkins Glen in two key Loop Data categories:

Driver Rating Driver Date DR 1. Tony Stewart 08/05 150.0 2. Tony Stewart 08/06 130.1 3. Kevin Harvick 08/06 126.4 4. Robby Gordon 08/06 119.0 5. Jimmie Johnson 08/05 117.7

Average Running Position Driver Date ARP 1. Tony Stewart 08/05 1.511 2. Tony Stewart 08/06 3.444 3. Jimmie Johnson 08/05 3.467 4. Robby Gordon 08/06 6.344 5. Ryan Newman 08/06 7.567