NASCAR SCS (ATLANTA) - PRE-RACE STATS PACKAGE
 |
Going into last weekend, Jimmie Johnson had 10 consecutive top-10 finishes; Gordon had nine. In the race, Johnson finished first, Gordon third. Gordon’s cushion over Johnson deflated a bit – the lead is now 53.
Now, they once again head to a track at which their success rates parallel.
Gordon has finished in the top 10 in three of the last four Atlanta races – and has four career wins overall.
Johnson has finished in the top 10 in three consecutive Atlanta races (and seven of the last eight), including two wins.
Johnson, who won at Atlanta in March, is looking for his ninth career sweep.
Also looking to make up ground is sophomore surprise Clint Bowyer. After struggling in his first two races at Atlanta, Bowyer scored a sixth-place finish in this year’s Atlanta race. Bowyer is currently 115 points out of first place.
Bowyer need only to look at history to prove that the deficit is not insurmountable.
In 1992, Alan Kulwicki staged the biggest comeback since the point system change in 1975, overcoming a 144-point deficit with four races to go to win the championship.
And possibly more reassuring, the man Bowyer’s chasing has previously given up a large lead at this juncture.
In 1996, Gordon relinquished a 111-point lead over Terry Labonte with four races remaining.
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Top 12 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Selected Driver Highlights – Atlanta Motor Speedway-specific Note: All driver statistics that follow are from Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Loop Data statistics – Driver Rating, Average Running Position, etc. – in this release, however, cover the last five races at Atlanta. NASCAR’s scoring loops began collecting data for statistical purposes in 2005.
Greg Biffle (No. 16 Lumber Liquidators Ford) • Two top fives, five top 10s • Average finish of 15.2 • Average Running Position of 9.2, fourth-best • Driver Rating of 106.0, third-best • Series-high 186 Fastest Laps Run • Third-fastest Green Flag Speed • 1,410 Laps in the Top 15 (86.8%), fourth-most • 178 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), second-most
Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet) • Six top fives, 11 top 10s • Average finish of 17.2 • Average Running Position of 10.8, sixth-best • Driver Rating of 93.1, 10th-best • Ninth-fastest Green Flag Speed • 1,310 Laps in the Top 15 (80.6%), sixth-most • 165 Quality Passes, sixth-most
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet) • One win, seven top fives, nine top 10s; one pole • Average finish of 11.4 • Average Running Position of 11.6, seventh-best • Driver Rating of 101.7, sixth-best • 127 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-best • 319 Green Flag Passes, fifth-most • Fourth-fastest Green Flag Speed • 1,139 Laps in the Top 15 (70.1%), eighth-most
Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford) • Two wins, three top fives, five top 10s • Average finish of 9.8 • Average Running Position of 11.9, eighth-best • Driver Rating of 104.0, fourth-best • 131 Fastest Laps Run, third-best • Eighth-fastest Green Flag Speed • 1,322 Laps in the Top 15 (81.4%), fifth-most • 167 Quality Passes, tied for fourth-most
Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) • Four wins, 12 top fives, 18 top 10s; one pole • Average finish of 13.3 • Average Running Position of 13.6, 10th-best • Driver Rating of 94.7, eighth-best • 69 Fastest Laps Run, seventh-most • 146 Green Flag Passes, ninth-most • 1,161 Laps in the Top 15 (71.4%), seventh-most • 174 Quality Passes, third-most
Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet) • Two wins, seven top fives, eight top 10s • Average finish of 10.1 • Series-high Average Running Position of 5.4 • Series-high Driver Rating of 118.3 • 150 Fastest Laps Run, second-most • Fastest Green Flag Speed • 1,505 Laps in the Top 15 (92.6%), third-most • 148 Quality Passes, ninth-most
Mark Martin (No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet) • Two wins, 13 top fives, 22 top 10s • 16.0 average finish • Average Running Position of 8.0, third-best • Driver Rating of 101.5, seventh-best • 66 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most • Second-fastest Green Flag Speed • Series-high 1,553 Laps in the Top 15 (95.6%)
Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge) • One top five • 5.0 average finish • Average Running Position of 9.8, fifth-best • Driver Rating of 103.1, fifth-best • 18 Fastest Laps Run (6.1%), sixth-best percentage • Sixth-fastest Green Flag Speed • 288 Laps in the Top 15 (88.6%), fourth-best percentage • 56 Quality Passes, best average per race of any driver
Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet) • Two wins, seven top fives, 11 top 10s • Average finish of 11.5 • Average Running Position of 7.1, second-best • Driver Rating of 111.2, second-best • 117 Fastest Laps Run, fifth-most • Fifth-fastest Green Flag Speed • 1,510 Laps in the Top 15 (92.9%), second-most • 167 Quality Passes, tied for fourth-most
At Atlanta Motor Speedway: History • Originally called Atlanta International Raceway, the track was a 1.5-mile paved speedway. • The first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Atlanta was on July 31, 1960. • The track was re-measured to 1.522 miles in the spring of 1970. • Renamed Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1990. • The track was re-configured to 1.54-mile in between the two races in 1997.
Notebook • There have been 96 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races at Atlanta Speedway, two races per year except 1961, which had three. • Fireball Roberts won the pole for the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Atlanta in 1960. • Fireball Roberts won the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Atlanta. • Buddy Baker holds the record for poles with seven. • Ryan Newman leads all active drivers with six poles. All of his poles came in the six races between March 2003 and October 2005. • 41 drivers have won races; 25 have won more than once there. • Dale Earnhardt scored nine victories, more than any other driver. • Bobby Labonte heads the list of active drivers with six Atlanta victories. • The Wood Brothers have 12 wins, most of any car owners. They last won there in 1993 with Morgan Shepherd. • Fourteen races have been won from the pole. • Fifty-five races have been won from the first five starting positions. • Bobby Labonte won the second Atlanta race in 2001 from the 39th starting position – the deepest in the field that a race winner has started. • There have been six season sweeps, most recently by Carl Edwards in 2005. • Atlanta has produced three of the 12 closest finishes since electronic timing was introduced in May 1993. All three races occurred on the new configuration:
o Dale Earnhardt finished 0.010 second ahead of Bobby Labonte in the sixth-closest race (tied with Rockingham-2004) on March 12, 2000. o Kevin Harvick beat Jeff Gordon by 0.006 second on March 11, 2001, in the fourth-closest finish. o Carl Edwards beat Jimmie Johnson by 0.028 second on March 20, 2005, in the 12th-closest finish (tied with Texas April 2004).
In Georgia… • There have been 155 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races in Georgia. • 166 NASCAR drivers have their home state recorded as Georgia. • There have been 13 race winners from Georgia in NASCAR’s three national series:
Atlanta Motor Speedway Data Race #: 33 of 36 (10-28-07) Track Size: 1.54 miles Race Length: 325 laps/500.5 miles • Banking/Corners: 24 degrees • Banking/Straights: 5 degrees • Frontstretch: 2,332 feet • Backstretch: 1,800 feet
Driver Rating at Atlanta Jimmie Johnson 118.3 Tony Stewart 111.2 Greg Biffle 106.0 Carl Edwards 104.0 Juan Pablo Montoya 103.1 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 101.7 Mark Martin 101.5 Jeff Gordon 94.7 Matt Kenseth 94.2 Jeff Burton 93.1 Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2007 races (5 total) at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Qualifying/Race Data 2006 pole winner: None (inclement weather) 2006 race winner: Tony Stewart, 143.421 mph, 10-29-06) Track qualifying record: Geoffrey Bodine (197.478 mph, 28.074 secs., 10-21-05) Race record: Bobby Labonte (159.904 mph, 11-16-97)
Estimated Pit Window: Every 48-52 laps, based on fuel mileage.