These stat posts tend to get a little long, so I’m going to just list the highlights. I’ll list the chasers this week by average finish starting with the lowest, and then throw in a few other stat standouts. The brackets after the name show (Average Finish / Number of Starts). No one has more than one win here, so one win is an accomplishment at TMS.

• Denny Hamlin: (5.5 / 2) 1 T5, 2 T10, and 0 DNFs. Lowest amount of starts.
• Jimmie Johnson: (7 / 6) Continues to impress with his stats. 83% T10s and 100% lead lap finishes.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr.: (10.8 / 8) 1 win to go with a high 75% T10’s.
• Matt Kenseth: (12.1 / 8) 1 win and a low 12.5% DNFs.
• Kevin Harvick: (13.4 / 7) only 2 top 10s, but 0 DNFs.
• Mark Martin: (13.5 / 11) 1 win, but lowest % lead lap finishes with 45%
• Jeff Burton: (17.5 / 11) 1 win, shares low 9.1% DNFs with Martin.
• Jeff Gordon: (17.5 / 11) nothing spectacular, all numbers are middle of the pack here.
• Kasey Kahne: (20 / 4) 50% T5’s (one of them a win) and 50% DNFs in 4 starts.
• Kyle Bush: (25.3 / 3) 0 T10’s, but 0 DNFs.
• Tony Stewart (13.4 / 9) has 66% T10’s and 2 DNFs, both for engine failure with less than 50 laps left.
• Greg Biffle (24.4 / 5) has lead 20% of the laps he’s turned here, but DNFs 40% of his races here.
• Kurt Bush (13.3 / 7) has 71% T10’s and no DNFs.
• Ken Schrader and Dale Jarrett have started all 11 races here, and have 0 DNFs.
• Ward Burton (20 / 8) should be back in the 4 car; 1 T10 and only 1 DNF.
• "Texas" Terry won this race back in 1999. I'd love to see him do well this Sunday for his last race at his home track. He is the consummate gentleman of the sport, and in my opinion THE example for every other driver to emulate. That goes for Tony and Robby.
• And for all of you defending Robby Gordon’s (28.8 / 6) talent in a stock car after my post from Atlanta; his best finish is 20th, laps led is 0, and not one finish on the lead lap. Better start writing his name on his uniform parts and loose items in the car, I smell a late race caution for debris.
• Make sure you take note that I always include stock car when mentioning the lack of Robby Gordon’s talent. I understand that his talent in other motor sport disciplines is exemplary, but as it says under StewartFan at the top, this page is nothing but NASCAR, and I try to keep it that way.

Does that seem any shorter, oh well.....

Am I upset with Robby Gordon? No, and I’ll tell you why. I’ve come to expect this type of behavior from him, for this is who he is. When he decided to cheat his way back onto the lead lap; that’s who he is. When he vehemently denied it on TV; that’s who he is. He looked like an eight year old who just broke mommy’s favorite vase while playing baseball in the living room. To expect anything different from him would be an exercise in futility. This type of behavior is going to continue as long as NASCAR lets him get away with it. Trapping him (like the rat he is) behind a hauler wasn’t too classy, either. I could have done without that. Am I upset? You bet, but it’s with NASCAR, and not Robby. NASCARs blind-eye approach to this issue is nothing short of spineless. It opens the door for more acts like this to infect the sport. As a governing body, they have failed in their duties. They have shown a chink in their armor that others like Robby will attack knowing that precedence has been set in their favor. They have lost a bit of my respect for their authority, along with any driver who agrees with Jeff Burton. I hope that Jeff doesn’t let this go as easy. He is considered an elder in the ranks, and should be able to rally a few in support of his cause. Pointing out Robby Gordon’s shortcomings used to be a StewartFan ritual. At the end of every post I’d show his terrible stats at whatever track was coming next week. He’s now scored another top 10. One he cheated to get, and one NASCAR let him have in spite of it.

It’s got it all: day racing, night racing, fast racing, multi-lane racing, green flag pit stops thanks to not so many cautions, areo and handling, fuel and tires. Tony “Smokes” them all with a dominant win along with the most laps lead. That would usually make for a boring race, but I think you’ll agree, it was fun to watch. Joe Neme”wreck” didn’t think that taking out Montoya at the Bush race was good enough; he had to beat up on Gordon here. Jamie McMurray probably could use a pair of polarized sunglasses for the next Atlanta race. I’ll bet Jeff buys him a pair. Through all that, Jeff comes home in 6th. The cream rises to the top with T5's for Johnson, Dale, and Kenseth. I'm really interested to see where Tony is in the non-chase format. I'll check Jayski tomorrow, he'll have the info for me. The "luck" runs out for Kasey, Mark, and Kyle. Harvick might just have to be "happy" with a Bush Championship this year. Burton is also had some problems that leave him 84 points behind the leader. He was pretty upset after the race for what we will call "Padding-Gate". What can I say about Robby Gordon that I haven’t said before? He sucks, and it looks like he’ll be caught for causing a caution with a piece of roll bar padding. Not sure at this point if he actually did it, or if he got the free pass for the caution, but you are not awarded the free pass if you caused the caution. He swore he didn’t do it on national television, but the video tape looked pretty conclusive. My predictions: Todd wouldn’t finish the race, and a JGR car would win. I don’t believe Todd had a car that would have finished anyway, but he’d have hit something if he did. Denny was down a few laps, but made them up and finished strong in 8th. J.J. Yeley finished 16th. At least the fab shop doesn’t have to build him a new car for Texas. Tony’s workout program is paying off; If not on the track, on the fence. I think he’s happier about getting to take that 8 foot tall bear trophy than winning the race. And then I turn the channel just in time to see the Raiders beat Pittsburgh. I’m gonna be a trash talker Monday. What a day.

It hit me as I was reading Jaynelle’s Track Talk. Why would Chevy and Dodge come out with new car models for the COTs? Wouldn’t it be great if the car manufactures could market two different models of cars in the same year? What if there was someway we could not only sell more Monte Carlo’s, but also sell more Impala SS’s? I’ve got it. We’ll use the fact that NASCAR’s going to run two different types of cars next year anyways to field two different models, effectively raising the sales of both. If "What wins on Sunday, sells on Monday" holds true, they stand to make a pretty penny. I can just here the guy from the Guinness beer commercials,…GENIUS!! Please don’t consider this some conspiracy theory; just chalk it up to marketing genius. On another note: I’m using BlogRolling for the links in the sidebar, and I love it! I’ve read post on how their system wasn’t that reliable, and sometimes links wouldn’t show up. I hope this is a thing of the past, ‘cause I really love the service. Especially the price; as their isn’t one.

Time for your stats as filtered through the StewartFan. Thanks to Racing-Reference.info for the base line stats. We’ll look at the chasers first, and then a few stat standouts. We’ll list them by number of starts at Hotlanta.

Mark Martin has 41 starts here. He can lay down the fast lap, as his average start is 10.4. He finishes inside the top 10 51% of the time, but the rest of those races he rarely finishes on the lead lap. It’s either feast or famine. He has an average finish of 3^rd in the last 4 races.

Jeff Gordon has 28 starts. He’s got 4 wins, and only Bobby Labonte has more (6) of all active drivers. An average finish of 13.6 is a good mark. He’s coming off a 2^nd and 4^th in the last two Atlanta races.

Jeff Burton has 24 starts. His only good stat here is his low 12.5% DNF number.

Dale has 14 starts. A win and 6 top 5s to go with 57% top 10s all look good. He’s coming off a 4^th and 3^rd in the last two races.

Matt Kenseth has 13 starts. 6 of them have resulted in top 10’s. He’s finished on the lead lap 61% of his races here.

Kevin Harvick has 11 starts. His 1 win, which was his first Cup race here, brought millions of us to tears as it was the first win for the late Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s team since his untimely death only 22 days earlier. It was the start of the healing process for most of us. Only 1 other top 10 and 3 DNFs don’t add up to much, but he made history that day.

Jimmie Johnson has 10 starts, 1 win, and 5 top 5s. One more top 10 and only 1 DNF make him a strong favorite to keep his place in the points or take advantage of anyone who has a bad day. Average start of 9.8 and an average finish of 11.8 make him a stat favorite.

Kasey Kahne has 5 starts and won the spring race here. He’s finished inside the top 5 four out of those five starts. He’s looking for Atlanta to catapult him back into this thing. There won’t be a hungrier driver out there. His average finish is the lowest of the chasers at 9.8. Look for him to ride the rim all day. If the track has a high line, and it does, Kasey will be passing on the right.

Kyle Bush: 4 starts, no top 10s, and 1 DNF

Denny Hamlin has 2 starts with no top 10s. But he’s got a Joe Gibbs car, and JGR has done very well at this track with Bobby Labonte’s and Tony’s cars. Denny hasn’t failed to finish here.

Outside the chase Carl Edwards swept here in 2005, Ryan Newman has an average start of 1.8, Bobby Labonte has 6 wins here (all with JGR), and Tony finishes in the top 10 60% of the time with 1 win.

My pick for the win; Tony Stewart. This is the StewartFan page, and we luvs us some Tony ‘round here. If you’re looking for a second opinion, you could use a breath mint. And I wonder why people won't take me seriously.

I got to looking at some drivers stats, and if your watching Morgan-McClure, I’d read on. Ward has started 21 races here, while Todd has 17 starts, not much difference. Neither has won, Ward has one more T5 (3) and 3 more T10s (7), still nothing spectacular. But when it comes to finishing the race, there’s no comparison. Ward has finished 19 of his 21 starts, while Todd has finished just 10 of 17. Wards DNF percentage here is less than 10, a great stat among all drivers, while Todd DNFs 41% of the time. Hey, Morgan and/or McClure, if your looking to get your sponsor on TV (and we know this is what it’s all about) I’d suggest you put Ward in the car for the Atlanta race.

As the owner, Larry, you're 400 points and 4 spots out of a guaranteed spot at Daytona next spring. That should be one of your biggest goals. That should land you a big fat sponsor.

I had to watch this race on and off at work on Sunday, the war doesn’t take a day off. When I looked up at the TV and saw Jeff Burton out of the car, I new things were going to be interesting. I’d like to congratulate Harvick and Kenseth for stepping up and taking advantage of Jeff’s misfortune at a track where neither on of them is very good. I’m sure they’re both glad this race is behind them, along with Burton in the points. Jimmie got every point he could, and Denny put up a great fight for the finish. That part I did get to see.

In the “what the heck are you thinking” category, Morgan McClure Motorsports is going to put Todd Bodine back in the car for Atlanta. You’d think after Todd couldn’t qualify for the race in Charlotte, he’d be in question. And then Ward not only gets in the race, but finishes on the lead lap at Martinsville. You’d think the nod would go to Ward, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. Probably a contract thing worked out weeks ago, but I’m still going to rant about it. At least David Regan will have someone different to hit next weekend, if Todd doesn’t hit him first.

I’ll throw in my opinion on the COT. Scrap this project now and never speak of it again. Find the guy who thought up that whole back wing theory and fire him, re-hire him, and then fire him again! The other parts of this car I don’t like include the front, back, both sides, top, and although I haven’t seen it, I disapprove of the bottom, also. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re ugly, but I’d sooner stare at a mud fence for 4 hours. Someone please tell me they’re not serious about putting these things on the track.

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If you’re not a Jeff Gordon fan, I’d get a tee time for Sunday around 12:30 EST. Jeff’s got all the stats here. 7 wins* in 27 starts (25%) is a remarkable stat for any Cup driver at any track. 15 top 5’s*, 21 top 10’s*, and 5 poles* makes him the most impressive active driver at this track. Average start is 7.3; average finish is 7.6*. 74% finishes on the lead lap, and has been running at the end of every one (zero DNF’s*). We’ll go through the rest of the chasers, and throw in a few honorable mentions. Jimmie Johnson has obviously taken some tips from Jeff. 88% (only one higher that Jeff) of his finishes are on the lead lap. It’s only added up to one win, but he’s got 8 top 10s in his nine starts. Kevin Harvick has finished all of his 10 starts, but his average finish of 20th doesn’t shine too well. Jeff Burton has finished half of his races here inside the top 10, and has found victory lane once. That’s just the kind of consistency to keep the chase lead going. Mark Martin has 2 wins, 11 top 5s, 21 top 10s, and 3 poles in his 41 starts. He’s got 19,073 laps around the paperclip. 6 DNF’s doesn’t reflect well, but the last one was in the spring race in 2001. His average start and finish here are both 13.2. Matt Kenseth’s numbers here don’t impress; 1 top 5 in 13 starts and an average finish of 17.2. Dale has finished 6 of his 13 starts in the top 10. It’s either feast or famine though, as his top 10 number is the same. 2 DNF’s bring his lead lap finishing average to 69%, and his average finish to 14.4. I think he likes this track and has fun here. We’ll see if the cheers for Ward can give him a run for his money. That leaves us with Kasey, Kyle, and Denny. 10 combined starts, 2 combined top 5s, 5 combined top 10s. They each have 1 DNF. Looks like the young guys have some learnin’ to do. Tony won this race in the spring, so we’re looking for a sweep here at StewartFan. Biffle, Edwards, Stewart, and the elder Bush have finished this race 90% of the time or better. Stewart has 2 wins, Bush has 1. Newman’s average start is 4th (only one better than Jeff), but his average finish is 15th. * indicates the highest (or tied for) of all active drivers.

Martinsville’s first “Strictly Stock” (Cup) event was held September 25th, 1949. 10,000 fans came out to watch 15 cars race the .526 mile track. Red Byron wins with Lee Petty in second. It was Red’s only start in a Cup race here. One other driver has one win in his only start. 21 drivers have started here and not finished the first lap, one of them twice. 607 different drivers have started a Cup race here, 230 of them never came back, and only 121 of the 607 (20%) have more than 10 starts here. The track has hosted 115 Cup races for 1,407,688 total laps. That’s 740,444 miles around the “paperclip” shaped track. Other than the paving of the track in 1955, the basic design hasn’t changed. Fred Lorenzen won 4 in a row here in ’63-’64-’65; he is the only one to do this. Buddy Arrington started 42 races here, and never finished on the lead lap. But the two names that dominate the history books here are Richard Petty and Darrel Walthrip. They are the only two drivers with double digit wins, a combined 26. Their average start was 10th, average finish 11th. They won 1 out of every 5 races they started here. The only driver to beat that stat is Jeff Gordon, who wins 1 of every 4.

I didn't get to see it 'cause I was on the road for the first 50 laps. After watching it I had to share.

..::[One weird race in a while is not out of the ordinary, but this is a real string of them. Only 11 cars finished on the lead lap? Pit strategies all over the map? Cars careening into other cars just trying to get onto pit road? It’s time to RANT! Hope Becca doesn’t mind me posting MY opinion on MY blog. ..::[Smaller fuel cells benefit no one except NASCAR’s ability to air as many commercials as they can during the race. They take the driver (who we came to see and cheer for) out of the race and give it to the crew chief, pit crew, and the guy holding the radar gun handing out speeding tickets. ..::[Harder tires benefit no one except those fans who came to see cars hit the wall. These extra cautions give NASCAR even more time to cram in commercials. Neither one of these two things make the racing better, and as a race fan (not a crash and go to commercial fan), I protest. ..::[I’ve blogged this numerous times before, but here it is again. What is the crime in putting a brake light TDC (that’s Top Dead Center for you lay people out there) of the back window of the cars? It absolutely would make racing safer. I think it would make the broadcast better, too. We’d know exactly who tapped the brakes (and when) through the in car cameras. No more post crash interviews with drivers saying “somebody” must have checked up. This might have prevented Mark Martin from trying to split J.J. Yeley’s car in half, and then hitting the wall head on at Mach OMG. I think it knocked him silly (or he’s still taking the Viagra) ‘cause he was way too happy in his post crash interview. ..::[Chalk it up to night racing. It was cold last night which makes cars faster and tracks slicker. I for one would watch every Bush race if it was on Friday night. Doesn’t say much for my social life, but there it is. I’d like to see the Cup series leave Saturday night to the local tracks. I used to have Mike Helton’s cell phone number. Where did I put that?

I rarely watch the Bush race, and it’s only ‘cause Tony was in this one that I bothered to turn it on this time. I’m glad that the only time his tires were off the ground this race was when they were changing his tires. He had his troubles mind you, but they didn’t involve any paint being removed from the top of his car. I think I might have to reconsider my tradition of skipping these races, at least the one run at night. Maybe it was a Friday the 13th thing, but last nights race was a mess, along with being rather fun to watch. The ending was exiting, with Casey Mears in his last race in the Texas/Havoline car. His “Spin or Win” theory ended with the first choice in the closing laps, taking out the leader and rendering them both a ways back in the field. Dave Blaney drove through the mess to take his first Busch Series win. But getting the cars lined up for this final run was a challenge that NASCAR had a hard time trying to figure out. After a race that had everyone on different tires and pit strategies, they had to red flag the race to figure out who goes where. They never did get it right. Harvick was scored in 8th place, the first car one lap down, but had to start the single file restart at the end of the line. This put the car scored in 8th place at the end of the field behind the car scored in 38th place. And that was just one of the problems, but they aren’t worth mentioning here. I’ve always liked Carl Edwards. Recently he’s gotten a bad rap for being a little vindictive. I think he got it straight with the run in with Jr.. Last night he was wrecked out of the lead again. He seems to have gone through the emotional cycle, and has returned to the respectful driver we loved when he started. I’ll admit I was not happy with some of his actions lately, and as always, I blame Jack Rousch, but after last night I’m once again a Carl Edwards fan. Kevin Harvick was so upset with his crew’s performance that he mentioned “pink slips” for Monday morning. Even after the race and clinching the Bush Series Championship, it seemed to affect him. He just wasn’t “Happy Harvick” in his makeshift victory lane. He acted more like a car owner than a driver. His habitual smile just wasn’t there. I’m happy for you, Kevin. Now go out there and make a run for the other one.

NASCAR plays a home game of sorts as it goes racing at Lowes Motor Speedway. It’s been home since its first race June 19th, 1960 and has hosted 95 Cup Series races in all. Total cup miles at this track, 50,204. The first race was won by Joe Lee Johnson (no relation to Junior or Jimmie). The 600 mile race took 5 1/2 hours to complete, Kasey’s win in the spring race 4 1/2. Of the 490 drivers to start a cup race here over the years, there have been quite a few of the open wheelers to try their hand. Mario Andretti has 1 of his 14 Cup starts here. Christian Fittipaldi joined in for 1 race. A.J. Foyt has 16 starts with 1 top 5. Gordon Johncock has 4 starts with 1 top 5 along with 2 Indianapolis 500 titles, and is an International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee. Johnny Rutherford has 4 starts. Bobby Unser took the green flag here just once and finished last. These are great names in Motorsports history. I guess my point is, if you ever sat on your couch and said “I could drive one of those cars.” look at a few legendary drivers who tried. We truly watch the best stock car drivers in the world every weekend. As I dig through all of these past stats, certain drivers stories get stuck in my craw, much like Marty Robbins did last race. Driver story of this post is about Rob Moroso. His first Winston Cup start was in a Rick Hendrick car. After that, his father Dick Moroso, famous for Moroso Performance Parts, sponsored him. It was 1988, and he was 19 years old. He made 2 cup starts in ‘88, and 2 more in ’89 along with the Bush Series Championship (3 straight Bush wins at Charlotte, the link to this track) and Most Popular Driver. In 1990 he went full time in the Cup series, but after 25 of 29 races that year he was involved in an auto accident on his way home from the race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. He was 22. He and the driver of the other car were killed. He was under the influence of alcohol. NASCAR posthumously awarded him the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award. If you can’t see the moral, tear up your driver’s license.

Next post will be current driver stats at LMS. Heads up; Jimmie Johnson averages $232,000.00 a race here in 10 starts. No whining here, Jimmie.

After further review, I completely exonerate Brian Vickers of all wrong doing in Sunday’s race. Jimmie checked up and Vickers had no time to react. Jr. ran a perfect line and gave Jimmie a lane to race in. He knew he couldn’t stop it, but he had to put up a little fight, so he came down a half a car width. Jimmie started his pass and was depending on his teammate to follow him, for without the help he could not complete the pass. Jimmie got exactly what he asked for as his teammate followed. Vickers was going to finish second no matter who he followed and stuck to his teammate’s bumper (literally as it turns out). Jimmie saw Jr. come down and got out of the gas. When Brian dove down to follow him, Jimmie got scared (there, I said it) and forgot he was at a track where he just can’t lift. But he did and the rest is NASCAR history. Can’t say I like the win for Vickers, but he can’t give it back. It’ll be sorta like Stewart’s first Championship. His next one will probably be in a Toyota. Time will heal this wound, as it does all others. I’ll have a hard time calling Jr. Jr. anymore (I know it’s a country song, save your breath) after the maturity he showed post race, but I for one won’t start calling him “Junebug”.

Points aren’t official until tomorrow. NASCAR can still review the tape and black flag Vickers for rough driving. Never going to happen, but chances are he won’t make it out of Alabama alive anyway. The Drivers Meeting (that he’s not invited to anyway) should be very interesting tomorrow morning.

I think Tony will agree with me that along with the paving, they removed all but the high groove. Who would have thought that a track as wide as Talledega, with room to drive as much as 5 wide in some places, would be reduced to one racing groove. Dale only had to protect the high side against all lone comers. Jimmie made the perfect move on him before Vickers assassinated him, but probably could not have completed it by himself.

Tony tried most of the day to run his preferred line around the bottom, only to find it just wasn’t the fast way to complete a circuit. I liked the team’s pit strategy, but it put him in the mix and he got wrecked out.

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I can’t agree with NASCAR’s decision to change plate sizes without any practice time. This allows a factor of pure luck on things like gear selection. This makes a crew chief guess on all types of setup options, and not use their gained knowledge which got them here in the first place. It would be much different if this were a race early in the year, but during the chase you’ve bound the top 10 to go with the setup they used during practice with a different plate.

Yes the cars are faster, but I think the safety improvements will allow us to flirt with 200 mph speeds. Better track and wall, along with better tires and driver safety equipment has made a difference in what a crash outcome will produce.

Gilliland’s pole can be attributed to one of 2 different factors. The first is his skill. I don’t know how much he has, but the guy who put him behind the wheel sure thinks he’s got it. I’m sure his opinion on this is worth something; ‘cause mine isn’t. Reason 2 comes to us from the wisdom of old DW; “He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know”. He gets it out there and mashes it to the floor. Not knowing any better can put you at the edge of wrecking, or push you over. This time he pushed the edge. Let’s see if he can keep it this side of wrecked in traffic on Sunday.

NASCAR’s qualifying system has saved us from Todd Bodine starting the race. Those of you watching for “The Big One”, you’ll probably still get it, but the odds have been lowered exponentially. Robby Gordon did make the race and practiced real fast. He should be able to get to the front of the field and take out a majority of the cars.

Not too shabby with his 3^rd place finish. He led the first 9, suffered some damage on lap 34, and overcame the 4 pit stops it took to repair it to finish very well in the shortened event (more on this later). His veteran crew chief was leading him the whole way in a very “Days of Thunder” kind of story. But that’s not what I wanted to post.

The new surface was obviously smoother. You could not see much of the cars bouncing around on the track as races here in the past. It makes the anticipation for Sunday’s race even greater. Better cars and drivers will put on a great show.

As smooth as the surface was, we still experienced “The Big One”. With less than 20 to go, 2 cars tried to occupy the same spot on the track and collected quite a few more. It was typical Talledega, the track supposedly built on an Indian burial ground. These burial mounds are prevalent in the Talledega National Forest. One story goes that Bobby Isaac actually gave up the lead with 10 laps to go, pulled off the track, and parked his car after hearing voices.

The race was shortened before they could get back to green because of darkness much like Jeff Gordon’s cup win here in 1996. That race was shortened after a rain delayed the start and a horrendous crash in which Dale Earnhardt broke his collar bone ran the race late in the day. No lights here at ‘dega means no racing when the sun goes down. Don’t see this happening again on Sunday ‘cause the cup race starts quite a bit earlier, but it’s not out of the question.

After creating my chart as seen to your right, I’ve come up with the same stats as anyone else. Jr. wins with Tony in second. But lets look a little deeper anyway, and particularly at the chasers.

This track has been owned by the Earnhardt’s, no question. Dad dominated with 10 wins and Jr. has stepped up with 5 wins in only 13 starts, a remarkable feat in itself. Along with 7 top 5’s, 8 top 10’s and an average finish of 12.2, he has a 61% top 10 finishes. He has lead 23% of the laps he’s run here; no one else comes close to that. He gets out front and stays there. Clean air and everyone wrecking behind him.

Jeff Gordon is no stranger to Victory Lane here with 4 wins, and his other stats are consistently good. Jimmie Johnson has a win to add to the team effort, but DNF's over 50% of the time.

Mark Martin complains about restrictor plate racing because he believes his outcome is not up to him, but to whoever wrecks everyone. If that’s the case, he’s one of the luckier ones. He’s got 2 wins, and his 51.2% Top 10’s is a high mark, with only a few drivers beating it. His average finish isn’t too bad at about 15^th.

Jeff B. and Kevin are about middle of the pack. No wins, but they finish in the top 10 40% of the time and DNF 36% of the time. Kevin’s numbers are slightly better, but Jeff’s on a serious roll in the chase, and I for one hope it keeps going. Throw Matt in with about the same numbers.

Kasey, Kyle, and Denny have a combined 8 starts and 1 finish (out of Kahne’s 5 starts). Hopefully this new surface will come to a few of them, or this could be the race to separate the chasers from the cup contenders. That’s where all of the red is on my chart.

The two outside the chase worth my keystrokes are Tony Stewart and Kurt Bush. Both have a finishing average better than Jr., but neither has a win to show for it. Tony has finished the last 3 races here in second place, 10 top 10’s in 15 starts, and has a finishing average of 11.3. Kurt is right behind him with 8 top 10’s and an average finish of 11.5.

If you haven’t heard the bad news, Todd Bodine is in the race. 8 starts and 1 top 10. Move over Robby Gordon, Todd Bodine is back. This guy scares me when he drives the pace car! Of course the only one who's hit him lately is Tony as he likes to push the pace car every once in awhile. Keep a camera on the 4 car to see "The Big One".

Never realized how crappy my site looked in Internet Explorer because I use FireFox. I've made a few adjustments to try and make it look acceptable, but this is the best I can do. It still looks much better in FireFox, but it's not so jumbled up in IE now.

1969, like Dover, was the first year for racing at Talledega. Unlike Dover, the winner wasn’t Richard Petty. In fact he wasn’t even in the race.

Out of 74 races held there in NASCAR’s highest division, Dave “Mr. Wingtips” Marcis has the most starts with 61. He won his only race here from the pole in 1976. His total winnings for all 61 starts: $691.227. Jamie McMurray’s earned more than that in just 8 starts. It kills me every time I look at these stats how much more they make now.

One name stands out here at the track stuck out in the middle of a national forest, and it’s (say it with me) EARNHARDT! Sr. and Jr. have racked up an earth shattering 15 wins; 10 for Sr. and 5 for the son. No one else has won more than 4. Even with all of those wins, Jr. will catch his father in earnings with over 2 million with a half decent finish this race. Just unrefuted proof on the growth of the sport in the last 10 years.

Jr. has posted the most impressive number if you ask me. 5 wins in 13 starts is only rivaled by the late Davey Allison who won 3 races here in only 15 starts. We will never cease to wonder what this gift to NASCAR could have achieved had He not had other plans for him. Davey’s first win was here on May 3, 1987. His father was in a horrific crash where his car went airborne into the fence. It was the race that made NASCAR figure out how to slow these cars down. The restrictor plate was brought into the picture for the second time.

Marty Robins had 10 starts here. In case you don’t recognize the name, he was a famous country music singer along with a talented driver. I included a pic for the younger crowd. He disqualified himself from his first race here for running the last 100 miles without a restrictor plate. He refused to accept his 18^th place finish, was awarded 50^th place money, and then fined $250 by NASCAR for his integrity.

Jeff Gordon has 4 wins, but also has the distinction of winning both the shortest race here (343 miles; eventually shortened due to darkness), and the longest (516 miles). Jeff's earnings in his 27 starts here; $2,970,825. That's the most of all of the 399 different drivers who have raced here over the years at NASCAR's highest level.

That’s about all the off the wall stuff I can dig up tonight, time to work on the stats on the current drivers. Just a heads up, Tony has not won a race here, but has the best finishing average of all current drivers.