Chase For The Sprint Cup glance: Talladega Superspeedway

By Jared Turner - SceneDaily Staff Writer

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon does a burnout after winning at Talladega Superspeedway in 2007.

Mark Sluder
NASCAR Scene

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Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson padded his series points over teammate Mark Martin with a second-place finish last weekend at Martinsville Speedway as Denny Hamlin earned his third win of the season.

Johnson added 28 points to his advantage over Martin and now leads the Chase For The Sprint Cup by 118. Meanwhile, Martin’s cushion on third-place teammate Jeff Gordon shriveled to 32 points.

Hamlin was the big winner in terms of positions gained, moving from 11th to ninth and just two points behind eighth-place Greg Biffle. Only five drivers are within 200 points of Johnson as fourth-place Tony Stewart is 192 back and Juan Pablo Montoya is exactly 200 points behind in fifth.

Montoya and sixth-place Kurt Busch swapped positions at Martinsville, as did seventh-place Ryan Newman and eighth-place Biffle. The biggest loser was Richard Petty Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne, who tumbled from ninth to 11th with his 32nd-place finish.

The top four positions were unchanged as were those of 10th-place Carl Edwards and 12th-place Brian Vickers.

Now, all the Chase drivers head to the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway for Sunday’s Amp Energy 500.

Here’s a look at how the 12 Chase drivers have fared to date this season and how they've performed at Talladega in the past:

1. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet: Johnson, 34, finished second at Martinsville last weekend. He has six wins, 14 top-fives, 21 top-10s and three poles in 32 starts this season, with only one DNF. Johnson has one win at Talladega. He has four top-fives, six top-10s and a pole in 15 starts at the track, with an average finish of 17.7.

2. Mark Martin, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (-118): Martin, 50, finished eighth at Martinsville last weekend. He has five wins, 12 top-fives, 19 top-10s and seven poles in 2009. He has three DNFs. The Batesville, Ark., native has two wins, 10 top-fives, 22 top-10s and two poles at Talladega. His average finish in 43 races at the track is 16.1.

3. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (-150): Gordon, 38, finished fifth at Martinsville last weekend. The four-time champion has one win, 16 top-fives and 23 top-10s this season with one DNF. He has six wins, 13 top-fives and 16 top-10s at Talladega to go along with one pole. Gordon’s average finish in 33 races at the track is 16.4.

4. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet (-192): Stewart, 38, finished ninth at Martinsville last weekend. The two-time series champion has four wins, 15 top-fives, 22 top-10s and no DNFs in his first season as an owner/driver. Stewart has one win, nine top-fives and 12 top-10s at Talladega, where he boasts an average finish of 13.8 in 21 races.

5. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet (-200): Montoya, 34, finished third at Martinsville last weekend. He has seven top-fives, 17 top-10s and two poles this season and has been running at the end of every race. The former open-wheel driver has one top-five, one top-10 and one pole in five starts at Talladega, where he has an average finish of 18.6.

6. Kurt Busch, No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge (-240): Busch, 31, finished 17th at Martinsville last weekend. The 2004 champion has one win, eight top-fives and 18 top-10s this season, while recording a pair of DNFs. Busch has six top-fives and 12 top-10s in 17 starts at Talladega. He boasts an average finish of 12.1 over that stretch.

7. Ryan Newman, No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet (-312): Newman, 31, finished seventh at Martinsville. He has five top-fives, 15 top-10s and two poles this season while tallying no DNFs. Newman has four top-fives and seven top-10s at Talladega, where he has an average finish of 18.5 in 15 races.

8. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford (-350): Biffle, 39, ran 25th at Martinsville. He has nine top-fives, 14 top-10s and two DNFs this season. He has one top-10 in 13 races at Talladega and an average finish of 23.8.

9. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (-352): Hamlin, 28, has three wins, 12 top-fives and 17 top-10s this season to go along with one pole. He has three DNFs. Hamlin has two top-fives and two top-10s at Talladega, with an average finish of 18.9 in seven races.

10. Carl Edwards, No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford (-413): Edwards, 30, finished 20th at Martinsville. He has seven top-fives, 13 top-10s and two DNFs in 2009. Edwards has one top-five and three top-10s in 10 starts at Talladega for an average finish of 24.5.

11. Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge (-439): Kahne, 29, finished 32nd at Martinsville. He has two wins, six top-fives and 13 top-10s this season. He has two DNFs. Kahne has one top-five and one top-10 in 11 starts at Talladega. Kahne has an average finish of 23.5 over those races.

12. Brian Vickers, No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota (-530): Vickers, 26, finished 11th last weekend. He has one win, four top-fives, 13 top-10s and six poles this season and has failed to finish four times. Vickers has one win, three top-fives and five top-10s at Talladega, where his average finish over 10 races is 19.7.