Chase For The Sprint Cup glance: Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is the venue for Sunday's Dickies 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
// David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson avoided potential disaster and padded his Chase For The Sprint Cup lead with a sixth-place finish in last Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Johnson, who held a 110-point advantage on second-place Mark Martin going into the race, left Talladega with a 184-point cushion and now needs to finish just 10th or better over the last three races to clinch the 2009 crown no matter what any other driver does.
Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon were both involved in the second of two late crashes at Talladega and will need minimiracles to overtake the defending three-time series champion down the stretch.
Gordon is 192 points behind Johnson, while the next closest driver, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s Juan Pablo Montoya, is a whopping 239 back in fourth.
Fewer than 200 points separate Montoya from 10th-place Carl Edwards, so there is still plenty opportunity for movement in the top 12.
The big winner at Talladega in terms of positions gained was Richard Petty Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne, who moved from 11th to ninth in the standings with his second-place finish. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, meanwhile, slid from ninth to 11th when he finished 38th with a blown engine.
Six of the top 12 positions changed hands at Talladega, but the top three remained the same.
Now, all the Chase drivers and the rest of the field head to the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Dickies 500.
Here’s a look at how the 12 Chase drivers have fared to date this season and how they've performed at Texas in the past:
1. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet: Johnson, 34, finished sixth at Talladega last weekend. He has six wins, 14 top-fives, 22 top-10s and three poles in 33 starts this season, with only one DNF. Johnson has one win at Texas, six top-fives and nine top-10s in 12 starts, with an average finish of 8.5.
2. Mark Martin, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (-184): Martin, 50, finished 28th at Talladega last weekend. He has five wins, 12 top-fives, 19 top-10s and seven poles in 2009. He has four DNFs. The Batesville, Ark., native has one win, five top-fives and nine top-10s at Texas. His average finish in 17 races at the track is 13.8.
3. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (-192): Gordon, 38, finished 20th at Talladega last weekend. The four-time champion has one win, 16 top-fives and 23 top-10s this season with one DNF. He has one win, seven top-fives and nine top-10s at Texas to go along with one pole. Gordon’s average finish in 17 races at the track is 15.2.
4. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet (-239): Montoya, 34, finished 19th at Talladega 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 Colombia native has two top-10s in five starts at Texas, where he has an average finish of 20.4.
5. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet (-279): Stewart, 38, finished 35th at Talladega last weekend after being collected in a late multicar accident. The two-time series champion has four wins, 15 top-fives, 22 top-10s and one DNF in his first season as an owner/driver. Stewart has one win, four top-fives and nine top-10s at Texas, where he boasts an average finish of 12.6 in 15 races.
6. Kurt Busch, No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge (-312): Busch, 31, finished 30th at Talladega after being caught up in a wreck in the closing laps. The 2004 champion has one win, eight top-fives and 18 top-10s this season, while recording three DNFs. Busch has one top-five and eight top-10s in 13 starts at Texas. He boasts an average finish of 14.8 over that stretch.
7. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford (-340): Biffle, 39, finished fourth at Talladega. He has 10 top-fives, 15 top-10s and two DNFs this season. He has one win, three top-fives and four top-10s in 11 races at Texas for an average finish of 22.1.
8. Ryan Newman, No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet (-402): Newman, 31, finished 36th at Talladega after enduring a violent crash with five laps to go. He has five top-fives, 15 top-10s and two poles this season while tallying one DNF. Newman has one win, three top-fives, three top-10s and two poles at Texas, where he has an average finish of 23.3 in 12 races.
9. Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge (-414): Kahne, 29, finished second at Talladega. He has two wins, seven top-fives and 14 top-10s this season. He has two DNFs. Kahne has one win, two top-fives, two top-10s and one pole in 10 starts at Texas. Kahne has an average finish of 21.9 over that stretch.
10. Carl Edwards, No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford (-437): Edwards, 30, finished 24th at Talladega. He has seven top-fives, 13 top-10s and two DNFs in 2009. He has three wins, three top-fives and four top-10s in nine starts at Texas for an average finish of 13.4.
11. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (-448): Hamlin, 28, has three wins, 12 top-fives and 17 top-10s this season to go along with one pole. He has four DNFs. Hamlin has two top-fives and five top-10s at Texas, with an average finish of 11.6 in eight races.
12. Brian Vickers, No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota (-556): Vickers, 26, finished 13th 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 no top-10s but has one pole in 10 races at Texas, where his average finish is 22.2.
