 |  | | At LMS, Ryan Newman typically puts his Dodge in front of Jimmie Johnson's Chevy, just not for the checkered flag. Credit: Autostock |
By Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM
May 26, 2006
08:02 AM EDT (12:02 GMT)
If Jimmie Johnson has winning figured out at Lowe's Motor Speedway -- and the numbers certainly show he has -- then Ryan Newman has an even better grip on the other side of the fence. The Rocketman has qualified on the front row at LMS for six of the past seven races. He's got five poles there and only qualified lower than fourth once in his 11 races at the track, boosting his average starting position to 3.3. His average finish isn't as impressive (17.9), but that number is partially skewed. Half of his finishes are top-10s. Of the other five, he's crashed once and blown two engines. Throw out Newman's DNFs, and his average finish would be 8.6. What you didn't know
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116 -- Laps led by Ryan Newman in the past three races at Lowe's Motor Speedway, nearly twice as many as Jimmie Johnson (59), although Johnson has won all three races. Newman finished 14th, fifth and seventh. |
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Driver Rating: Coca-Cola 600
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114.4 -- Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Johnson led only 11 laps in last year's race, was 21st with 40 laps to go and won. He led just 13 laps in the fall race and won. |
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NASCAR's driver rating combines the following categories: wins, finishes, top-15s, average lead-lap running position, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most laps and lead-lap finish. Statistics based on current and past year at track. Maximum rating: 150 points. Numerology Sunday's race will be the 95th event held at Lowe's Motor Speedway, and Jimmie Johnson will try to join an elite group of drivers in the Nextel Cup Series.
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0 -- Drivers who have won five consecutive races at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Jimmie Johnson has won four in a row at LMS and five of the last six. |
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0 -- Top-five finishes this season for Dale Jarrett, although he is 12th in the standings. |
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0 -- Laps from last year's Coca-Cola 600 that were among the 25 fastest at LMS. |
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1 -- Full-time driver who has led more than 1,000 laps at LMS. Mark Martin has led 1,148 laps and won four races. He has 16 top-fives and 20 top-10s, both more than any full-time driver. |
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3 -- Full-time active drivers who made their series debut at the Coca-Cola 600: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1999), Elliott Sadler (1998) and Michael Waltrip (1985). |
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4 -- Times the polesitter has won at LMS in the past 20 years, all of which have been by a Hendrick Motorsports driver: Jeff Gordon (1994, 1997, 1998) and Jimmie Johnson (2004). |
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6 -- Victories by Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip at LMS, more than any other driver. Allison leads all drivers with 2,249 laps led. |
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6.5 -- Average finish for Carl Edwards in two races at LMS. He was third last May and 10th last October. |
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7 -- Pole positions by Jeff Gordon in 26 races at LMS. His average starting position of 17.9 ranks second among full-time drivers. |
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7.085 -- Average starting position of winners in 94 races at Lowe's Motor Speedway. |
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8 -- Consecutive top-10 finishes by Jimmie Johnson in nine starts at LMS. His first start at the track was a 39th-place finish. |
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8.1 -- Average starting position for Kurt Busch this season. He has started all 11 races inside the top 15. |
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9 -- Times in NASCAR history drivers have won a particular event at least four consecutive times. Jimmie Johnson has won the Coca-Cola 600 three years in a row. |
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9.072 -- Average running position for Tony Stewart this season, the only driver to have an average inside the top 10. |
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13 -- Victories by Rick Hendrick-owned cars at LMS by six different drivers: Jimmie Johnson (five), Jeff Gordon (four), Darrell Waltrip (two), Terry Labonte (one) and Ken Schrader (one). |
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14 -- Pole positions by David Pearson at Lowe's Motor Speedway, more than any other driver. He collected 11 in a row between 1973 and 1978. Jeff Gordon is the active leader with seven poles. |
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21 -- Drivers who led at least one lap in last year's Coca-Cola 600. |
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22 -- Cautions in last year's Coca-Cola 600. The high number of accidents forced the race to be 5 hours, 13 minutes and 52 seconds in length. |
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30.62 -- Percentage of passes last year that were made on the frontstretch, making it the most popular place to pass. The fewest passes (8.72 percent) were made in Turn 3. |
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31.365 -- Average running position for Dale Earnhardt Jr. last year at LMS. He finished 33rd in the spring and 42nd in the fall. His average is better than only Stuart Kirby, Mike Wallace, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Mike Skinner and Jimmy Spencer. |
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37 -- Lowest starting position by an LMS winner in the 94-race history of the track. Jimmie Johnson started there and won the 2003 Coca-Cola 600. |
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49 -- Laps in which Brian Vickers was the fastest car in last year's Coca-Cola 600, more than any other driver. He led a race-high 98 laps last year. |
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91.3 -- Percent of Joe Nemechek's LMS races that he has finished. Nemechek has been running at the finish in 21 of 23 races at the track. |
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185 -- Passes made by Mike Bliss last year at LMS, more than any other driver. |
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258 -- Laps led by Kasey Kahne at LMS, more than any other driver without a victory at the track. |
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649 -- Career starts for Mark Martin. Sunday's start will make him the 16th driver with 650 Cup starts. |
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Whether it was solving problems or staying ahead of the curve, Lowe's Motor Speedway has undergone eight different surface changes in its 46-year history.
| Tracking the Changes |
| Surface improvements at LMS since 1960 and the first winner |
| Year |
Winner |
Surface Improvement |
| 1960 |
Joe Lee Johnson |
Track paved |
| 1973 |
Buddy Baker |
Entire track repaved |
| 1979 |
Darrell Waltrip |
Turns repaved |
| 1987 |
Kyle Petty |
Turns repaved |
| 1994 |
Jeff Gordon |
Entire track repaved |
| 2005 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Entire track levigated |
| 2005 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Frontstretch and turns levigated |
| 2006 |
TBD |
Entire track repaved |
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