 |  | | Jimmie Johnson is facing an uphill climb to win his first title. Credit: Autostock |
By Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM
September 21, 2006
12:53 PM EDT (16:53 GMT)
One year ago, Jimmie Johnson won at Dover and Kyle Busch finished second. For the two drivers sitting ninth and 10th in the standings, it would be a good time for history to repeat itself. No driver has come back from a 100-point deficit after Race 1 of the Chase since the playoff was instituted. After leading the standings 22 weeks this season, Johnson has a tall hill to climb to even sniff the top again. But the nine tracks left on the schedule come at the right time for him. Over the past two seasons, Johnson has averaged 140.5 points at the remaining tracks, more than any other driver in the Chase. He has a 10.8 average finish at the remaining tracks based on finishes from the past two seasons, the best among Chasers. But for him to turn the numbers into finishes, he'll have to adapt to a place he's not been at in two years. What you didn't know
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70 -- Weeks since Jimmie Johnson sat as low as ninth in the point standings. In the 2004 Chase, Johnson fell to ninth following the Talladega race and stayed there after the following week's race at Kansas, which were consecutive DNFs. It's been 97 weeks since he was 10th or worse. |
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Driver Rating: Dover 400
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116.8 -- Greg Biffle, No. 16 Roush Racing Ford. Biffle edges out Kyle Busch in the rating by 0.2 thanks to his victory at Dover in 2005 and leading laps in each of the last three races. His average finish at the track is 16.1. |
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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 Dover 400 (12:30 p.m. ET, TNT) will be the 74th race at Dover International Speedway. The mile track began hosting two races in 1971, and since then there have been nine sweeps. Three of those have come since 2000: Tony Stewart (2000), Jimmie Johnson (2002) and Ryan Newman (2003).
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1 -- Chase driver who has not led a lap at Dover: Denny Hamlin. In Hamlin's only race at the track back in June, he started seventh and finished 11th. |
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2 -- Drivers have won the Bud Pole in the last seven Dover races. Ryan Newman has three and Jeremy Mayfield has two. The other two qualifying sessions were canceled due to rain. Newman's average starting position is 6.4. |
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3.0 -- Average finish for Kyle Busch at Dover, the best among full-time drivers. He had two second-place finishes last year and a fifth-place when the series stopped there in June. |
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4 -- Full-time drivers made their first career start at Dover: Kurt Busch (Sept. 9, 2000), Matt Kenseth (Sept. 20, 1998), Bobby Labonte (June 2, 1991) and Tony Raines (June 2, 2002). |
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6 -- Drivers with an average running position inside the top 10 during the last three Dover races, led by Mark Martin's 5.233 average. The others are Kyle Busch (5.260), Greg Biffle (6.725), Ryan Newman (7.743), Kurt Busch (8.888) and Matt Kenseth (9.189). |
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6 -- Finishing position of Jimmie Johnson in the June race after he spun in qualifying, started 42nd and had to share a pit stall with Scott Wimmer. It was his worst finish in the last three Dover races. |
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7 -- Winners in 73 Dover races have started outside of the top 15. Six of the last seven races have been won from a top-10 spot. The average starting position for Dover winners is 6.42. |
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7.3 -- Average finish for Tony Stewart at Dover. In 15 races there he has two victories and 11 top-10 finishes, and he has never finished worse than 25th. His last three finishes there, however, have been 15th, 18th and 25th. |
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9 -- Races of the last 11 at Dover have been won from a top-10 starting position. The other two races were won from the 19th starting spot: Jimmie Johnson in September 2002 and Matt Kenseth in June 2006. |
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14 -- Former Dover winners will attempt to qualify for Sunday's race, including multiple-time winners Mark Martin (four), Jeff Gordon (four), Jimmie Johnson (three), Ryan Newman (two) and Tony Stewart (two). |
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24.200 -- Average finish for Kasey Kahne at Dover, the worst among the 10 Chase drivers. |
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25.14 -- Percent of passes made on the frontstretch in the last three races at Dover, the most popular place to pass. Just 8.06 percent of passes were made in Turn 3. |
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98 -- Percent of laps Mark Martin has run in the top 15 during the last three Dover races. He has been inside the top 15 for 1,180 of 1,204 total laps. He has led 46 laps with an average finish of 5.3 during that time. |
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144.514 -- Average green-flag speed of Elliott Sadler in the last three Dover races, the fastest among drivers who have competed in each of those races. His average finish at the Monster Mile is 19.6. |
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205 -- Laps led by Kurt Busch at Dover, more than any full-time driver who has not won at the track. Busch's average finish there is 19.6. |
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390 -- Races since Kyle Petty won. His last victory came June 4, 1995, in the Miller Genuine Draft 500 at Dover. He started 37th, the worst starting position for any Dover winner. |
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505 -- Points Kyle Busch has scored in the last three races at Dover, more than any other driver. |
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510 -- Races since Ken Schrader won. His last victory came June 3, 1991, in the Budweiser 500 at Dover. It was his second victory of the season after winning at Atlanta. |
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2,198 -- Laps led by Jeff Gordon at Dover, the most among full-time drivers. The four-time winner has led in 17 of his 27 races. |
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Round 2 of the Chase stays on the East Coast, where half of the Chase drivers have gone to Victory Lane at Dover: Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson. Of the drivers who have won NASCAR championships since 1971, only four have not won at Dover: Alan Kulwicki, Terry Labonte, Dale Jarrett and Kurt Busch. Chaser wins: 13
Chaser top-fives: 52
Chaser top-10s: 80
Chaser average finish: 14.1
| Chase Watch |
| Dover statistics for Chase drivers |
| Rank |
Driver |
Wins |
Top5s |
Top-10s |
Avg. Finish |
| 1. |
Kevin Harvick |
0 |
2 |
5 |
16.3 |
| 2. |
Denny Hamlin |
0 |
0 |
0 |
11.0 |
| 3. |
Matt Kenseth |
1 |
4 |
8 |
15.1 |
| 4. |
Jeff Gordon |
4 |
12 |
16 |
12.9 |
| 5. |
Jeff Burton |
0 |
5 |
9 |
18.1 |
| 6. |
Mark Martin |
4 |
19 |
25 |
13.0 |
| 7. |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
1 |
3 |
6 |
15.9 |
| 8. |
Kasey Kahne |
0 |
0 |
1 |
24.2 |
| 9. |
Jimmie Johnson |
3 |
4 |
7 |
11.2 |
| 10. |
Kyle Busch |
0 |
3 |
3 |
3.0 |
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