 |  | | If the numbers tell the story, Jeff Gordon may be in front of Jeff Burton when the series leaves Kansas. Credit: Autostock |
By Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM
September 28, 2006
09:30 AM EDT (13:30 GMT)
How important was it that Jeff Gordon failed to lead the first lap last week at Dover despite starting from the pole? Gordon heads to Kansas this weekend trailing points leader and Dover winner Jeff Burton by six points. Had Gordon led a lap at The Monster Mile, Burton's lead in the standings would be one point. No matter how worthless what-ifs are, they're always intriguing. Like what if there was no Chase? If the playoff system had never been adopted, Gordon would trail Burton in the standings by just two points heading to the Land of Oz. And if he had gotten those five bonus points for leading a lap at Dover, Gordon would be up four points on Burton without a Chase format. What if there was no Chase format? Gordon and Burton would be fighting it out ... for fourth place, more than 400 points out of the lead, while Matt Kenseth put it on cruise en route to the title. But even what-ifs don't wash away Gordon's performance the past two races. What you didn't know
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6.280 -- Average running position for Jeff Gordon in the first two Chase races. He has finished third in both races and has the highest driver rating at 114.3. |
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Driver Rating: Banquet 400
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135.7 -- Mark Martin, No. 6 Roush Racing Ford. Martin dominated Kansas last year, leading 139 of the 267 laps. His average finish at the track is 14.4. |
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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 Banquet 400 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBC) will be just the sixth race at Kansas Speedway. There have been five Bud Pole winners at the track, and at the checkered flag, three Chevrolets have gone to Victory Lane, one Ford and one Dodge. Joe Nemechek (2004) is the only driver to win from the pole and the only driver with a pole and a victory.
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1 -- Lap that Matt Kenseth was not in the top 15 last year at Kansas. His lowest running position was 19th. |
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2 -- Drivers who have completed all 1,335 laps run at Kansas Speedway: Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. Gordon (6.0) and Stewart (7.6) are also the only drivers with an average finish inside the top 10. |
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4 -- Different race winners in five races at Kansas. Jeff Gordon (2001 and 2002) is the only two-time winner. His average finish at the track is 6.0, the best among all drivers. |
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4 -- Full-time drivers have competed in all five races at Kansas but never posted a DNF. There have been 16 full-time drivers who have competed in every race at the track. |
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5 -- Top-five finishes in the last six races for Jeff Gordon, vaulting him from ninth in the standings heading to Michigan to second heading to Kansas. |
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6 -- Drivers changed positions in the standings following the Dover race. The biggest gainer was Jeff Burton, who moved up four spots to take the lead. The biggest loser was his teammate Kevin Harvick, who fell from the top to fifth. |
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6 -- Consecutive top-10 finishes for Matt Kenseth, currently longer than any other driver. Kenseth has led 1,108 laps this year, tops in the series. |
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8 -- Drivers who had an average running position inside the top 10 last year at Kansas, led by Greg Biffle's 3.112 average. The others were Mark Martin (4.049), Tony Stewart (4.079), Matt Kenseth (5.116), Carl Edwards (8.551), Jimmie Johnson (9.247), Jeff Gordon (9.772) and Sterling Marlin (10.360). |
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8.6 -- Average starting position for Kansas winners. Four of the five races have been won from a driver starting 11th or better. Mark Martin's victory last year came from the 19th starting spot. |
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13 -- Worst finish for Jeff Gordon at Kansas. After winning the first two races at the track, he has finishes of fifth, 13th and 10th. He has not led in the last three Kansas races. |
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19.2 -- Average finish for Jeff Burton at Kansas. His best finish there was 11th in 2001. He was 28th last year after starting 40th. |
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37 -- Position Jeff Burton finished last time he went to a race as the points leader. At Richmond in 1999, he led 104 laps but ended up 37th while Dale Jarrett won the race and took the points lead. Jarrett won the 1999 title. |
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31.14 -- Percent of passes made on the frontstretch last year at Kansas, the most popular place to pass. Turn 4 saw 21.47 percent of the passes, meaning 52.61 percent of passing was made coming out of the final turn and across the start/finish line. |
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60 -- Laps last year in which Greg Biffle recorded the fastest speed at Kansas. Biffle also had the fastest average green-flag speed at 168.920 mph. Roush Racing drivers made up three of the top four fastest drivers. |
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84 -- Green-flag passes made by Kasey Kahne last year at Kansas, more than any other driver. Kahne started 42nd and finished 19th. |
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169 -- Laps led by Jeff Gordon at Kansas, more than any other driver. Greg Biffle is the only other full-time driver to lead more than 100 laps. Biffle's 111 laps led are the most among full-time drivers without a victory at the track. |
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258 -- Laps of 267 total that were led by Roush Racing drivers Mark Martin (139), Matt Kenseth (71), Greg Biffle (47) and Carl Edwards (one) last year at Kansas. Four of the nine laps they did not lead were under green-flag conditions. |
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266 -- Weeks since Jeff Burton last led the Nextel Cup points. The last time Burton was first in the standings was following the 1999 California race with a 55-point lead over eventual champion Dale Jarrett. |
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1987 -- Last time that Richard Childress Racing won three consecutive races before Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton combined to win the last three races (Richmond, Loudon and Dover). It was also the last season that RCR won four in a row -- Dale Earnhardt won at Darlington, North Wilkesboro, Bristol and Martinsville. |
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Round 3 of the Chase heads to Kansas, the track's only date this season. In five races, just two drivers who are in this year's Chase have gone to Victory Lane: Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin. On average, Kansas winners finish seventh in the standings. Gordon's win in the inaugural race in 2001 is the only time the Kansas winner has gone on to win the Nextel Cup championship. Chaser wins: 3
Chaser top-fives: 5
Chaser top-10s: 14
Chaser average finish: 18.77
| Chase Watch |
| Kansas statistics for Chase drivers |
| Rank |
Driver |
Wins |
Top-5s |
Top-10s |
Avg. Finish |
| 1. |
Jeff Burton |
0 |
0 |
0 |
19.2 |
| 2. |
Jeff Gordon |
2 |
3 |
4 |
6.0 |
| 3. |
Matt Kenseth |
0 |
1 |
2 |
19.4 |
| 4. |
Denny Hamlin |
0 |
0 |
0 |
32.0 |
| 5. |
Kevin Harvick |
0 |
0 |
1 |
18.4 |
| 6. |
Mark Martin |
1 |
1 |
2 |
14.4 |
| 7. |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
0 |
0 |
2 |
20.0 |
| 8. |
Jimmie Johnson |
0 |
0 |
3 |
13.8 |
| 9. |
Kasey Kahne |
0 |
0 |
0 |
15.5 |
| 10. |
Kyle Busch |
0 |
0 |
0 |
29.0 |
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