Shop Talk: Watkins Glen

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- There's a reason why Nextel Cup Series points leader Jeff Gordon needs a telescope to see second-place Denny Hamlin. He's better -- far better -- than any other driver during crunch time.

Gordon leads all drivers in the Closer statistical category, picking up a net total of 80 positions during the final 10 percent of races -- a prime reason he finds himself comfortably leading the series standings.

Gordon has more than double the amount of Closer positions of the second-place drivers in the category. David Gilliland and Robby Gordon are tied for second with 39 positions improved.

Below is a race-by-race breakdown of Gordon's positions improved during the final 10 percent of each race, along with the points picked up because of the jump:

Gordon has picked up a total of 318 points because of an end-of-race combination of clutch performance and pit strategy. His lead in the series standings on Hamlin is 366.

New faces will pepper the field Sunday, as road-course aces such as Boris Said, Patrick Carpentier, Scott Pruett and Ron Fellows get rare seat time.

But at Watkins Glen, a familiar name has consistently run up front: Tony Stewart.

His stats during the past two years -- which were finishes of first (2005) and second (2006) -- tower over the field. He ranks first in a number of key Loop Data.

Stewart holds track-best marks during the past two years in a number of categories, including Driver Rating. In 2005, he earned a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0 -- only five drivers have accomplish the feat. Below are the race-best numbers from Watkins Glen in two key Loop Data categories: