Shop Talk: Martinsville

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- While Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson continue their in-house battle at the top of the standings, another driver may join the championship fray after this weekend -- Tony Stewart.

Stewart, fourth in the series standings, sits 198 points behind Gordon. That gap may close if a season-long statistical regularity continues.

Stewart owns the top pre-race Driver Rating at Martinsville Speedway. Thus far this season, four drivers with the top pre-race Driver Rating have won the race (Stewart became the third with his victory at Watkins Glen).

Below is a look at how the drivers with the top pre-race Driver Rating have fared this season:

Even more telling: Stewart is practically guaranteed a top-10 finish -- 61 percent of the top-rated drivers finished in the top 10 this season.

Below is a race-by-race look at Stewart at Martinsville:

Still, the stats also favor frontrunners Gordon and Johnson, as well.

The Hendrick Motorsports teammates each have six wins on the season, rank 1-2 in the Nextel Cup Series standings and, according to NASCAR's Loop Data, have a 42 percent chance of winning this weekend's Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Here's why: This season, the winner of 13 races had a pre-race Driver Rating in the top three. That's 42 percent of the 31 races run this season.

Below is a breakdown of how the top three in pre-race Driver Rating have fared throughout the 31 races this season:

Gordon is the most recent driver to contribute to the impressive winning percentage. Gordon had the top pre-race Driver Rating at Talladega -- a race he won with a last-lap pass of Johnson.

With five consecutive top-five finishes at Martinsville, Gordon earns the second-best pre-race Driver Rating at the Virginia short track (the second-best in pre-race Driver Rating has won five times this year, most recently Johnson at the second California Speedway race).

Below is a breakdown of Gordon's Martinsville performances since Loop Data's 2005 inception:

Johnson has the third-best pre-race Driver Rating at Martinsville -- due in large part to two consecutive victories and four consecutive top-five finishes there. The driver with a third-best pre-race Driver Rating won the race four times this season, including Johnson at the first Martinsville race.

Below are Johnson's impressive year-by-year Martinsville performances since 2005: