Shop Talk: Texas

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The teammate tug-o-war between Hendrick Motorsports brethren Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will likely continue this weekend in the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

The gap between first and second in the standings -- nine points -- has not been this small with three races left since the Chase for the Nextel Cup began in 2004.

Nor has the Chase been this competitive.

Figuring that Gordon has averaged a fifth-place finish over the last two races and still lost 59 points proves that neither he nor Johnson can settle for top 10s. Only visits to Victory Lane will do, it seems.

So, who has a better chance of claiming victory this weekend?

In Gordon's case, a study of his more recent Texas races might paint a clearer picture.

NASCAR started using scoring loops embedded in the track for statistical purposes in 2005. Since the inception of Loop Data, Gordon has solid numbers at Texas: a Driver Rating of 92.3, an Average Running Position of 12.5 and 85 Fastest Laps Run.

But his strongest numbers came in the last two Texas races.

In the two 2005 Texas races and the first 2006 event, Gordon averaged a finish of 17.0. In the two races since, he has an average finish of 6.5.

Below are Gordon's combined/average numbers from the first three Texas races since 2005 compared with the last two races there:

Having apparently rebounded from a few bad outings at the 1.5-mile track, the stats show Gordon will be coming into Texas with momentum.

Johnson, on the other hand, has just one poor result at Texas since 2005 -- a 38th-place finish in this season's spring race.

Still, the statistics show that Johnson's performance at that race was much stronger than his finish would suggest:

Johnson's Driver Rating was ninth-best overall in the April race and before trouble ended his victory hopes, Johnson spent 238 of his 260 laps in the top 15.

Johnson has eight career races at Texas, and has finished outside the top 10 only once. Since 2005, he has failed to eclipse the 90.0 Driver Rating mark only once. Below are Johnson's stats at Texas since 2005:

As was the case the last two weeks, Johnson holds the advantage in pre-race Driver Rating. Below is the tale-of-the-tape for Gordon at Texas since 2005: