Vegas success hinges on Driver Rating, benefits 48

In both races this season, the top-five finishing order looked very similar to the pre-race Driver Rating top five at each track -- further suggesting pre-race Driver Rating is an excellent race analyzing tool.

The stat should bode well for Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart, who rank 1-5 in the pre-race Driver Rating for Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Driver Rating is an amalgam of the following statistics: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish).

But over the last three Las Vegas races, there hasn't been good news for anyone but Johnson. Johnson, winner of three consecutive LVMS races, has excelled at the 1.5-mile track. Below are his race-by-race stats over the streak:

But it's not as if Johnson was on an island every race. The competition -- mostly from Gordon, Busch, Stewart and Kenseth -- has been close. Below are the combined/average stats from the four drivers at Las Vegas during Johnson's three-race win streak:

There's more good news for Gordon and Kenseth -- and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The three marquee drivers are all outside the top 12 in points, but inside the top 12 in Driver Rating. If 2008 is anything like 2007, that could mean a lot.

Last year after two races, nine drivers in the top 12 of season-to-date Driver Rating made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup -- and six of those drivers were not in the top 12 in points: