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Odds are either Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson (or both) will slide into the Sprint Cup Series top 12 after this Sunday's Goody's Cool Orange 500 (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX) at Martinsville Speedway.
The statistics suggest a probable vault into the top 12 for either the former or current "Mr. Martinsville" -- seven-time winner Jeff Gordon (currently 14th in the point standings) and four-timer Jimmie Johnson (13th).
The two have combined for eight of the past 10 Martinsville wins, with Johnson visiting Victory Lane in the past three.
Add that to the Martinsville struggles of Martin Truex Jr., currently 12th in the series standings, and you have a recipe for a top-12 shake-up.
| Driver | Races | Avg. Finish | Avg. Run Pos. | Driver Rating | Quality Passes* | No. Fast Laps | Pct. Laps / Top 15 | Led | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gordon | 4 | 3.0 | 5.4 | 123.3 | 96 | 221 | 92.5 | 425 | 680 |
| Johnson | 4 | 1.5 | 4.0 | 133.6 | 108 | 274 | 98.2 | 700 | 740 |
| Truex | 4 | 25.8 | 25.3 | 58.3 | 30 | 20 | 21.9 | 1 | 348 |
Truex can take solace in his most recent race at Martinsville, which was by far his best showing at the paperclip-shaped short track. It was the first Martinsville race that Truex completed all the schedule laps and he earned his highest Martinsville Driver Rating (81.4). He finished 19th.
Johnson attempts to become only the second driver to win four in a row at Martinsville (Fred Lorenzen from 1963-1965). His streak is an amazing one.
Combining the statistics from the three-win streak, Johnson peppers the leaderboard -- and is usually ranked No. 1 (not surprisingly, teammate Gordon is right behind him in many of the stats).
Below are the top fives in some key Loop Data stats over the last three races at Martinsville:
| Pos. | Driver Rating | Avg. Run Pos. | Fast Laps Run | Pct. Laps / Top 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | J. Johnson (134.8) | J. Johnson (4.621) | J. Gordon (211) | J. Johnson (97.6) |
| 2 | J. Gordon (127.1) | J. Gordon (4.771) | J. Johnson (198) | J. Gordon (93.0) |
| 3 | D. Hamlin, 111.4) | Dale Jr. (6.760) | Dale Jr. (163) | Ky. Busch (89.9) |
| 4 | Dale Jr. (109.0) | Ky. Busch (8.011) | D. Hamlin (92) | Dale Jr. (87.9) |
| 5 | Ky. Busch (106.7) | D. Hamlin (8.309) | T. Stewart (42) | T. Stewart (83.9) |
Despite the pair's dominance, two drivers in particular are likely to steal some of that glory -- Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Stewart won there in 2006 (the last driver not named Johnson to do so) and Earnhardt tallied the top stats in last year's spring Martinsville race en route to a fifth-place finish.
Check out the track-best figures at Martinsville since the inception of Loop Data in 2005:
| Pos. | Driver Rating | Race Date |   | Avg. Running Pos. | Race Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | T. Stewart (147.5) | April '06 |   | T. Stewart (1.6) | April '06 |
| 2. | J. Johnson (143.5) | Oct. '06 |   | T. Stewart (1.9) | Oct. '05 |
| 3. | T. Stewart (142.6) | Oct. '05 |   | J. Johnson (2.0) | April '06 |
| 4. | J. Johnson (139.0) | Oct. '07 |   | J. Johnson (3.5) | Oct. '06 |
| 5. | Dale Jr. (133.1) | April '07 |   | Dale Jr. (3.6) | Arpil '07 |
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