Johnson continues to make mockery of Chase system (cont'd)

In case you missed it ...

Date	Track	Time	TV
Sept. 14	Loudon	1 p.m.	ABC
Sept. 21	Dover	1 p.m.	ABC
Sept. 28	Kansas	1 p.m.	ABC
Oct. 5	Talladega	1 p.m.	ABC
Oct. 11	Charlotte	7 p.m.	ABC
Oct. 19	Martinsville	1 p.m.	ABC
Oct. 26	Atlanta	1 p.m.	ABC
Nov. 2	Texas	3 p.m.	ABC
Nov. 9	Phoenix	3 p.m.	ABC
Nov. 16	Homestead	3 p.m.	ABC

All times ET

• Kurt Busch's sixth-place run was his second top-10 finish in the past three races.

• Jamie McMurray's seventh-place run was his second top-10 finish in the past three races.

• David Ragan's eighth-place run was his fourth top-10 finish in the past five races.

• A.J. Allmendinger has back-to-back top-15s driving for Gillett-Evernham.

• Martin Truex Jr. has three consecutive top-15 finishes.

Moving on to Texas

• Wonder which driver has the best average finish at Texas? ... Hmm, it's Jimmie Johnson (one win, five top-five finishes and eight top-10s with an 8.5 average finish in 10 starts).

• Texas is feast or famine for Carl Edwards: two wins in seven starts with an average finish of 21.6 in the other five races, including one DNF. Edwards and Jeff Burton lead active drivers with two wins at TMS.

• Expect Joe Gibbs Racing to be strong at Texas. Denny Hamlin has five top-10 finishes in six starts; Tony Stewart has a win among eight to-10s in 13 starts; and Kyle Busch has three top-fives in the past four races at the track, including a career-best third-place finish in April.

• Don't expect Greg Biffle to be two-steppin' next weekend. He has two top-10 finishes, including a win, in nine starts but the ledger also features four DNFs and a 26.1 average finish, worst among the 12 Chase drivers.

• Texas is one of two tracks at which Jeff Gordon is winless: 0-for-15 at TMS and 0-for-9 at Homestead. You'll hear a lot about Gordon's struggles at Texas, but win a bar bet with this: Texas is the only track at which Jeff Gordon has finished 43rd -- and he's done it twice: March 28, 1999, and April 6, 2008.

(But those aren't the only two races in which he finished last: 34th at North Wilkesboro on April 18, 1993; 34th at North Wilkesboro on Oct. 3, 1993; 42nd at Atlanta on March 9, 1997.)

Lasting Image

Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Carl Edwards backflips off his car after winning at Atlanta, his seventh victory of the year.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.