Four the score for several when it comes to Bristol

By Jarrod Breeze, NASCAR.COM
March 19, 2009
11:24 AM EDT

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After two weekends with no racing, the Nationwide Series returns to action this week at Bristol Motor Speedway with the fourth race of the season. And By the Numbers this week is all about the number 4.

4Wins for Kevin Harvick, tied for most in track history. Harvick hasn't won since April 2005, but has five top-10s in the six races since, including two runner-up finishes. In three races in his own car he has two top-10s.

4Wins for Morgan Shepherd, tied for most in track history. Shepherd has been running at the finish in only seven of 21 races, six resulting in top-fives. He finished 37th in this race last year, retiring after 30 laps (handling).

4Average place of finish in the seven starts in which Kyle Busch has not crashed out. Busch has never finished worse than seventh in any of those races. He has two DNFs (crashes) including in this race last year (he completed only 12 laps and was credited with a 42nd-place result).

4Top-10s in each of the past four races for Clint Bowyer, the only driver with such a streak. Bowyer won this race a year ago, his only victory en route to the series championship.

4Starts for Brad Keselowski, who scored his second career win in the August 2008 race. Since crashing out after just 36 laps in his track debut in March 2007, Keselowski has finished seventh, fourth and first.

4Top-fives for Jason Keller, whose 30 starts are tied with Dale Jarrett for most all time. With Jarrett in the broadcasting booth, Keller will own the mark with his next start. He has one win (April 1999) and 12 top-10s. He finished 15th in this race last year, right on his average (15.2).

4Top-10s for Carl Edwards in nine starts. Edwards hasn't had a top-10 finish since winning this race in 2007. He finished 14th and 37th in the two races last year, the latter his worst result at Bristol.

4Times in the past four years (eight races) the winner has started 20th or worse. The other four times the winner started in the top five, including fourth twice (and three twice).

4Track categories led by Kenny Wallace including most top-10s (18). He also has been running at the finish the most (27, out of 29 starts), and has completed the most laps (6,884) and miles (3,669.09).

In addition, there are four drivers with a Driver Rating better than 100: Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth. (More on this later)

The Scotts Turf Builder 300 (2 p.m. ET Saturday, ABC) marks the series' 54th race at Bristol. (Tickets) And now, from four to one, or variations thereof.

The Wow Factor

.1Margin of victory in the August 2004 race at Bristol, smallest in track history since electronic scoring was introduced in 1993. Dale Earnhardt Jr. started on the pole and led a race-high 125 laps. He edged Matt Kenseth in a race that went six laps beyond the scheduled distance. It's Junior's only win in eight series starts at Bristol, but he has finished in the top 10 in the past five races he's entered, the last in March 2007.

The Super Looper

.1Difference in Driver Rating between Kevin Harvick (107.4) and Clint Bowyer (107.3) the past four years. Harvick has made seven starts to Bowyer's eight. They are the only two drivers to amass more than 1,100 points during that span: Bowyer (1,182), Harvick (1,108).

Driver Rating at Bristol (since 2005)

Pos.	Driver	Rating	Starts	Wins	Top-5s	Top-10s	Led

1.	Kevin Harvick	107.4	7	1	4	6	235
2.	Clint Bowyer	107.3	8	1	4	5	244
3.	Greg Biffle	103.0	8	0	2	4	49
4.	Matt Kenseth	102.7	5	1	4	4	27
5.	Jeff Burton	99.9	3	0	1	1	131
6.	Carl Edwards	99.8	8	1	2	4	228
	Kyle Busch	99.8	7	1	3	5	188
8.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	99.4	2	0	0	2	0
9.	Denny Hamlin	94.4	6	0	1	2	104
10.	Scott Wimmer	93.7	5	0	1	3	12

• Loop Data Statistics: Season-to-Date Box Score

Blast from the Past

1Career wins for Harry Gant in 14 races. That win on April 4, 1992, made Gant, age at the time 52 years, 2 months, 25 days, the oldest driver to win a series race at Bristol. Two years later he became the oldest (54 years, 7 months, 16 days) to start on the pole. He finished 28th, retiring after 92 laps (engine). It was his last series race at the track. Gant had nine DNFs at Bristol; the other five times he finished in the top 10.

Series winners at Bristol

Year	Winner	Make	Year	Winner	Make

1982	Phil Parsons	Pontiac	1996	Mark Martin	Ford
	Jack Ingram	Pontiac		Jeff Fuller	Chevrolet
1983	Morgan Shepherd	Oldsmobile	1997	Jeff Burton	Ford
	Sam Ard	Oldsmobile		Jimmy Spencer	Chevrolet
1984	Morgan Shepherd	Pontiac	1998	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet
1985	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet		Kevin Lepage	Chevrolet
	Brett Bodine	Pontiac	1999	Jason Keller	Chevrolet
1986	Morgan Shepherd	Buick		Matt Kenseth	Chevrolet
	Bret Bodine	Oldsmobile	2000	Sterling Marlin	Chevrolet
1987	Morgan Shepherd	Buick		Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet
	Larry Pearson	Chevrolet	2001	Matt Kenseth	Chevrolet
1988	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet		Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet
	Larry Pearson	Chevrolet	2002	Jeff Green	Chevrolet
1989	Rick Wilson	Oldsmobile		Jimmy Spencer	Chevrolet
	Mark Martin	Ford	2003	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet
1990	L.D. Ottinger	Oldsmobile		Michael Waltrip	Chevrolet
	Rick Mast	Buick	2004	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet
1991	Bobby Labonte	Oldsmobile		Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet
	Dale Jarrett	Pontiac	2005	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet
1992	Harry Gant	Buick		Ryan Newman	Dodge
	Todd Bodine	Buick	2006	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet
1993	Michael Waltrip	Pontiac		Matt Kenseth	Ford
	Todd Bodine	Chevrolet	2007	Carl Edwards	Ford
1994	David Green	Chevrolet		Kasey Kahne	Dodge
	Kenny Wallace	Ford	2008	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet
1995	Steve Grissom	Chevrolet		Brad Keselowski	Chevrolet
	Steve Grissom	Chevrolet

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Driver Standings

Pos.	+/-	Driver	Points	Behind

1.	+1	Carl Edwards	515	--
2.	+3	Brian Vickers	467	-48
3.	+7	Greg Biffle	416	-99
4.	+4	Brendan Gaughan	407	-108
5.	-4	Kyle Busch	406	-109
6.	-2	David Ragan	387	-128
7.	-4	Kevin Harvick	386	-129
8.	+6	Jason Leffler	354	-161
9.	--	Jason Keller	343	-172
10.	+10	Michael McDowell	326	-189