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Jeff Gordon ended a 47-race winless drought with his victory at Texas two weeks ago. Now the statistics suggest it could be Kevin Harvick's or Mark Martin's turn to do the same.
Both drivers are solid at Phoenix International Raceway -- site of Saturday night's Subway Fresh Fit 500 -- and both carry a hefty winless drought with them into the desert.
Harvick's last win came in the 2007 Daytona 500 -- 78 races ago. Martin has gone 97 starts without a victory (121 races). His last win came at Kansas in 2005.
But both have wins at Phoenix, and both have been strong recently at the quirky one-mile track. Below is each driver's race log at Phoenix since the inception of Loop Data in 2005:
| Date | Finish | Avg. Run Pos. | Fastest Laps Run | Laps in T-15% | Rating | Laps Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/05 | 19 | 5.9 | 11 | 97.8 | 92.5 | 0 |
| 11/05 | 23 | 10.7 | 10 | 67.9 | 96.5 | 0 |
| 4/06 | 1 | 6.3 | 10 | 99.7 | 119.7 | 10 |
| 11/06 | 1 | 1.2 | 72 | 100.0 | 150.0 | 252 |
| 4/07 | 10 | 4.8 | 19 | 100.0 | 110.2 | 54 |
| 11/07 | 6 | 12.9 | 5 | 69.6 | 92.7 | 0 |
| 4/08 | 19 | 11.2 | 3 | 62.8 | 85.2 | 0 |
| 11/08 | 7 | 10.4 | 4 | 79.2 | 96.6 | 0 |
| Total | 10.8 | 7.9 | 134 | 84.6 | 105.4 | 316 |
| Date | Finish | Avg. Run Pos. | Fastest Laps Run | Laps in T-15% | Rating | Laps Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/05 | 16 | 15.1 | 3 | 53.8 | 80.1 | 0 |
| 11/05 | 14 | 17.6 | 5 | 44.9 | 76.1 | 0 |
| 4/06 | 11 | 5.7 | 56 | 96.5 | 118.7 | 111 |
| 11/06 | 6 | 11.8 | 11 | 80.1 | 96.5 | 26 |
| 4/07 | 12 | 17.0 | 1 | 26 | 79.1 | 0 |
| 4/08 | 5 | 4.3 | 42 | 100 | 126.3 | 68 |
| 11/08 | 14 | 17.7 | 2 | 36.7 | 95.1 | 0 |
| Total | 11.1 | 12.7 | 120 | 62.6 | 96.0 | 205 |
In the second Phoenix race in 2006, Harvick registered a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0, at the time the fourth perfect Driver Rating recorded since the inception of the statistic in 2005. Since then, there have been four more perfect 150.0s, most recently by Kurt Busch in this season's Atlanta race. Below are the eight perfect Driver Ratings since 2005:
| Driver | Date | Track |
|---|---|---|
| Kurt Busch | 4/23/05 | Phoenix |
| Kurt Busch | 7/24/05 | Pocono |
| Tony Stewart | 8/14/05 | Watkins Glen |
| Kevin Harvick | 11/12/06 | Phoenix |
| Kurt Busch | 8/5/07 | Pocono |
| Clint Bowyer | 9/16/07 | New Hampshire |
| Jimmie Johnson | 8/31/08 | Auto Club |
| Kurt Busch | 3/8/09 | Atlanta |
Jimmie Johnson has not scored a perfect Driver Rating at Phoenix, but came as close as possible. In last season's November Phoenix race, Johnson had a Driver Rating of 149.9, one-tenth of a point from a perfect 150.0. In that race, Johnson had an Average Running Position of 1.5, which improved his overall Phoenix Average Running Position to 4.992. That is the second best at any track on the Cup Series since 2005:
| Track | Driver | Avg. Running Pos. | Races |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watkins Glen | Tony Stewart | 3.567 | 4 |
| Phoenix | Jimmie Johnson | 4.992 | 8 |
| Richmond | Denny Hamlin | 5.367 | 6 |
| Chicagoland | Kevin Harvick | 5.559 | 4 |
| Darlington | Jimmie Johnson | 5.666 | 4 |
| POPULAR ALERTS | ||||
|
| Pos. | +/- | Driver | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | -- | Jeff Gordon | 1154 | -- |
| 2. | +2 | Jimmie Johnson | 992 | -162 |
| 3. | -- | Kurt Busch | 974 | -180 |
| 4. | -2 | Clint Bowyer | 967 | -187 |
| 5. | +2 | Tony Stewart | 963 | -191 |
| 6. | -1 | Denny Hamlin | 938 | -216 |
| 7. | -1 | Kyle Busch | 914 | -240 |
| 8. | -- | Carl Edwards | 889 | -265 |
| 9. | +3 | Matt Kenseth | 864 | -290 |
| 10. | -1 | Kasey Kahne | 851 | -303 |
| 11. | -- | David Reutimann | 845 | -309 |
| 12. | +1 | Jeff Burton | 835 | -319 |