Data shows even best at Indy also prone to trouble

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Often, track-specific success is contagious for Sprint Cup Series drivers.

For instance, Jimmie Johnson is always strong at Martinsville Speedway.

Not so at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Even the marquee names have their down races. The trend makes sense. The fact Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard is both a crown-jewel race and a Race to the Chase event ratchets up the importance.

That combination can lead to some all-or-nothing strategies -- and three drivers illustrate that.

Tony Stewart

Stewart needed seven races to win his most coveted race. He finally broke through in 2005, before winning again at Indy in '07. But in '06 and '08, he had down years. Still, Stewart owns series-best numbers in Driver Rating (111.2) and Fastest Laps Run (76) since the inception of Loop Data in 2005. Here is Stewart's race-by-race log since 2005:

In both of Stewart's wins, he posted a Driver Rating well above 100.0. But in '06 and '08, he failed to crack 90.0 and ran most of the race outside the top 10.

Jimmie Johnson

The same can be said about Johnson, another two-time Indy winner. Johnson's success spectrum is even wider. His is literally all or nothing, winning in '06 and '08 and failing to finish in '05 and '07.

Both of Johnson's DNFs since '05 were the result of accidents -- and both were finishes outside the top 35:

Carl Edwards

Edwards, still looking for his first win of '09 after winning a series-high nine races in '08, finished second to Johnson in last season's Indy race. Since '05, he has one other top-10 finish at Indianapolis -- a ninth-place run in '06. His other two Loop Data-era races were struggles. Edwards posted Driver Ratings of 69.6 and 67.1 in '05 and '07, respectively. Here is his Indy race log: