Jeff Gordon And Jimmie Johnson Are Still Looking For Their First Career Win At Texas
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Oct 30, 2007
CIA Stock Photos
Besides Jeff Burton’s bookend wins at Texas Motor Speedway, no driver has repeat victories at the 13-race-old 1.5-mile track.
Odder still, two of the most successful drivers in NASCAR’s history – Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson – are still looking for their first career win at Texas.
In fact, Texas is one of two active NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series tracks at which Gordon has not won. Johnson has yet to conquer nine tracks.
In other words, Texas is as unpredictable as they come. Or is it?
The top four (and seven of the top 10) in pre-race Driver Rating at Texas are currently in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.
So, while the best shine at Texas, who will visit Victory Lane is unclear.
But this weekend, the microscope will be trained mostly on the ever-tightening championship battle between Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson – the nine points that separate the two are the closest with three races to go since the Chase’s 2004 inception.
The last two weeks have proved solid finishes won’t get the job done. It seems wins, and only wins, will decide who hoists the trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Figure this – Gordon has finishes of third and seventh over the last two races, yet has seen his series lead shrink from 68 points to the mere nine.
Like the last two tracks (Martinsville and Atlanta), Johnson holds a slight advantage over Gordon at Texas. He has finished outside the top 10 only twice and was the runner-up at this race last season. Gordon has consecutive top-10 finishes there, with a career-best finish of second (2002).
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Top 12 at Texas Motor Speedway
Selected Driver Highlights – Texas Motor Speedway-specific
Note: All driver statistics that follow are from Texas Motor Speedway. The Loop Data statistics – Driver Rating, Average Running Position, etc. – in this release, however, cover the last five races at Texas. NASCAR’s scoring loops began collecting data for statistical purposes in 2005.
Greg Biffle (No. 16 Jackson Hewitt Ford)
• One win, two top 10s
• Average finish of 23.3
• Driver Rating of 98.3, fifth -best
• 156 Fastest Laps Run, second-best
• 266 Green Flag Passes, fourth-most
• Second-fastest Green Flag Speed
Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet)
• Two wins, three top fives, five top 10s
• Average finish of 17.8
• 45 Fastest Laps Run, 11th-most
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet)
• One win, three top fives, seven top 10s
• Average finish of 11.4
• Average Running Position of 10.6, second-best
• Driver Rating of 97.7, sixth-best
• 69 Fastest Laps Run, ninth-most
• Fourth-fastest Green Flag Speed
• 1,403 Laps in the Top 15 (83.8%), second-most
• 167 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), second-most
Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford)
• One win
• Average finish of 16.6
• Average Running Position of 12.0, sixth-best
• Driver Rating of 94.3, eighth-best
• 83 Fastest Laps Run, fifth-best
• Series-high 316 Green Flag Passes
• Fifth-fastest Green Flag Speed
• 1,297 Laps in the Top 15 (77.4%), third-most
• Series-high 174 Quality Passes
Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet)
• Five top fives, six top 10s
• Average finish of 15.8
• Average Running Position of 12.5, 11th-best
• Driver Rating of 92.3, ninth-best
• 85 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most
• 988 Laps in the Top 15 (59.0%), eighth-most
• 120 Quality Passes, ninth-most
Denny Hamlin (No. 12 FedEx Chevrolet)
• One top five, four top 10s
• Average finish of 7.5
• Average Running Position of 12.1, eighth-best
• Driver Rating of 100.6, third-best
• 44 Fastest Laps Run, 12th-most
• 957 Laps in the Top 15 (71.4%), 10th-most
• 117 Quality Passes (average of 29 per race), seventh-best average per race
Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet)
• Three top fives, six top 10s
• Average finish of 10.3
• Average Running Position of 11.0, fourth-best
• Driver Rating of 99.9, fourth-best
• 71 Fastest Laps Run, seventh-most
• Third-fastest Green Flag Speed
• 1,219 Laps in the Top 15 (72.8%), fourth-most
• 133 Quality Passes, sixth-most
Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford)
• One win, four top fives, five top 10s
• Average finish of 11.1
• Average Running Position of 10.8, third-best
• Driver Rating of 101.2, second-best
• 70 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most
• 263 Green Flag Passes, seventh-most
• Sixth-fastest Green Flag Speed
• 1,146 Laps in the Top 15 (68.4%), seventh-most
Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet)
• One win, three top fives, seven top 10s
• Average finish of 13.7
• Series-best Average Running Position of 6.9
• Series-best Driver Rating of 113.6
• Series-high 192 Fastest Laps Run
• Fastest Green Flag Speed
• Series-high 1,495 Laps in the Top 15 (89.3%)
• 146 Quality Passes, fourth-most
At Texas Motor Speedway:
History
• Construction began in 1995.
• The original configuration called for an unusual dual-banking system that had 24 degrees of banking for stock cars and eight degrees for open-wheel cars.
• The first NASCAR race at Texas was a NASCAR Busch Series event on April 5, 1997.
• The first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race was on April 6, 1997.
• In 1998, Turn 4 was reshaped to ease the transition from the turns to the front straightaway.
• A second renovation started after the 1998 race which eliminated the dual banking and gave the track its current configuration.
Notebook
• There have been 13 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway, one per season 1997 through 2004 and two races per year since 2005.
• Jeremy Mayfield won the first timed qualifying and the Bud Pole Award at Texas on April 4, 1998 (qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather for the inaugural Texas race in 1997).
• Jeff Burton won the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Texas.
• Ten drivers have won poles, led by Bobby Labonte and Ryan Newman with two each.
• Twelve drivers have won races. Only Jeff Burton (1997 and April 2007) has repeated there.
• Jack Roush has won five races, more than any other car owner.
• Eleven races have been won from a top-10 starting position. Only one has been won from the pole (Kasey Kahne in the spring race of 2006).
• Matt Kenseth started 31st in his victory in 2002, the deepest in the field a race winner has started.
• The 2002 race was postponed until Monday, April 8 by rain.
• There has been one green-white-checkered finish at Texas: 2006 fall.
• Dale Jarrett is one of seven drivers that have competed in all 13 races at Texas. He is the only one of the seven that has been running at the finish in all 13.
In Texas…
• There have been 22 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races.
• Sixty-three NASCAR drivers have their home state recorded as Texas.
• There have been seven race winners in the top three NASCAR series from Texas:
Driver NNCS NBS NCTS
Terry Labonte 22 11 1
Bobby Labonte 21 10 1
A. J. Foyt 7 0 0
Billy Wade 4 0 0
Bobby Hillin Jr. 1 2 0
Johnny Rutherford 1 0 0
David Starr 0 0 4
