Mark Martin’s Hendrick Motorsports sophomore slump needs to end soon, lest he might find himself outside the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup top 12 come New Hampshire.
It would be a weird scenario, indeed, especially considering his first year with Hendrick.
This season’s struggles for the veteran are surprising, to say the least.
To finish the year last season, Martin joined Jimmie Johnson as the only drivers with a mathematical chance at winning the championship.
But this season has been mostly a disappointment, especially in the last six races — all of which have been finishes outside the top 10.
Over that span, Martin has had an average finish of 20.5, a Driver Rating of 70.8, an Average Running Position of 18.5, a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 31%, five Laps Led and a Pass Differential (passes minus times passed) of minus 34.
Worse yet, the slump has dropped Martin from a comfy 10th in points to a perilous 14th.
But Indianapolis should provide the Rx that Martin needs to rebound with six races remaining before the Chase starts.
He has finished in the top 10 in four of his past five Indianapolis races. Over that span, he has averaged a Driver Rating of 104.8, an Average Running Position of 9.2, a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 82.0 and 34 Fastest Laps Run.
Johnson hopes for the same slump buster. Though, to be fair, his recent woes are more a result of bad luck than bad runs. In finishes of 31st at Daytona and 25th at Chicagoland, Johnson averaged a Driver Rating of 99.0 — proof that he ran better than his results would suggest.
After a bumpy start to his Indy career (Johnson had finishes of 18th, 36th and 38th in three of his first four IMS races), the four-time series champion has rebounded — big time.
Winning three of the last four Indy races, Johnson has scored a Driver Rating of 116.4, an Average Running Position of 11.1, 80 Fastest Laps Run and 128 Laps Led. And that includes a finish of 39th in 2007.
Click Here to Read More:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: News & Notes - Indianapolis Motor Speedway
CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR 0 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite / Vortex 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 6 David Ragan Ford UPS 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Robby Gordon Motorsports 9 Kasey Kahne Ford Budweiser 9 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Phoenix Construction 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Express 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge Penske Racing 13 Max Papis Toyota GEICO 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Old Spice / Office Depot 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Crown Royal 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M's 19 Elliott Sadler Ford Stanley 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 21 Bill Elliott Ford Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 26 David Stremme Ford Air National Guard / GTWGPS.com 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Prilosec OTC 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Wheaties Fuel 34 Kevin Conway* Ford Extenze 36 Casey Mears Chevrolet Tommy Baldwin Racing 37 Travis Kvapil Ford Long John Silver's 38 David Gilliland Ford Taco Bell 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Haas Automation 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford Valvoline 46 J.J. Yeley Dodge Whitney Motorsports 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Kroger / Clorox 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 55 Michael McDowell Toyota Prism Motorsports 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 66 Dave Blaney Toyota Prism Motorsports 71 TBA Chevrolet TRG Motorsports 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies 82 Scott Speed Toyota Red Bull 83 Reed Sorenson Toyota Red Bull 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota FrontRowJoe.com 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy / National Guard 98 Paul Menard Ford MasterCraft Doors / Menards 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 132 Jacques Villeneuve Toyota Dollar General 164 Todd Bodine Toyota Gunselman Motorsports
| 
|