On one side of the success spectrum, you have Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson. The two past series champions own some of the top statistics in the series and sit one-two in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings.
On the other side, you have Kyle Busch. He also owns some gaudy statistics, but his 14th-place points position is much lower – suggesting that his troubles are a mix of bad runs and bad luck.
Johnson has a series-high Driver Rating of 110.8, while Stewart is second with a 106.4. Kyle Busch’s 99.3 Driver Rating is fourth best, a 10-position difference from his points standing.
Stewart and Johnson are also at the top of the Pocono Raceway pre-race Loop Data statistics. The same can’t be said for Busch this time around, though.
Busch, who has finished outside the top 20 in the last three Pocono races (including a last-place DNF in last season’s June race), has consistently struggled at the unique 2.5-mile track.
In his nine-race career, Busch has a Driver Rating of 78.5, an Average Running Position of 17.9, 19 Fastest Laps Run, two Laps Led and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 52.6%. None of those numbers rank in the top 10. His Driver Rating makes Pocono his third-worst track behind Homestead and Kansas.
Johnson and Stewart, on the other hand, almost always succeed at Pocono. Each have two wins there and own stats that rank in the top five in key categories.
CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR 0 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet Cheez-It / Carquest 6 David Ragan Ford UPS 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Robby Gordon Motorsports 7 Casey Mears Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 9 Sterling Marlin Dodge Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Express 12 David Stremme Dodge Penske Racing 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Old Spice Swagger 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Dewalt 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M's 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Stanley Tools 20 Joey Logano* Toyota The Home Depot 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet The Hartford 34 John Andretti Chevrolet Taco Bell 36 Patrick Carpentier Toyota Tommy Baldwin Racing 37 Tony Raines Chevrolet Long John Silver's 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Haas Automation 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge U.S. Air Force 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge Valvoline 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota iRacing.com / Kingsford / Clorox 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 64 Mike Wallace Toyota Gunselman Motorsports 66 Dave Blaney Toyota Prism Motorsports 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge PPG 82 Scott Speed* Toyota Red Bull 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy / National Guard 96 Bobby Labonte Ford DLP HDTV 98 Paul Menard Ford Moen / Menards 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 171 David Gilliland Chevrolet National Leiomyosarcom- 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota NEMCO Motorsports
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