NASCAR SPRINT CUP AND NATIONWIDE SERIES NEWS, VIEWS AND COMMENTARY 

Top 10 drivers - Bottom 10 Drivers

at bristol motor Speedway

by Skip Jefferson

Last weekend, the Sprint Cup series visited the Irish Hills of Michigan for the 2nd race of the year there at the Michigan International Speedway, the Car Fax 400. In the first race this year, we saw Jimmie Johnson dominate the race only to run out of gas at the end which allowed Mark Martin to sneek by and take the win. Chances are knowing Chad Knaus, we would't see a repeat of that this time around the track. Brian Vickers, who took the pole on Friday, led the field to the green flag on Sunday kicking off the start of the race. As the race progressed, it was once again Jimmie Johnson taking the lead and staying there for much of the race. As the laps were winding down, it once again appeared that Johnson was going to have fuel issues and had to stay in front of Vickers to come away with the win. Vickers also was making a fuel run but as the race was nearing completion, it was Johnson who once again ran out of fuel giving Vickers a clear view of the finish line and he was able to take the checkered flag first. Vickers became the 13th different winner in races this year, which surpassed last years total of 12, and we still have many races to go. Vickers was 9th in our Top 19 list for Michigan and obviously his standing in those statistics will improve the next time we visit Michigan. This weekend the series heads to Bristol, Tennessee for the Sharpie 500 on Saturday evening at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The Bristol track is a .533-mile concrete oval that could be classified as the ultimate short track and is one of the more popular tracks in the series. The surface of the track was completely redone recently with a new concrete track being laid.   Although no major changes were made to the track, variable banking was added to the turns to help smooth the transition to the straight aways and the track is also three feet wider now. By the time the drivers manage to get around this track 500 times, there won't be many cars left with un-dented fenders and a lot of drivers will have their tempers tested to the max. We should see qualifying speeds that are in the 128 mile per hour range, while the race record is 101 miles per hour. This race will go 500 laps or 266 miles. So with that in mind, let's take a look at the drivers that have been in the past, at their best at Bristol and those drivers who just haven't had any luck there. ( For the purpose of this column, we are examining just the last seven (7) races that have been held at the Bristol Motor Speedway.) 

The king of the pole award at Bristol has to go to the weather as it has rained in two of the last seven attempts to qualify at Bristol, giving Jimmie Johnson the pole in one and Tony Stewart the pole in the other. When the weather finally permitted qualifying, the pole winners have included Mrak Martin, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch. Taking the pole at Bristol has only turned into a win for one of these drivers in the the last seven races and that was Carl Edwards in the fall race of last year. In the last seven races, the race winner started in the Top 10 in five of the races. In the other two races the winners started and won the race from as far back as 19th and 20th. Kyle Busch won the first race at Bristol this year from the 19th starting spot. The starting average of the race winner at Bristol has been 11.10 in the last 10 races while the finishing average of the pole winner has been 9.60. Mark Martin has the best starting average here, with a 6.67 average start in the last seven races here. Jeff Gordon is next up with 8.29 average, followed by Jimmie Johnson at 10.86. Rounding out the Top 5 are Scott Speed with a 11.00 average start and finally Ryan Newman with a 11.71 average start.

The top driver at Bristol is a guy that isn't having the best of seasons and certainly hasn't lived up to championship expectations, Kyle Busch. Kyle has established the best overall average at Bristol checking in with a pretty incredible 5.71 average finish. He is a not a top qualifier at Bristol but not bad either, checking in with a 18.43 average start. Kyle then ends up picking up an average of thirteen positions a race. Busch's record at Bristol includes two wins including the spring race this year, four Top 5's and an incredible six Top 10's in his last seven races here. Kyle started the year off hot, picking up three wins in the first 10 races but has since fallen on some lean times. He has fallen back to 15th in the points and is in danger of missing the Chase this year. You can bet Kyle will be highly motivated to match his past performnaces here and if he doesn't, he is all but eliminated from having any chance to race for a championship this year. Next up is another guy that just doesn't leap out as you as one of the short track stars but Carl Edwards checks in with the 2nd best average at Bristol. In the last seven races at Bristol, Carl hasn't qualified all that well with a 18.29 starting average but he certainly has been able to bump up thru the field nicely, establishing a 8.00 finishing average. He picks up about ten positions every race. Carl has two of the last four races at Bristol and they were the last two fall races. Overall then Carl has three Top 5's and four Top 10 finishes in thise seven races. Carl is confortably locked into the Chase this year but still has not won a race after winning 9 last season. One of his best chances to win this season may very well come at Bristol on Saturday night as it is a concrete track and after all Edwards is known as "concrete Carl" for his ability to win races on concrete tracks.

Dale Earnhardt Jr checks in with the 3rd best average at Bristol with a 9.00 average finish in his last seven races here. Dale Jr certainly is one of the poorer qualifiers here with just a 28.00 starting average. This seems to be a track that Earnhardt knows how to motor to the front, picking up about nineteen positions a race. In the last seven races, Dale Jr has not won a race but does have three Top 5's and four Top 10's under his belt. As we know Dale Jr has been struggling all season but there was a glimmer of hope after last weekends 3rd place finish at Michigan. He has long ago been eliminated from the Chase so now he is racing for pride and try to regain some of the swagger that many of us expected to see at the start of this season. Saturday night could prove to be a big night for Earnhardt. The 4th best driver in the last seven races at Bristol has been Jeff Gordon. Jeff has been a great qualifier here, checking in with the series best starting average of 8.29, including a pole. He loses about a position per race on average as he winds up with a finishing average of 9.71. Jeff is one of the biggest race winners here over the history of Bristol but in the last seven races, he has not seen the checkered flag once in first place. He has however added four Top 5's and those four Top 5 also equal his four Top 10's on his resume here. It would appear that Gordon would be strong candidate for a win here on Saturday night and at least a near lock for a Top 10 finish. Gordon would like to add another win or two before the Chase starts so he should be highly motivated in this race.

Kevin Harvick checks in with the fifth best average finish of 9.86 in his last seven races here. Kevin is not too bad of qualifier here, checking in with a starting average of 17.14 so he gains about seven positions per race on average. In the last seven races, Kevin has not won a race but he has cracked the Top 5 in four of those races and they account for all of his Top 10 finishes. Like Dale Jr, Kevin has long been eliminated from Chase contention after many of us figured he would be involved in the Chase this year. His aggressive driving style fits this track well and there has been signs in recent weeks that the entire RCR organization is beginning to overcome mid-season blahs so Saturday night could be a big leap forward for Kevin. Anything in the Top 10 would be a huge victory for Kevin and team. Next up in this weeks Top 10 is a guy from down under, Marcos Ambrose. Ambrose drove his first race in a Sprint Cup in the spring race and he managed to exceed all expectations when he was able to bang his way to a tenth place finish. Marcos also had a pretty respectable 13.00 qualifying day which means he was able to pick up three position in that race. I think the key for Ambrose on Saturday night is how well he qualifies on Friday. If he is to bang fenders with the best of them Saturday, he will need to start up front and hope that some of the better Bristol drivers have bad days.

Denny Hamlin has established himself as one of the better drivers at the Bristol track as he checks in with the seventh best overall finishing average at this track, a 12.57 average. Denny has done this even as he has been just a so-so qualifier here, with a 20.43 average starting position. Among his wins here was his first win at Penski which came in the spring race last year at Bristol. He hasn't won a race at Bristol but he came close in the spring race this year but he couldn't hold off his teammate, Kyle Busch on a green,white, checkered finish. Overall, Hamlin has two top 5 finishes under his belt and has also has four Top 10 finishes in the last seven races. He has been one of the best drivers in the series this year over the last 10 races this year so we can expect him to run strong once again at Bristol on Saturday night. Hamlin has as good as chance as anybody to walk away with a win. Mark Martin is next up this week as the 8th best driver with a 13.33 finishing average in the last seven races that have been held at this track. The only problem is, Mark elected to skip races here when he was running part time for DEI so he has actually only been in three of the last seven races. The good thing is that he was able to finish 6th in the spring race so maybe there was no rust after all. In the last seven races, Martin has one of the best starting averages here witting with a 6.67 average start. Once the race starts, Mark loses about seven positions per race.  In his three races here, Mark has managed to notch Top 10 finishes in two of the three. Perhaps no other driver needs a great race more then Mark needs one on Saturday night as he is sitiiing 12th in the points and has several drivers breathing down his neck. He cannot afford to slip up at all on Saturday as there are three or four other drivers who need only to finish a couple of positions in front of him to steal that 12th place spot in the points from him. It would be a great shame to see Mark miss the Chase and see those four wins he has this season prove rather meaningless. 

The final two drivers to crack the Top 10 list are Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle. Pulling up with the 9th best average at Bristol in the last seven races is Kasey Kahne, checking in with a 13.57 finishing average. He qualifies well here with just a 13.57 starting average so he stays about where he starts over the course of a race. Kahne's record at Bristol in the last seven races doesn't include a win but does include two Top 5 finishes and he also has four Top 10's here. In looking at his overall record at Bristol and considering his record elsewhere this year, it would lead you to believe that he will might struggle to match his prior Bristol record this weekend. However, Kasey surprised us all with his win at Sonoma this year so he could also surprise us all on Saturday night and walk away with a win. I think anything in the Top 10 should lock him into a Chase spot for the year. Greg Biffle checks in this week as the final and the 10th best driver at Bristol. Greg has 13.57 finishing average and has established himself as a pretty good qualifier here, with a 16.29 starting average. Biffle has proven he can move forward once a race starts here at Bristol, picking up on average, three spots per race. Greg has not won here but has two Top 5's and four Top 10's in the last seven races he has been in at Bristol. Biffle has a horrible spring race this year when he finished 39th so I am sure that he will finish better then that this time around. Biffle, like a few others here, still is in danger of missing the Chase this year if he slips up this weekend at Bristol so I would think that would motivate his entire organization to have a big night this weekend at Bristol.

THE TOP 10 DRIVERS AT BRISTOL

Now that was the 10 best drivers at Bristol in the last 10 races, now lets look at the 10 worst drivers at Bristol, drivers who have just not had any luck at Bristol and do not have real good records there. 

I normally don't spend a lot of time going over the drivers who are flops at certain tracks and you can pretty much see for yourself who the are. Some make the list every week and others make a rare appearance in the Bottom 10. Keep your eye on all these guys on Saturday night and see if maybe some of them can improve their averages at the Bristol Motor Speedway; they certainly can't do much worst then they did in the spring.

THE BOTTOM 10 DRIVERS AT BRISTOL

So there you have the best and the worst drivers at the Bristol Motor Speedway. How well they do in this race is anybodies guess but this is a good barometer. I hope all these drivers will have better luck in the Sharpie 500 on Saturday evening.

THE REST OF THE DRIVERS AT BRISTOL