Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE
Last week Jimmie Johnson went into a track he was supposed to do well according to history. Jimmie and his team not only backed up his historical numbers but dominated the race at Martinsville Speedway. This week NASCAR is at a much different speedway. Jimmie Johnson doesn’t have impressive numbers but numbers good enough. This week NASCAR is at the Texas Motor Speedway for the AAATexas 500.
The Texas Motor Speedway is almost exactly like Charlotte and Atlanta. The only difference is the track surface itself is different. There is 24 degrees of banking in the turns and 5 degrees in the straights. The high banking in the corners is what makes this tracks one of the fastest 1.5 mile tracks on the circuit.
This track is all about handling and speed. Running good here is the most important. Fortunately, for those teams that don’t quite get it right during practice, there are 500 miles of racing to adjust their car. The race is 334 laps or 501 miles.
The driver ratings for this track seem to favor Roush Fenway Racing drivers. Matt Kenseth leads active drivers with an impressive rating of 107.2. Greg Biffle follows closely at 103.3. Together they have won two of the last three races. When the driver ratings do not point to a single driver with a clear advantage the average finish for a driver can add additional support. In this case Matt Kenseth rises to the top with an impressive average finish of 8.6. The next closest driver is Jimmie Johnson with an average finish of 9.7.
That is all well and good but who can seal the deal at Texas? Carl Edwards leads all drivers with three wins followed by Greg Biffle the winner of the spring race, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin with two wins each. Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. round out with one win a piece.
Jimmie Johnson leads the Standings for the Chase for the Sprint Cup by two points over Brad Keselowski. The next closest competitor is Clint Bowyer 26 points back. Jimmie Johnson must be licking his chops when he looks at Brad Keselowski’s statistics at Texas. Brad Keselowski has a driver rating of 63.2, 28th best with an average finish of 25.3, 27th best. After the race at Martinsville Jimmie said, “He’s a great driver. It’s a great team. Next two races will tell the tale. Anything can happen. We could both wad it up next week and Clint Bowyer is your champion. You never know. You got to go race the race.”
Brad Keselowski must drastically improve his performance at Texas to even have a chance. In the spring race he finished 36th, the last car running at the end of the race. If he does the same this weekend his championship hopes will be over.
In the spring race Jimmie Johnson led the most laps only to fall victim to Greg Biffle who led the second most laps, including the important last lap to win. If he continues where he left off in the spring and equals or improves his average finish he will leave Texas Motor Speedway with an even larger lead in the points for the Sprint Cup than he has now.
If you can’t get to Texas Motor Speedway the race will be on ESPN at 2 PM ET.
Brian Berg Jr. is the Lead NASCAR writer for www.RantSports.com.
Follow him on Twitter @brian_jr1 during the race and throughout the week for more NASCAR news and commentary. On Facebook at NASCAR News and Commentary
Top 12 Driver Rating at Texas
Matt Kenseth 107.2
Greg Biffle 103.3
Tony Stewart 102.5
Jimmie Johnson 100.6
Carl Edwards. 99.2
Kyle Busch 96.8
Denny Hamlin 94.6
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 92.8
Jeff Gordon 91.3
Clint Bowyer 90.9
Mark Martin 89.0
Kurt Busch. 89.0
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2012 races (15 total) among active drivers at Texas Motor Speedway
