Streaking at Bristol

August 21, 2008 10:01am CDT

Bristol Motor Speedway has always been a tough course to navigate, but since the track added progressive banking that allows cars to run side by side, the challenge has become even greater. While cars can circle door to door, eventually patience wears thin and trouble erupts.

And when that happens, with laps being clicked off in the 20 second range, there is no place to hide.

2008 Streaks

Carl Edwards may be the hottest driver on the circuit. His victory in the 3M Performance 400 by Bondo was his second victory in the last four races. In that span, he also has a second- and ninth-place finish.

Kevin Harvick doesn't need to be perfect to secure his spot in the Chase, he simply needs to keep running in the top 10 like he has for the last three consecutive races.

Kyle Busch's mini-slump is over and he's finished first at Watkins Glen and second at Michigan last week to prove as much.

After getting a no confidence vote from car owner Jack Roush several weeks ago, Jamie McMurray has finished in the top 10 during his last three oval races.

Jeff Gordon has mastered the art of qualifying lately. He's started on one of the first three rows for the last five consecutive races.

Dave Blaney won't be happy about this mini streak: he's crashed and finished 41st in his last two Cup races.

Negative Streaks

Momentum is fickle. When it abandons a driver he often finds it difficult to recapture.

The following drivers have failed to earn a top-10 finish in at least 10 consecutive attempts (including failures to qualify):

67: Paul Menard
66: Stanton Barrett *
62: Mike Skinner
57: Bill Elliott
55: Sterling Marlin
55: Joe Nemechek
50: Scott Riggs
34: Ken Schrader
31: Sam Hornish Jr. *
29: Regan Smith *
28: Kyle Petty
23: Patrick Carpentier *
19: Johnny Sauter
19: Terry Labonte
17: Jeff Green
13: Tony Raines
12: Travis Kvapil
11: David Reutimann
10: Dave Blaney

* entire career

Running at the End

A team can’t earn a good finish in the garage; the following drivers have avoided that fate for at least the last 10 races.

67: Kevin Harvick (and 106 of 107)
60: Clint Bowyer
28: Matt Kenseth
28: Regan Smith
24: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
19: Carl Edwards
19: Mark Martin
14: Martin Truex Jr.
13: Kurt Busch
13: Casey Mears
13: Reed Sorenson
11: Jimmie Johnson (and 38 of 39)
10: Patrick Carpentier
10: Terry Labonte
10: Elliott Sadler
10: Tony Stewart

Jeff Gordon crashed out of last week's race and that was the fourth time this season he's had a DNF for that reason. His last blown engine, however, came 65 races ago in the 2006 fall Bank of America 500 at Lowe's.

Kasey Kahne's blown engine on lap 162 snapped a 23-race streak of races in which he was running at the end and he'd been on the lead lap in his last five.

Finishing on the Lead Lap

More important still, a driver needs to finish on the same lap as the leader in order to have a chance at victory. The following drivers have at least three consecutive finishes on the lead lap.

11: Martin Truex Jr.
10: Jimmie Johnson
9: Tony Stewart
6: David Ragan
5: Greg Biffle (and 11 of 12)
5: Jeff Burton
5: Mark Martin
5: Jamie McMurray
5: Elliott Sadler
4: Carl Edwards (and 13 of 14)
3: Matt Kenseth (and 12 of 13)
3: Kevin Harvick (and 9 of 10)
3: Brian Vickers (and 9 of 10)

Gordon's crash not only stopped a streak of running at the end of the race, but he also lost the top spot on this grid. Prior to Michigan, he had been running on the lead lap at the end of 14 consecutive events.

Another bad call in the pits sent Dale Earnhardt Jr. into the wall on old tires and eventually he lost a lap for the first time in his last nine tries and only the second time in the last 16 races.

Clint Bowyer slipped off the lead lap at the end of the 3M Performance 400 by Bondo for the first time in seven attempts.

Concrete high-banked streaks

The concrete high-banked tracks of Dover and Bristol are big and little sisters and drivers who excel on one typically run strong on the other as well.

Greg Biffle has been absolutely great on the concrete high banks with a streak of seven consecutive top-10s. In fact, five of those races have been in the top five.

His last three attempts on this track type have ended in top-10 finishes and his last nine have all been 12th or better.

A 10th at Bristol and a fourth at Dover gives Matt Kenseth back-to-back top-10s on this track type.

There is a reason they call him "Concrete Carl" Edwards. He has won twice and finished on the podium in four of his last five races at Bristol and Dover.

Martin Truex Jr. won at Dover in June 2007 and while his four races on this track type since have not been as strong, he has one more top-10 and a sweep of the top 15.

The concrete high-banked tracks are the most foreign to Juan Montoya, but in his last three efforts he has a 10th and two top-15s.

Bobby Labonte has been running with crash damage at the end of the last three high-banked races and he's finished with a best result of 27th in that span—but at least he's been running.

The following active drivers have won on the concrete high banks (driver's name is followed by the number of victories):

Jeff Gordon, 9
Kurt Busch, 5
Bill Elliott, 5
Jimmie Johnson, 3
Matt Kenseth, 3
Ryan Newman, 3
Tony Stewart, 3
Jeff Burton, 2
Kyle Busch, 2
Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2
Carl Edwards, 2
Greg Biffle, 1
Kevin Harvick, 1
Bobby Labonte, 1
Kyle Petty, 1
Elliott Sadler, 1
Ken Schrader, 1
Martin Truex Jr., 1

The following active drivers have earned concrete high banks top-fives:

Jeff Gordon, 26
Bill Elliott, 18
Bobby Labonte, 14
Jeff Burton, 14
Tony Stewart, 14
Matt Kenseth, 13
Ken Schrader, 12
Dale Earnhardt Jr., 11
Kevin Harvick, 10
Kyle Petty, 9
Greg Biffle, 8
Kyle Busch, 7
Ryan Newman, 7
Kurt Busch, 7
Jimmie Johnson, 6
Carl Edwards, 6
Sterling Marlin, 5
Michael Waltrip, 3
Elliott Sadler, 3
Clint Bowyer, 2
Jamie McMurray, 2
Scott Riggs, 2
Joe Nemechek, 1
Kasey Kahne, 1
Denny Hamlin, 1
Martin Truex Jr., 1

Bristol streaks

Short track fans biggest complaint this week will be that the NASCAR series doesn't visit this track again until 2009.

If he ignores Tony Eury Jr.'s pit box advice this week, Dale Earnhardt Jr. may have a good race. He has finished worse than 11th only once in his last 13 Bristol races and 10 of these results were in the top 10—including a victory in this race in 2004.

Greg Biffle is not necessarily the first name that comes to mind on the short tracks, but he has six top-10s in his last seven races at Bristol.

Clint Bowyer is still making his way toward the top 12 and this is a good place to gain some points. He has three consecutive top-10s at Bristol.

Kasey Kahne's second-place finish last year in this race was a surprise, but he didn't catch anyone off guard with his seventh this spring.

Jeff Burton's victory on this bullring in the spring was the culmination of four straight top-15s there.

Michigan's three-year average finish