Daily NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson currently has the fifth-best career winning percentage, but remember, those stats fade in the less-successful years toward the end of driver’s career. (Photo: Getty Images)

HAMPTON, Ga. - Predictably, incomplete statistics were trotted out this week to extol the virtues of Jimmie Johnson, who gets enough credit already without having to concoct misleading statistics.

Yes, Johnson’s victories in the past two races leave him with a career winning percentage of .167, which, right now, is fifth best in NASCAR history. For the record, the winning percentages are: (1.) Herb Thomas .211, (2.) Tim Flock .209, (3.) David Pearson .183, (4.) Richard Petty .169, (5.) Johnson .167, and (5.) Fred Lorenzen .165.

The trouble with that list is that all the other drivers have completed their careers and Johnson hasn’t. Winning percentage isn’t relevant until a driver’s career is over, simply because almost every driver’s percentage falls off as he gets older.

For instance, NASCAR’s all-time leader in victories, Richard Petty, failed to win any of the final 241 races of his career. The runner-up, David Pearson, ended his career with 55 fruitless starts.

At the end of Jeff Gordon’s greatest streak - three championships and 47 victories in the 1995-99 - his career winning percentage was .220. In fact, at the point where Gordon won his 49th race - Johnson’s current total is 49 - his winning percentage was significantly higher than Johnson’s.

Gordon’s present winning percentage is .140, which is 11th best all-time.

* * *

THE TRICK–Jeff Burton has twice won Nationwide Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway but never finished better than fourth in a Sprint Cup event. He hasn’t finished better than 10th since 2007.

"The biggest challenge is the way the speed falls off so much," said Burton. "It’s like the track has two personalities. You have to be aggressive and drive hard for qualifying and then, when the race starts, you race it like you used to race Darlington. The place gets really slick and real slimy. It’s amazing the amount of grip you don’t have here.

"You have to have a car that makes more grip than your competitors, and making the most out of that is what will put you in the winner’s circle. Even the best handling car here in the last few years has handled awful, so finding a way to do it better than your competition in a low, low grip arena will be the biggest challenge."

* * *

YOU SURE?– An Atlanta radio reporter asked Clint Bowyer about the future of the track’s two annual dates … but not exactly the way wanted.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a question.

"There’s a lot of talk about Atlanta losing one of its race dates," he said. "And those of us down here sure hope so."

Bowyer answered as if the reporter had said what he meant.

* * *

NO NEED TO WORRY … YET — Only five of the 12 Chase drivers of 2009 are presently in the top 12. The missing include Jeff Gordon (13th), Brian Vickers (18th), Kurt Busch (19th), Denny Hamlin (22nd), Kasey Kahne (23rd), Juan Pablo Montoya (26th) and Ryan Newman (32nd).

Newman was 35th after the first three races last year but went on to make the Chase anyway, and Hamlin it’s early for anyone to be overly concerned.

"We’re just missing by a little," said Hamlin, "but we’re working hard, and we’re focused. The results will start coming."

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It make take the intervention of a rmadman to stop Jimmie Johnson from another championship run.

I’m beginning to think no rational man is going to deprive Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus of a fifth straight Sprint Cup championship.

Johnson was 35th in the Daytona 500, which was sort of like one of those horse races called "handicaps" because the favored horse has to carry extra weight. Johnson’s won the two races since, the most recent being the Shelby American at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

I think it’s going to take the intervention of someone who has flipped his lid.

Maybe a super-rich Arab sheik will offer Rick Hendrick, say, $1,000,000 for his team, and he’ll immediately decree that Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and everyone else have to spend at least two days a week riding camels and moaning otherworldly chants. (Martin, of course, would give it his best.)

Or maybe it’ll be another driver who’ll just … snap. He hears voices in the car - Wreck Jimmie Johnson! Wreck Jimmie Johnson! - and yet tells no one. Given the events of Sunday, that driver could be Jeff Gordon, who created one monster already when he recommended Hendrick hire Johnson.

Lunacy is a distinct possibility, though there’s little evidence so far to suggest Johnson has led his pursuers to anything but distraction.

Waiting for the Gold Horseshoe to turn to tin has gotten awfully old. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch is probably wondering if Kurt will trade him Steve Addington back for Dave Rogers and a fabricator to be named later. Kevin Harvick, second again, may hitch a ride to Tibet on Richard Childress’s next hunting trip, just to look for a stray Maharishi.

Jeff Burton is keeping his cool, so that eliminates him.

The strain of being such a good NASCAR citizen has got to be getting to Tony Stewart, so he’s got a shot. Brian Vickers is starting to stress out over being outrun by Scott Speed. Deep down, Carl Edwards is wishing that baby would pipe down and let him sleep.

Earnhardt Jr. is getting the uneasy feeling that everyone else is just as miserable as he.

The season’s only three races old, and already Johnson’s driving his opponents crazy. So there’s hope.

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Jeff Gordon led 154 laps at the Shelby American, a track record. But Jimmie Johnson led the laps that counted most.

Just to keep my attention focused, I’ve taken, when I’m not actually at the track, to writie a "stream of consciousness" blog on the race while watching it on TV. Here are my impressions of the Shelby American at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

In the prerace show, Larry McReynolds says something is a "point in case." As a friend points out, it was at this track six years ago when McReynolds said, "That’s like Samson and Goliath," or some such.

Kevin Conway’s race isn’t Xtenzed. He spins on the third lap. (We shall see him spin again.)

I know Twitter’s big, but don’t you think there are a lot of fans out there who don’t know what the various telecasters are talking about?

I wonder if A.J. Allmendinger knew growing up that if his name appeared in a baseball box score, it would be "Allmndngr." And if that had anything to do with him deciding to drive race cars? Probably not.

Quite the Jeff Gordon runaway so far.

Man, talk about "round up the usual suspects." Look at how the top 10 is converging (after 75 laps): Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

They aren’t clicking up their heels at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Teammates Jamie McMurray and Juan Montoya tangle (maybe they thought there were racing with Felix Sabates). McMurray says, essentially, "my bad." Kurt Busch is an unwitting victim.

Montoya toasts (not in the sense of complimenting, but, rather, setting his ears on fire) McMurray on television. I think this week’s "Feud of the Week" (on NASCAR This Week) is etched in stone. Though, it is early yet.

Can’t help but wonder if NASCAR would ever penalize a driver for being too slow on pit road.

Darrell Waltrip says he can’t remember the last time Gordon led 154 laps in a single race (which he’s already done in Vegas). I don’t know, either, but he led 147 last spring at Martinsville. I could look it up further, but I’d rather watch this race right now. Besides, if he wins, someone else will look it up. Someone who’s not in his living room.

D.W.’s put his minions to work. Gordon led more than 150 twice in 2007.

Nineteen cars just got a lap back by the "wave-around." What a joke. Thirty-five laps to go.

Another dominant day for Chevrolet: Johnson, Harvick, Gordon, Martin, then Kenseth in a Ford, Logano in a Toyota and Stewart in another Chevy. Odd that it took making the cars just alike to allow one make to dominate as much as any time in history.

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David Reutimann is sometimes cited as something of a specialist at intermediate-sized tracks like Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of the Shelby American.

Reutimann, though, is hardly at home in the gambling mecca.

Asked if he knew the odds of his winning, according to the casinos, Reutimann said, "I do need to go look and see where I’m at. I don’t bet on anything, but just to see where I am.

"The first couple years, it was kind of depressing the odds they had of me doing anything. I quit looking. You can bet on anything and everything. I generally don’t because I have enough things to spend money on besides that."

Reutimann had a fine excuse for missing fellow driver Martin Truex Jr.’s charity poker tournament.

"I don’t know how to play poker," he said. "I just made a donation to his foundation and figured that was the best way for me. If I went and played poker, someone would have to sit next to me and tell me what to do next. I figured I’d save everybody the hassle."

* * *

THE VEGAS NUMBERS–Out of the top 12 drivers in Sprint Cup points, two races into the season, only five have ever won at LVMS. Surprising few, Jimmie Johnson leads with three victories and a 113.6 driver rating.

Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth have each won twice in Vegas, while Carl Edwards has one victory. The second highest driver rating, 103.9, belongs to Greg Biffle, who has never won and has finished in the top five only once in six races.

Burton is the only active driver with a single-digit average finish (9.8) at the 1.5-mile track.

* * *

TIME TO SCORE–So far, the improvement of Richard Childress Racing has been noteworthy. Its drivers are first (Kevin Harvick), second (Clint Bowyer) and fifth (Burton) in points.

But it’s been a long time since those drivers visited victory lane. Harvick has gone 109 races since winning. Bowyer’s streak is 64 and Burton’s 43.

"We worked hard to get to this point," said Harvick, "but you can’t stop. With the three of us running well, it pushes us to fine-tune our stuff and really get the best out of our cars week in and week out."

Victory, presumably, will follow.

* * *

BUSCH BOYS– Kyle Busch won last year’s edition of the race now called the Shelby American. His brother, Kurt, starts on the pole. Both are Las Vegas natives.

"I’ve always dreamed about winning the race here at our home track," said Kurt, whose average finish at LVMS is only 20.4. "We had a strong car last year until we had engine problems. As everyone knows, you have to be there at the end. Kyle drove a great race and saved the best for last."

* * *

OFT POWERFUL THERE–Jack Roush, whose most recent victory came from a driver he doesn’t have anymore (Jamie McMurray), has won more races at this track than any other owner. He has six victories to Rick Hendrick’s four.

Mark Martin and Jeff Burton, now driving Chevrolets, won their Vegas races in Roush-owned Fords. Kenseth and Edwards are the current Roush Fenway drivers who have won at the track.
 

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Kevin Harvick, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Richard Childress Racing

When informed on California Speedway’s pit road Sunday that two races into the 2010 season he was officially NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series championship leader, Kevin Harvick broke into a broad grin and smirked.

“Now only 34 more to go,” he shot back after the day’s runner-up effort.

Of course, two races hardly make a season and don’t typically even begin to foreshadow the championship outcome. Matt Kenseth won the season’s first two races last year and didn’t qualify for the Chase for the Championship. Jimmie Johnson was ranked 19th after California and still landed his fourth consecutive trophy.

But. …

After a what-else-could-go-wrong 2009, Harvick, like the entire Richard Childress Racing (RCR) three-team operation, will take what he can get. Harvick is hoping to parlay this encouraging beginning to a proper ending — a return to the ranks of those in the Chase for the Championship, which is where he spent the 2006-08 seasons.

What’s most promising for Harvick is that it’s not just him leading this charge back. Both of his RCR teammates,Clint Bowyer (ranked second in points after two races) and veteran Jeff Burton (fifth) are also off to a good start, suggesting the once mighty RCR may be returning to form.

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