| 13th? Why? | | Date Created: Sep 03, 2007, 08:26 PM |
|
The Cali race is in the rearview mirror and it is impossible to over-dramatize how much of an ungodly hot weekend it was. (Check out the lead photo from the Associated Press report on the heat wave... Nice hat!) It drained us all physically and metally... even with a top-five finish. The complete race report, podcast and Richmond race preview are now online as usual.
Dale Jr. has insisted all along that the Bud team is better than a 13th-place team, and the data backs him up. Here is a listing of where Dale Jr. ranks overall in the season-long NASCAR Loop Data after 25 races. Most of these seem like meaningless minutiae, but it's some sort of proof that the red No. 8 really has been at or near the front for much of the year.
Dale Jr. rankings among all drivers after 25 races:
Overall Driver Rating: 7th
Avg. Running Position: 5th
Fastest Early in a Run: 2nd
Fastest Late in a Run: 4th
Fastest on Straightways: 1st
Fastest in the Turns: 6th
Fastest Laps Run: 4th
Fastest on Restarts: 2nd
Green Flag Speed: 2nd
Laps in Top-15: 3rd
Laps Led: 7th
Mileage Led: 8th
% of Laps on Lead Lap: 6th
Speed in Traffic: 8th
So, how does a driver and team with such consistent and impressive stats end up 13th in points? Glaringly, the only category where Dale Jr. is not even ranked in top-30 is the answer. Due to the multiple late-race engine failures or other mechanical gremlins, he is not even among the top-30 for the category called "CLOSERS" - which measures the improvement in position in the final 10 percent of the races. He trails drivers such as Bill Elliott, PJ Jones, Mike Wallace, Michael Waltrip, Patrick Carpentier, Kenny Wallace and Scott Wimmer. Nothing against any of those guys, but it shows exactly why the team is on the outside looking in when it comes to this year's Chase. |
|
|
|
All contents of this blog are the sole responsibility and views of the author.
They do not in any way represent the views, beliefs or corporate values of any clients of fingerprint inc.
This includes but is not limited to Anheuser-Busch or any other corporate or personal entities mentioned within.
| |
