In The Loop’ At Martinsville Speedway

Gordon, Johnson Poised For Top-12 Launch


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 26, 2008) – Odds are either Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson (or both) will slide into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series top 12 after this Sunday’s Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

The statistics suggest a probable vault into the top 12 for either the former or current “Mr. Martinsville” – seven-time winner Jeff Gordon (currently 14th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings) and four-timer Jimmie Johnson (13th).

The two have combined for eight of the last 10 Martinsville wins, with Johnson visiting Victory Lane in the last three.

Add that to the Martinsville struggles of Martin Truex Jr., currently 12th in the series standings, and you have a recipe for a top-12 shake-up.

Gordon and Johnson vs. Truex at Martinsville (Head-to-Head)
Avg. Avg. Avg.
Driver Races Start Mid-Race Finish ARP DR QP # FL LT15% Led Pts.
Jeff Gordon 4 3.5 10.3 3.0 5.4 123.3 96 221 92.5 425 680
Jimmie Johnson 4 8.5 6.8 1.5 4.0 133.6 108 274 98.2 700 740
Martin Truex Jr. 4 14.0 26.3 25.8 25.3 58.3 30 20 21.9 1 348
ARP: Average Running Position
DR: Driver Rating
QP: Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green)
# FL: No. of Fastest Laps
LT15: Laps in the Top 15

Truex can take solace in his last race at Martinsville, which was by far his best showing at the paperclip-shaped short track. It was the first Martinsville race that Truex completed all the schedule laps and he earned his highest Martinsville Driver Rating (81.4).

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This weekend, Johnson attempts to become only the second driver to win four in a row at Martinsville (Fred Lorenzen from 1963-1965). His streak is an amazing one.

Combining the statistics from the three-win streak, Johnson peppers the leaderboard – and is usually ranked No. 1 (not surprisingly, teammate Gordon is right behind him in many of the stats).

Below are the top fives in some key Loop Data stats over the last three races at Martinsville:

Driver Rating
1 Jimmie Johnson 134.8
2 Jeff Gordon 127.1
3 Denny Hamlin 111.4
4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 109.0
5 Kyle Busch 106.7

Average Running Position
1 Jimmie Johnson 4.621
2 Jeff Gordon 4.771
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 6.760
4 Kyle Busch 8.011
5 Denny Hamlin 8.309

Fastest Laps Run
1 Jeff Gordon 211
2 Jimmie Johnson 198
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 163
4 Denny Hamlin 92
5 Tony Stewart 42

Percentage of Laps in the Top 15
1 Jimmie Johnson 97.6
2 Jeff Gordon 93.0
3 Kyle Busch 89.9
4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 87.9
5 Tony Stewart 83.9

Despite the pair’s dominance, two drivers in particular are likely to steal some of that glory – Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Stewart won there in 2006 (the last driver not named Johnson to do so) and Earnhardt tallied the top stats in last year’s spring Martinsville race en route to a fifth-place finish.

Check out the track-best figures at Martinsville since the inception of Loop Data in 2005:

Driver Rating
Driver Date DR
1. Tony Stewart 4/06 147.5
2. Jimmie Johnson 10/06 143.5
3. Tony Stewart 10/05 142.6
4. Jimmie Johnson 10/07 139.0
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4/07 133.1

Average Running Position
Driver Date ARP
1. Tony Stewart 4/06 1.6
2. Tony Stewart 10/05 1.9
3. Jimmie Johnson 4/06 2.0
4. Jimmie Johnson 10/06 3.5
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4/07 3.6