Monster Mile A Monster Hurdle For Points Leader Stewart

Monster Mile A Monster Hurdle For Points Leader Stewart

Tony Stewart has already accomplished the unthinkable in going 2-for-2 to open the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, winning at both Chicagoland Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

In capturing his first two victories of 2011 in such a fashion, Stewart became only the second driver to start the Chase with two consecutive wins. The first was in 2008 by Greg Biffle, who went on to finish third in that season’s championship points.

Now, can he do the seemingly impossible? For one, he’d be the first to open the Chase with three consecutive wins. Two, it’d be the first time in his career he has ever won three straight. Three, you have to go all the way back to the 2007 Chase for the last time anyone won three straight in the Chase (Jimmie Johnson won four consecutive Chase races that season). And four, he’d have to win at Dover, something that hasn’t happened for Stewart in more than a decade.

Stewart enjoys-loathes a love-hate relationship with Dover. His career at the one-mile concrete oval, a series of peaks and valleys, includes two victories – but none since his Dover sweep of 2000.

There has been the good – that 2000 sweep at Dover, the only track sweep in his illustrious career. There has been the bad – a Driver Rating of 71.4, making Dover his worst track (by a good bit) in terms of the Loop Data statistic. Driver Rating includes all Dover races since 2005, a span of 13 events. His second-worst track in terms of Driver Rating is Charlotte Motor Speedway (82.2).

And there has been the bizarre – the Dover race in June of 2006, when he opted to hop out of the car after he injured his shoulder a week earlier. Ricky Rudd relieved Stewart after 38 laps, finishing the race in what was then Stewart’s No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet.

Stewart’s cushion going into Sunday’s race is a small one – seven points ahead of Kevin Harvick. The last time Stewart led the points during the Chase: In 2005, when he won his second NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.

"Bad” Brad Anything But

In only nine races, Brad Keselowski has moved from 23rd in points to his current position of third. And since he broke his ankle, a span eight races ago, he has scored more points than any other driver – by a lot. Over the last eight races, Keselowski has scored 332 points. Second during that span is Jeff Gordon, with 304.

Here’s why. Numbers over the last nine races look like this: two wins, six top fives, eight top 10s and a Driver Rating of 96.3. His worst finish over the last nine races is still-solid 12th at Richmond.

Keselowski’s third-place points position is the best of his career, and currently 11 points behind leader Stewart, he’s inching towards the first points lead in his career. There’s no sign of him stalling anytime soon, and past statistics don’t really tell the story for Keselowski. If they did, he probably wouldn’t be considered a favorite. His stats at the upcoming eight tracks: 31 starts, two wins (Talladega and Kansas), two top fives, five top 10s, an average finish of 19.6 and a Driver Rating of 69.2.

In three NASCAR Sprint Cup starts at Dover, Keselowski has finishes of 18th, 22nd and 13th, which came in May of this year. He won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Dover in May of 2009.

Johnson Facing Tall Order To Overcome Early Deficit

Jimmie Johnson has been down – but not out – before.

Three times he’s fallen to ninth in the championship standings, twice in 2004 when he scratched his way back to finish runner-up to Kurt Busch. Johnson opened the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup ninth after a 39th-place finish in 2006, the season in which he claimed the first of five consecutive titles.

Two races into this year’s postseason, Johnson finds himself at an all-time Chase low of 10th, 29 points behind leader Tony Stewart.

The deficit doesn’t seem like much at first glance but consider:

•           Those 29 points represent roughly 120 points under the previous system.

•           He’s more than half a race in the hole, points-wise.

•           Even more disturbing, Johnson cannot race his way to the lead without help. Wishing for nine rivals to stumble over the course of eight races may be an extremely tall order.

All that may have prompted this tweet from Chase rival Brad Keselowski on Tuesday afternoon, moments after ESPN announced that the ratings for Sunday’s New Hampshire race were up from last season: “I think ratings are up cuz [sic] it doesn't look like J.J. will win it again.”

Humorous trash talking aside, Johnson has another reason to smile. Dover International Speedway is one of the California native’s best tracks. He has won three of the last five races and six times overall, and has posted eight top fives and 13 top 10s along with three Coors Light Poles. Johnson owns a series-best Driver Rating of 117.4 at the Monster Mile, where he finished ninth in May. Click here for video of Johnson discussing how Dover is his favorite track.

These Four Hope To Spoil The Party At Dover

It’s a given that during the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup a non-Chase qualifier must do something spectacular to get noticed – like win a race.

Several drivers came close at Chicagoland Speedway and most recently in New Hampshire.

Two, Martin Truex Jr. and Greg Biffle, ride front-of-the-field momentum as well as owning stellar records at Dover International Speedway.

•           Truex, winner at Dover in spring 2007, has led the past three races at the track. He finished 18th and 16th in the first two Chase races but led both and had the looks of a winner in Chicago.

•           Biffle counts a pair of victories at Dover, most recently during the 2008 Chase. He finished third in New Hampshire, a 2011 season high.

•           Another who shouldn’t be counted out is Mark Martin, a four-time Dover winner who’ll be making his 51st start at the concrete surfaced track. Martin raced at the head of the field in New Hampshire leading 46 laps.

Finally, Brian Vickers finished fifth at Dover in the spring. He’s also riding a bit of momentum with a fifth-place finish in New Hampshire.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Etc.

Good news for Kevin Harvick, currently second in the points: During the Chase era (2004-Present), the points leader after the second Chase race has never gone on to win the championship. In four of the seven previous Chases, though, the driver in second after two Chase races did go on to win the championship – including Jimmie Johnson in each of the last three seasons. … Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, will appear at the Bayhealth Foundation Charitable Golf Tournament, co-sponsored by Dover Motorsports, Inc., on Thursday, Sept. 29 at Wild Quail Golf and Country Club in Wyoming, Del. Biffle will compete in a putting contest against tournament participants and attending media members at 11:30 a.m. The winner will have Biffle drive them to the first three holes of the tournament in a golf cart, and will be eligible for a 3M crew shirt, a Dover International Speedway prize bag, and two tickets to all three days of the Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2011 race weekend at Dover. After the tournament’s start, at 1 p.m. Biffle will participate in a media availability during a media lunch in the Wild Quail clubhouse. … Melora Hardin, best known for her role as Jan Levinson on the hit NBC series “The Office,” will sing the National Anthem prior to the running of the “AAA 400” NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Oct. 2 at Dover International Speedway. … Milestone Watch: David Ragan will make his 300th NASCAR National Series start, Mike Bliss will attempt to make his 125th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start, Ryan Newman will attempt to post his 50th series Coors Light pole and 150th series top-10 finish, Juan Pablo Montoya will attempt to post his 50th series top-10 finish.