Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Week 31 Preview: Charlotte

Bank of America 500

Week 31


By Richard Tix

 Kansas Speedway hosted the 4th Chase race of 2014 and the first of the second round of NASCAR "playoffs." The playoff version of the Chase has yet to really disappoint, bringing drama and competitive driving week to week (unless of course you are a fan of BK, JJ, or Jr). 

 This set of three races concludes at Talladega Superspeedway which is know for "The Big One." Obviously the first two races mean everything to these Chase drivers, but now Joey Logano can take some weight off of his back and cruise through the next two race, more importantly, Talladega.

 Now NASCAR heads to Charlotte and the second automatic spot into the next round can be grabbed. Will 1 of the remaining 11 drivers win? Or will Joey or a non Chase driver steal it? Charlotte should give NASCAR fans some excitement as everyone will want to have a good spot in the standings before the wild card race at Talladega, so buckle up.
(This is just a review of each drivers recent past performance, generally about 5-10 past races)

The Good:
  • Jimmie Johnson- It gets pretty boring putting JJ's name on this list, but he can't be over looked with 7 career Charlotte wins in 26 career starts (including earlier this year). He also has 13 top 5's and 17 top 10's here. You have to like his chance again this time around.
  • Kyle Busch- In his last 16 starts here (not including All Star Races) he has 13 top 10's and 9 top 5's. Not too bad hun? However, he hasn't won in that time, or in his 21 career races. The other side of that? He has 6 finishes of third or better so it is bound to happen eventually.
  • Kasey Kahne- Going into this years first stop at Charlotte Kahne was riding a 5 race top 10 streak here (including a win and two runner up finishes). This last time he finished 14th, but that was part of his slow start 2014. He could fair better this time around.
  • Extra Credit- Kevin Harvick
The Middle:
  • Matt Kenseth- Last time I put JJ in this category because his days off winning here were mostly back in the 2003-05 range, and then he won. Well, Kenseth does have an average finish of about 8 in the last 11 races, but only 1 win. This spot is like a nod for just under Good Category this week, because he has been pretty good here lately. 
The Bad:
  • Dale Earnhardt Jr- Well Jr was in this category last time around and then he finished 19th. In his last 11 he only has two top 10's and three top 15's. Not so good. This time it counts for something in the Chase, so it would be a good time to turn it around.
  • Danica Patrick- Sorry Danica fans, four races is officially enough for me to judge you at Charlotte. Earlier this season she had an engine issue, but she only has one top 25 finish in four tries (20th in 2013).
  • Marcus Ambrose- Not a great farewell statement here, I truly feel bad about Marcus ending up on any bad list the rest of the way, but he only has 3 top 10's in 11 tries. He will be missed by many in the NASCAR fan base, but maybe he can find a way to get another top 10 here before leaving for Australia. 
Track Stats (or the JJ Charllote track stats):
  • The last time someone won a Charlotte race from the Pole not named Jimmie Johnson was 1998, Jeff Gordon. JJ has won 2 from the Pole since then (2004 and 2009)
  • JJ won 4 straight from 2004 to 2005, sweeping both times. Four straight is also a track Cup record
  • In that same stretch he won 5 of 6 from 2003-2005 dropping the only race to Tony Stewart
  • The most cautions was 22 during the 2005 May Charlotte race, which JJ ended up winning.
  • In Jimmie Johnson's 7 wins, he has won 3 from the Pole, including earlier this season.
  • NASCAR has had 6 different winners in the last 6 races here. Kevin Harvick was the last repeat winner in a 7 race span.
  • 15 current drivers have won at Charlotte Motor Speedway (Including Bobby and Terry Labonte and Jeff Burton).
  • Of current drivers, Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman have the most poles (9). 
  • Jimmie Johnson has led 1,733 or 8,994 career laps he has run at Charlotte. That is about 19.27% of the laps he has run.

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