With 3 races remaining before the Chase, 124 points separate 9th place Ryan Newman and 15th place Kyle Busch. Here’s how those 7 drivers stack up historically at the remaining races: Bristol, Atlanta & Richmond
9th Place – Ryan Newman – 2845 points
Bristol – Newman isn’t very consistent here but managed a 7th place finish in the March race. He has 8 Top 10′s in 15 races but has an average finish of 19.2
Sprint Cup Races: 15
Wins: 0
Top 5: 1
Top 10: 8
Best Finish: 2
Avg Finish: 19.2
Atlanta – Finished 22nd in the March race and 14th & 16th in last year’s races.
Sprint Cup Races: 15
Wins: 0
Top 5: 1
Top 10: 4
Best Finish: 5
Avg Finish: 18.5
Richmond – He struggled here last year but ran well in May on his way to a 4th place finish as both Stewart-Haas cars finished in the Top 5.
Sprint Cup Races: 15
Wins: 1
Top 5: 5
Top 10: 9
Best Finish: 1
Avg Finish: 11.7
10th Place – Greg Biffle – 2821 points
Bristol – The Roush cars struggled here in March and the Biff finished a season worst 39th.
Sprint Cup Races: 13
Wins: 0
Top 5: 4
Top 10: 7
Best Finish: 3
Avg Finish: 12.1
Atlanta – A disappointing 34th place finish in March but averaged a 7.0 finish here a year ago.
Sprint Cup Races: 13
Wins: 0
Top 5: 3
Top 10: 7
Best Finish: 3
Avg Finish: 15.9
Richmond – Couldn’t crack the Top 12 all day and finished 17th in May.
Sprint Cup Races: 14
Wins: 0
Top 5: 2
Top 10: 5
Best Finish: 3
Avg Finish: 15.8
11th Place – Matt Kenseth – 2811 points
Bristol – Two Top 10′s here last year but finished 33rd in the March race.
Sprint Cup Races: 19
Wins: 2
Top 5: 7
Top 10: 11
Best Finish: 1
Avg Finish: 13.3
Atlanta – Two Top 10′s last year and finished 12th here in March.
Sprint Cup Races: 19
Wins: 0
Top 5: 7
Top 10: 11
Best Finish: 3
Avg Finish: 13.3
Richmond – Struggled at both races here last year but put together a good run in May to finish 13th.
Sprint Cup Races: 19
Wins: 1
Top 5: 3
Top 10: 9
Best Finish: 1
Avg Finish: 16.7
12th Place – Mark Martin – 2791 points
Bristol – Finished 6th here in March.
Sprint Cup Races: 41
Wins: 2
Top 5: 15
Top 10: 22
Best Finish: 1
Avg Finish: 12.7
Atlanta – Struggled earlier this year with a 31st place finish.
Sprint Cup Races: 47
Wins: 2
Top 5: 13
Top 10: 22
Best Finish: 1
Avg Finish: 12.7
Richmond – In 47 total races here, The Kid has finished in the Top 10 55% of the time and Top 5 34% of the time. Finished 5th in May.
Sprint Cup Races: 47
Wins: 1
Top 5: 16
Top 10: 26
Best Finish: 1
Avg Finish: 11.9
13th Place – Brian Vickers – 2779 points (12 Points Back)
Bristol – 29th in March
Sprint Cup Races: 10
Wins: 0
Top 5: 0
Top 10: 0
Best Finish: 12
Avg Finish: 26.0
Atlanta – Had a Top 5 finish in March and a Top 10 last year.
Sprint Cup Races: 12
Wins: 0
Top 5: 1
Top 10: 5
Best Finish: 5
Avg Finish: 18.4
Richmond – He’s won 2 poles here but has struggled in the past with only 1 Top 10 finish.
Sprint Cup Races: 10
Wins: 0
Top 5: 0
Top 10: 10
Best Finish: 8
Avg Finish: 27.8
14th Place – Clint Bowyer – 2733 points (58 points back)
Bristol – Bowyer finished 13 in the March race.
Sprint Cup Races: 7
Wins: 0
Top 5: 2
Top 10: 4
Best Finish: 3
Avg Finish: 14.4
Atlanta – The #33 finished 6th here earlier this year.
Sprint Cup Races: 7
Wins: 0
Top 5: 0
Top 10: 4
Best Finish: 6
Avg Finish: 13.7
Richmond – Bowyer won here last year but had a rough 18th place finish in May.
Sprint Cup Races: 7
Wins: 1
Top 5: 1
Top 10: 3
Best Finish: 1
Avg Finish: 10.6
15th Place – Kyle Busch – 2721 points (70 points back)
Bristol – Kyle dominated the March race at Bristol after starting 18th he made his way through the pack and led 378 of 503 laps.
Sprint Cup Races: 9
Wins: 2
Top 5: 4
Top 10: 6
Best Finish: 1
Avg Finish: 11.2
Atlanta – Kyle’s average finish at Atlanta is 18.2 and struggled there earlier this year but last year he finished 1st and 5th in the two races there.
Sprint Cup Races: 10
Wins: 1
Top 5: 2
Top 10: 2
Best Finish: 1
Avg Finish: 18.2
Richmond – Kyle owns Richmond with 7 Top 5′s in 9 races.
Sprint Cup Races: 9
Wins: 1
Top 5: 7
Top 10: 7
Best Finish: 1
Avg Finish: 6.1
Here’s how the points would end up if each driver performed in line with their past. This means absolutely nothing but I was curious to see how things lined up. I’m expecting Vickers to run much better than he has in the past.
Ky. Busch – 11 (130), 18 (109), 6 (150) = 389
Martin – 12 (127), 12 (127), 11 (130) = 384
Bowyer – 14 (126), 13 (121), 10 (134) = 381
Biffle – 12 (127), 15 (118), 15 (118) = 363
Kenseth – 13 (121), 13 (121), 16 (115) = 357
Newman – 19 (106), 18 (109), 11 (130) = 345
Vickers – 26 (90), 18 (109), 27 (87) = 286
Related posts:
