Backstretch Motorsports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 18, 2008) – The Race to the Chase – the 10 races preceding the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – is shaping up to be the closest in its five-year history.
After 23 races, the Chase cut-off bubble is the second-tightest in the Chase’s history:

• In 2004, six points separated Jeremy Mayfield in 11th and Kasey Kahne in 10th.
• In 2005, 51 points separated Dale Jarrett in 11th and Jamie McMurray in 10th.
• In 2006, 49 points separated Kahne in 11th and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 10th.
• Last season, 163 points separated Earnhardt in 13th and Kurt Busch in 12th.
• This year, only 26 points separate both Clint Bowyer and David Ragan who are in 13th and 14th, respectively, from 12th-place Denny Hamlin.
But with three races remaining until the Chase’s start, the battle for a Chase berth wages well beyond 12th through 14th. Currently, 82 points separate ninth-place Jeff Gordon from the Chase cut-off. Going deeper, sixth-place Tony Stewart is 162 points ahead of the cut-off.
In one race, 161 points can be made up.
According to the Loop Data statistics, Kevin Harvick (eighth), Matt Kenseth (10th) and Stewart seem the likeliest candidates to hold on to their current top-12 position.
At the next three tracks, all three drivers have an average Driver Rating of over 100.0 since 2005. Harvick has a 102.5; Kenseth has a 102.3; Stewart has a 101.9. Only one other driver, Kyle Busch, has a Driver Rating over 100 (103.7), and he has already locked up a Chase berth.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Top 12 at Bristol Motor Speedway
Driver Races Poles Wins Top Fives Top 10s DNFs Average Finish Driver Rating

1 Kyle Busch 7 0 1 2 4 0 14.0 90.6
2 Carl Edwards 8 0 1 2 3 1 15.4 86.2
3 Jimmie Johnson 13 0 0 2 6 1 16.2 78.2
4 Dale Earnhardt Jr 17 0 1 7 10 1 11.3 96.8
5 Jeff Burton 29 0 1 8 12 5 17.7 94.5
6 Tony Stewart 19 1 1 5 6 2 16.8 102.4
7 Greg Biffle 11 0 0 4 7 0 9.7 103.2
8 Kevin Harvick 15 0 1 8 10 1 9.9 102.6
9 Jeff Gordon 31 5 5 12 18 5 11.7 101.4
10 Matt Kenseth 17 1 2 7 10 3 12.4 109.0
11 Kasey Kahne 9 1 0 1 3 2 18.6 92.7
12 Denny Hamlin 5 0 0 0 2 1 16.6 93.1
Selected Driver Highlights
Note: All driver statistics that follow are from Bristol Motor Speedway. The Loop Data statistics – Driver Rating, Average Running Position, etc. – in this release, however, cover the last seven races at Bristol. NASCAR’s scoring loops began collecting data for statistical purposes in 2005.

Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford)
• Four top fives, seven top 10s
• Average finish of 9.7
• Average Running Position of 10.7, fourth-best
• Driver Rating of 103.2, second-best
• 178 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
• 221 Green Flag Passes, seventh-most
• Series-fastest Average Green Flag Speed of 114.678 mph
• 2,709 Laps in the Top 15 (77.2%), fourth-most
• 131 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), fourth-most
Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet)
• One win, eight top fives, 12 top 10s
• Average finish of 17.7
• Average Running Position of 12.7, seventh-best
• Driver Rating of 94.5, seventh-best
• 136 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most
• 210 Green Flag Passes, 10th-most
• 2,307 Laps in the Top 15 (65.7%), sixth-most
• 122 Quality Passes, seventh-most
Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota)
• One win, two top fives, four top 10s
• Average finish of 14.0
• Average Running Position of 16.7, 14th-best
• Driver Rating of 90.6, 11th-best
• 143 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most
• 228 Green Flag Passes, fourth-most
• 126 Quality Passes, fifth-most
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP/National Guard Chevrolet)
• One win, seven top fives, 10 top 10s
• Average finish of 11.3
• Average Running Position of 11.8, sixth-best
• Driver Rating of 96.8, sixth-best
• 85 Fastest Laps Run, 12th-most
• Series-high 288 Green Flag Passes
• 2,614 Laps in the Top 15 (74.5%), fifth-most
• Series-high 146 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green)
Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford)
• One win, two top fives, three top 10s
• Average finish of 15.4
• Average Running Position of 14.8, ninth-most
• Driver Rating of 86.2, 13th-best
• 146 Fastest Laps Run, fifth-most
• 2,224 Laps in the Top 15 (63.4%), eighth-most
Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet)
• Five wins, 12 top fives, 18 top 10s; five poles
• Average finish of 11.7
• Average Running Position of 8.9, second-best
• Driver Rating of 101.4, fifth-best
• 125 Fastest Laps Run, ninth-most
• 2,954 Laps in the Top 15 (84.2%), second-most
• 141 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), tied for second-most
Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet)
• One win, eight top fives, 10 top 10s
• Average finish of 9.9
• Average Running Position of 10.2, third-best
• Driver Rating of 102.6, third-best
• 158 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most
• 229 Green Flag Passes, third-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 114.673 mph, second-fastest
• 2,743 Laps in the Top 15 (78.1%), third-most
• 141 Quality Passes, tied for second-most
Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford)
• Two wins, seven top fives, 10 top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 12.4
• Series-best Average Running Position of 7.3
• Series-best Driver Rating of 109.0
• Series-high 218 Fastest Laps Run
• Average Green Flag Speed of 114.665 mph, third-fastest
• Series-high 3,263 Laps in the Top 15 (93.0%)
• 119 Quality Passes, eighth-most
Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Toyota)
• One win, five top fives, six top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 16.8
• Average Running Position of 11.6, fifth-best
• Driver Rating of 102.4, fourth-best
• 195 Fastest Laps Run, second-most
• 2,283 Laps in the Top 15 (65.0%), seventh-most
• 123 Quality Passes, sixth-most
At Bristol Motor Speedway:

History
• Groundbreaking for Bristol International Speedway, as Bristol Motor Speedway was originally known, took place in 1960. The track was an exact half-mile.
• Bristol held its first NASCAR Sprint Cup race on July 30, 1961.
• In the fall of 1969, the track was reshaped and re-measured to .533 miles with the turns banked at 36 degrees.
• The name changed to Bristol International Raceway in 1978.
• The first night race was held in the fall of 1978.
• The first NASCAR Nationwide Series race was held on March 13, 1982.
• The first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race was held on June 23, 1995.
• The track surface was changed from asphalt to concrete in 1992.
• The name changed to Bristol Motor Speedway in May 1996.
• The track was resurfaced between races in 2007.
Notebook
• There have been 95 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Bristol Motor Speedway since the first race there in 1961, two races each season.
• All races have been scheduled for 500 laps – except for both races in 1976 and the second in 1977, which were 400-lap events.
• Fred Lorezen won the first pole.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was won by Jack Smith (with relief from Johnny Allen).
• There have been 41 different pole winners led by Cale Yarborough (nine); 19 drivers have more than one.
• 37 different drivers have won races, led by Darrell Waltrip (12); 14 drivers have more than one victory there.
• The race winner has started from the pole 21 times, the most productive starting position.
• 78 of 95 races at Bristol have been won from a top-10 starting position, including 51 from the first four spots. However, four of the past nine race winners have started outside the top 10.
• The deepest in the field that a Bristol race winner has started was 38th, by Elliott Sadler in 2001.
• Junior Johnson won 21 races at Bristol, more than any other car owner. His victories came between 1965 and 1986 and were scored by five different drivers, including one himself.
• Richard Childress and Jack Roush are the leading active car owners at Bristol, each with nine victories.
• There have been five different pole winners in the past seven Bristol races. Qualifying was canceled in the spring of 2006 and 2008. There have been seven different race winners in the nine races at Bristol since Kurt Busch won three straight in 2003 and 2004. Matt Kenseth won the fall race in 2005 and 2006.
NASCAR in Tennessee
• There have been 156 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Tennessee.
• 98 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Tennessee.
• There have been 11 race winners from Tennessee in NASCAR’s three national series:
Driver NSCS NNS NCTS
Sterling Marlin 10 2 0
Bobby Hamilton 4 1 10
Joe Lee Johnson 2 0 0
Paul Lewis 1 0 0
Bobby Hamilton Jr. 0 5 0
Jeff Purvis 0 4 0
L.D. Ottinger 0 3 0
Mike Alexander 0 2 0
Casey Atwood 0 2 0
Brad Teague 0 1 0
Chad Chaffin 0 0 2

Bristol Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 24 of 36 (8-23-08)
Track Size: .533 miles
Race Length: 500 laps/266.5 miles
Banking/Corners: 24 to 30 degrees
Banking/Straights: 4 to 9 degrees
Driver Rating at Bristol
Matt Kenseth 109.9
Greg Biffle 103.2
Kevin Harvick 102.6
Tony Stewart 102.4
Jeff Gordon 101.4
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 96.8
Jeff Burton 94.5
Denny Hamlin 93.1
Kasey Kahne 92.7
Kurt Busch 91.4
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2008 races (7 total) at Bristol.
Qualifying/Race Data

2007 pole winner: Kasey Kahne (119.805 mph, 16.016 seconds)
2007 race winner: Carl Edwards, 89.006 mph, 8-25-07)
Track qualifying record: Ryan Newman (128.709 mph, 14.908 seconds, 3-21-03)
Track race record: Charlie Glotzbach (101.074 mph, 7-11-71)
Estimated Pit Window: Every 120-130 laps, based on fuel mileage.