Jayski's® Silly Season Site - 2005 Nextel Cup Chase Stats

2005 RACE TO THE CHASE: FOUR NEW TEAMS IN, FOUR OUT

Four races into the 26 that comprise The Race to the Chase, it’s interesting to note the good and bad fortunes of the four 2004 Chasers that are out, and the four non-Chasers from 2004 who have at least temporarily replaced them in the Top 10. NEW TEAMS IN THE TOP 10: GREG BIFFLE (2^nd), CARL EDWARDS (3^rd), RUSTY WALLACE (9^th), JAMIE MCMURRAY (10^th). No doubt Edwards is the biggest surprise in the Top 10, and is a strong third with a win already in his belt.

2004 CHASERS OUT FOR NOW: JEFF GORDON (12^th), JEREMY MAYFIELD (21^st), DALE EARNHARDT JR. (26^th), MATT KENSETH (31^ST). Gordon’s only 11 points out of 10^th place, so no need to panic at all. Kenseth is a long, long way back, but Roush owns four of the top five spots in the standings and the #17 has truly had a bad run of luck. It could turn around and this team and driver are capable of reeling off top 5 and top 10 finishes in bunches. The real question mark is the #8. Earnhardt Jr. has only been competitive at Daytona. Bristol is another golden opportunity for this team to get back on track. It desperately needs something good to happen. COMEBACK BAROMETER: MARK MARTIN came back from the farthest out at this time last year to make the 2004 Chase. He left Atlanta last year in 17^th.

Last year’s rookie sensation, KASEY KAHNE, made a bid to bring his early sophomore slump to an end with a fifth place at Atlanta, moving up 10 spots in the standings.

THE HEAT INDEX

(Last 5 races, counting last race of 2004 and first 4 of 2005)

RED HOT ICE COLD

1—Jimmie Johnson 850 1—Mike Wallace 331

2—Greg Biffle 788 2—Bobby Labonte 382

3—Kurt Busch 737 3—Ricky Rudd 385

4—Carl Edwards 714 4—Kasey Kahne 398

5—Tony Stewart 683 5—Ken Schrader 401

6—Mark Martin 674 6—Joe Nemechek 431

7—Jeff Gordon 629 7—Jeff Green 432

8—Rusty Wallace 624 8—Bobby Hamilton Jr. 440

9—Jamie McMurray 621 9—Matt Kenseth 445

10—Kevin Harvick 603 10—Earnhardt Jr. 459

THE TURNAROUNDS

(Position in Race to the Chase Versus Last Year at this time)

GOOD TURNS BAD TURNS

Rank-Driver 05 04 Diff. Rank-Driver 05 04 Diff.

1—Carl Edwards (99 car) 3 30 +27 1—Matt Kenseth 31 1 -30

2—Greg Biffle 2 23 +21 2—Bobby Labonte 37 10 -27

3—Scott Riggs 18 33 +15 3—Kasey Kahne 28 4 -24

4—Rusty Wallace 9 21 +12 4—Earnhardt Jr. 26 3 -23

4—Jeff Burton (31 car) 20 32 +12 5—Joe Nemechek 29 13 -16

4—Mark Martin 5 17 +12 6—Jeremy Mayfield 21 7 -14

7—Michael Waltrip 27 36 +9 7—Ricky Rudd 39 26 -13

8—Jimmie Johnson 1 9 +8 8—Jeff Gordon 12 5 -7

9—Jeff Green 23 31 +8 8—Travis Kvapil (77 car) 32 25 -7

10-Brian Vickers 22 28 +6 10-Tony Stewart 7 2 -5

10-Jamie McMurray 10 16 +6

2005 RACE TO THE CHASE
After Race #4 of 26: Atlanta #1

Races Left to the Chase: 22

05/LW/04 Season Out of Out of Out of LastRce Gain Last 5 Finishes Top Top Bottom Bonus-

Driver Pts. 1^st 10^th 11^th Fin/Pts 11^th Pts 1—2—3 5s 10s 10s Penalty Pts

1/2/9-Johnson 680 -- +205 +211 2/180 +68 850 1—2—0 4 4 0 30-25

2/3/23-Biffle 598 -82 +123 +129 3/170 +58 788 1—0—1 2 3 0 15-0

3/5/30-Edwards 593 -87 +118 +124 1/185 +73 714 1—0—0 2 2 0 10-0

4/1/6-Ku Busch 577 -103 +102 +108 32/67 -41 737 0—1—2 3 3 0 10-0

5/9/17-Martin 539 -141 +64 +70 4/165 +53 674 0—0—0 1 3 0 10-0

6/8/11-Newman 515 -165 +40 +46 14/126 +14 589 0—0—0 0 2 0 15-0

7/6/2-Stewart 514 -166 +39 +45 17/112 E 683 0—0—0 0 2 0 10-0

8/13/8-ESadler 482 -198 +7 +13 10/134 +22 543 0—0—0 0 2 0 0-0

9/7/22-RWallace 477 -203 +2 +8 27/82 -30 624 0—0—0 0 2 0 0-0

10/14/16-McMurray 475 -205 -- +6 11/130 +18 621 0—0—0 1 1 0 0-0

Gain

10th

11/10/12-Harvick 469 -211 -6 -- 21/100 -18 603 0—0—0 1 2 0 10-25

12/4/5-JGordon 464 -216 -11 -5 39/46 -103 629 1—0—0 2 2 1 5-0

13/14/14-Bliss 460 -220 -15 -9 18/109 +3 503 0—0—0 0 0 0 0-0

14/18/24-Blaney 458 -222 -17 -11 8/147 +41 NA 0—0—0 0 1 1 10-0

15/11/15-DJarrett 456 -224 -19 -13 23/99 -7 547 0—0—0 0 0 0 5-0

16/17/18-Marlin 438 -242 -37 -31 16/115 +9 553 0—0—0 0 1 1 5-0

17/15/19-Mears 434 -246 -41 -35 19/106 E 519 0—0—0 0 1 0 0-0

18/21/33-Riggs 432 -248 -43 -37 9/138 +32 550 0—0—0 1 2 0 0-0

19/22/20-Ky Busch 420 -260 -55 -49 12/127 +21 NA 0—1—0 1 1 1 5-25

20/20/32-JBurton 417 -263 -58 -52 15/118 +12 472 0—0—0 0 0 0 5-0

21/26/7-Mayfield 410 -270 -65 -59 13/124 +18 468 0—0—0 0 0 0 10-0

22/30/28-Vickers 389 -291 -86 -80 6/150 +44 498 0—0—0 0 1 1 5-0

23/27/31-JGreen 380 -300 -95 -89 28/79 -27 432 0—0—0 0 0 0 10-0

24/16/27-Petty 379 -301 -96 -90 36/55 -51 NA 0—0—0 0 0 1 15-0

25/29/21-Wimmer 369 -311 -106 -100 20/103 -3 493 0—0—0 0 0 0 5-0

26/27/3-ErnhrdtJr 365 -315 -110 -104 24/91 -15 459 0—0—1 1 1 1 5-0

27/35/36-Waltrip 352 -328 -123 -117 7/146 +40 464 0—0—0 0 1 2 5-0

28/38/4-Kahne 349 -331 -126 -120 5/155 +49 398 0—0—0 1 1 2 5-0

29/24/13-Nemchek 349 -331 -126 -120 35/58 -48 431 0—0—0 0 0 1 15-0

30/23/29-Ham Jr 340 -340 -135 -129 38/49 -57 440 0—0—0 0 0 2 0-0

31/28/1-Kenseth 339 -341 -136 -130 31/70 -36 445 0—0—0 0 1 1 5-0

32/25/25-Kvapil 324 -356 -151 -145 42/37 -69 NA 0—0—0 0 0 2 5-0

33/31/34-Schrader313 -367 -162 -156 26/85 -21 401 0—0—0 0 0 2 0-0

34/36/NA-Leffler 292 -388 -183 -177 25/88 -18 0—0—0 0 0 2 0-0

35/34/NA-Lepage 281 -399 -194 -188 30/73 -33 NA 0—0—0 0 1 0 0-0

OUTSIDE AUTOMATIC QUALIFYING

36/33/35-MWallace267 -413 -208 -202 40/43 -63 331 0—0—0 0 0 2 5-0

37/37/10-BLabonte250 -430 -225 -219 37/52 -54 382 0—0—0 0 0 3 0-0

38/32/41-Andretti 225 -455 -250 -244 NA -106 NA 0—0—0 0 0 0 0-0

39/38/26-Rudd 222 -458 -253 -247 33/64 -42 385 0—0—0 0 0 2 0-0

LEADER PACE

(The likelihood of the 400-point Wild Card will be determined by the pace set by the leader after 26 races. Here is the pace after four races)

2005 2004 2003 2002

1 J Johnson 680 1 Kenseth 673 1 Kenseth 618 1 Marlin 645

10 J McMurray 475 10 B Labonte 469 10 Ernhrt Jr 474 10 J Johnson 517

34 teams within 400 pts 35 teams within 400 41 teams within 400 37 teams within 400

THE CHASE FOR THE NEXTEL CUP