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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Gordon, Biffle Have Numbers At Kansas
Jeff Gordon has the best average finish at Kansas Speedway of any Chase driver...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted September 29, 2009   Charlotte, NC
With a strong record at Kansas Speedway Jeff Gordon should do well in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Price Chopper 400 Presented By Kraft Foods this weekend. (Photo: Getty Images)

Kansas Speedway plays host to the third race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, a playoff that already is threatening to become a Hendrick Motorsports runaway.

Hendrick driver Mark Martin leads his teammate and three-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson by a mere 10 points as the field heads to the 1.5-mile Midwest oval for Sunday’s Price Chopper 400.

In the first two races, eight of the 12 Chase drivers have fallen more than 100 points behind Martin, who has finished first and second in the opening playoff rounds, while Johnson has a victory and fourth-place finish to his credit.

Kansas Speedway is a relatively flat 1.5-mile oval that’s very similar to Chicagoland Speedway, where in July Martin won and Johnson finished eighth. And, oh yeah, Johnson is the defending race winner in Kansas.

At Kansas, the only two Chase drivers with average finishes of better than 10.000 are Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle. Here’s how the 12 Chasers measure up here:

1. MARK MARTIN, Hendrick Motorsports — Based on the fact that he won at Chicagoland and is red-hot at the moment with five consecutive top-five finishes, Martin certainly will be one of the favorites on Sunday.

The points leader has one victory and two top fives here, but was 18th last year and 12th in 2007, with an average finish of 13.125 in eight races.

2. JIMMIE JOHNSON, Hendrick Motorsports (-10 points) — Never known as a great qualifier, Johnson has three poles at Kansas, along with a one victory, five top 10s and an average finish of 10.429. Last year’s duel with Carl Edwards was one for the ages, with Johnson prevailing in the last turn of the last lap.

3. JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing (-65) — Given that he’s only raced twice at Kansas, Montoya is something of an unknown. He finished 28th here in 2007 and 20th last year. In recent weeks, though, he’s been fast everywhere he’s raced.

4. KURT BUSCH, Penske Racing (-75) — Kansas is one of Busch’s worst Chase tracks. His best finish here was a sixth in his championship season of 2004, and he’s finished 25th or worse in half of his eight starts here, giving him an average finish of 20.750.

5. TONY STEWART, Stewart-Haas Racing (-106) — After winning here on a fuel-mileage race in 2006, Stewart’s gone into the tank, finishing 39th in 2007 and 40th last year. His average finish is 14.750.


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