Updated July 6
Three restrictor-plate races down, one more to go.
|
|
| Mark Martin fell out of the Chase with a 38th-place finish at Daytona. (AP) |
NASCAR drivers, on the other hand, probably aren't looking to that date as fondly. Coming smack dab in the middle of the Chase (race 6 of 10), championship contenders have to be especially cautious.
Survival is the key and some have proved better at it -- or luckier -- than others.
Mark Martin has not been one of the lucky ones. Despite three victories on the season, Martin is out of the top 12 at the moment, with his results at the restrictor-plate tracks one of the major factors holding him back.
A 16th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 wasn't too bad, but April's race at Talladega and the return trip to Daytona were nightmares.
He didn't make it past the sixth lap before a wreck collected him at Talladega, leaving him with a 43rd-place finish.
Saturday night he made it to lap 12 before a wreck of his own doing knocked him out of contention.
"You know, you go out here and you race and we take our lumps and we take our good days," Martin said prior to the race. "Some days we get more than we deserve and some days we don't get what we deserve. We just go out here and do our thing and hope it turns out well."
Unfortunately for Martin, it has not turned out well too often of late at the restrictor-plate tracks. After finishing 38th at Daytona, Martin fell two spots in the standings to 13th, 65 points behind Kasey Kahne.
Power Rankings after Daytona:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 1 |
| Even if Johnson were to finish last and Mark Martin were to win and lead the most laps in the next race at Texas, he would still hold the points lead by 23 points. | ||
| 2 | Mark Martin | 2 |
| There was a time when Martin had a bit of luck at Talladega. From 1988 through 2001 he had 18 top 10s in 28 races. In 12 races since 2002, he has just two top 10s with nine finishes outside the top 20. | ||
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | 3 |
| He has four victories in his past 12 trips to Talladega. However, he finished outside the top 10 in the eight races he did not win, with finishes of 19th or worse in his past four visits. | ||
| 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 4 |
| He captured second at Talladega in the spring of 2008, but has finished no better than 15th in his other five visits to the track. | ||
| 5 | Tony Stewart | 5 |
| Though he won last fall at Talladega, he has finished 22nd or worse in five of his last seven trips to the track with three DNFs by way of crash. | ||
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | 6 |
| He has led at least one lap in all eight of his visits to Talladega, but has just two top 10s to show for it with six finishes of 21st or worse. | ||
| 7 | Kurt Busch | 7 |
| He has three finishes of 21st or worse in his past four visits to Talladega after finishing outside the top 10 just three times in his first 14 trips. | ||
| 8 | Kasey Kahne | 8 |
| Sunday marked his second second-place finish at Talladega. In 12 starts at the track, those are his only top 10s. | ||
| 9 | Ryan Newman | 9 |
| His 36th-place finish Sunday was his sixth of 33rd or worse in 16 starts at Talladega. "We had this race back here in the spring and complained about cars getting airborne and now ironically I'm the guy that gets upside down," Newman said. "I wish NASCAR would do something. It was a boring race for the fans. That's not something anybody wants to see; at least I hope not. If they do, go home because you don't belong here." | ||
| 10 | Kyle Busch | 10 |
| His win in the spring of 2008 is his lone top 10 finish in 10 starts at Talladega. | ||
| 11 | Carl Edwards | 11 |
| After three consecutive top 10 finishes at Talladega between 2005-06, he has finished outside the top 10 in his past six trips to the track, but at least he wasn't flying into the catchfence like in his last visit. | ||
| 12 | Matt Kenseth | 12 |
| Like his Roush-Fenway Racing teammate Edwards, he had three consecutive top 10 finishes at Talladega between 2005-06, but has failed to finish in the top 10 at the track since. | ||
| 13 | Greg Biffle | 13 |
| Finished a Talladega career-best fourth on Sunday, his second consecutive top 10 at the track after finishing no better than 13th in his first 12 visits. | ||
| 14 | Clint Bowyer | 14 |
| He won't complain too much about a 12th-place finish considering he has finished 35th or worse in four of his eight visits. | ||
| 15 | Kevin Harvick | 15 |
| His 21st-place finish Sunday was his fifth consecutive finish of 20th or worse at Talladega. He has been running at the finish of all 18 of his starts at Talladega. | ||
