DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 30, 2007) ? Six drivers have won NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races this season, potentially earning 10 valuable bonus points for each victory. If those drivers make the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, their ?seedings? entering the Chase will be determined by the number of wins they accumulated over the first 26 races of the season. Jimmie Johnson, currently with four victories, has earned a potential 40 bonus points if he were to make the Chase. Jeff Gordon has three wins
for a potential total of 30 bonus points.
2007 Season Highlights ? Jimmie Johnson has won four races, accumulating a potential 40 points toward his seeding, if he
qualifies for the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.
? Four-time series champion, Jeff Gordon has led the points for the past eight weeks.
? At Talladega, Jeff Gordon won his 77th career race, breaking a tie with Dale Earnhardt for sixth on
the all-time win list. Gordon had tied Earnhardt?s mark of 76 wins the prior week in Phoenix.
? Hendrick Motorsports posted five consecutive victories (Phoenix through Charlotte), the first time
since 1971 that a car owner won five straight.
? The Car of Tomorrow has run five races this season. The sixth will be this weekend at Dover.
? Toyota made its NASCAR NEXTEL Cup debut.
? At Bristol, Chevrolet posted its 600th victory.
The following pages contain reviews and analysis of various statistical data which impacts the ongoing
standings and the eventual goal of making the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.
Potential Differential The top-12 drivers in the current point standings and how they would start the Chase based on the first nine races of the season: Rank Driver Wins Points Rank Difference 1 Jimmie Johnson 4 5,040 2 +1 2 Jeff Gordon 3 5,030 1 -1 3 Matt Kenseth 1 5,010 3 0 4 Jeff Burton 1 5,010 5 +1 5 Kevin Harvick 1 5,010 7 +1 6 Kyle Busch 1 5,010 11 +5 7 Denny Hamlin 0 5,000 4 -3 8 Tony Stewart 0 5,000 6 -2 9 Carl Edwards 0 5,000 8 -1 9 Kurt Busch 0 5,000 7 -2 10 Clint Bowyer 0 5,000 9 -1
12 Jamie McMurray 0 5,000 12 0
Season in Review Qualifying ? There have been five different Bud Pole winners: Jeff Gordon (five); Ryan Newman (two), David Gilliland, Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer (one each). Qualifying was canceled due to inclement
weather at Texas.
? Clint Bowyer won the Bud Pole at Darlington, his career first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup pole. There has
been a first-time Bud Pole winner each season since 1987 ? 21 years running.
? Ryan Newman?s pole at Atlanta ended a streak of 20 races without a pole ? the longest of his career.
? Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin lead all other drivers, each with nine top-10 starts this season.
First-timers ? David Ragan finished fifth in the Daytona 500, earning a top-10 ranking in the point standings for the first
time in his career.
? Aric Almirola and Jon Wood both made their first career start when they qualified at Las Vegas.
? AJ Allmendinger and Regan Smith both made their first career start at Bristol.
? David Ragan led two laps at Talladega ? the first laps led in his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup career.
? Clint Bowyer won his first career Bud Pole when he qualified first at Darlington.
? Casey Mears won his first career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race with his victory at Lowe?s Motor
Speedway.
The Races ? There have been seven different race winners, led by Jimmie Johnson (four). Johnson posted back-toback
victories at Las Vegas and Atlanta and then won at Martinsville and Richmond.
? Johnson?s victory at Las Vegas was his third consecutive win there.
? Jeff Gordon (three) is the only other repeat race winner. Gordon posted back-to-back victories at
Phoenix and Talladega.
? Jeff Gordon has posted nine top-five and 10 top-10 finishes ? both more than any other driver.
? The Richmond and Darlington races were postponed from Saturday night to Sunday. The last time
consecutive races were postponed was Martinsville and North Wilkesboro in 1992.
Car-of-Tomorrow ? Three different drivers have won COT races: Jeff Gordon (two), Jimmie Johnson (two) and Kyle Busch
(one).
? The combined margin of victory in the five COT races has been 2.527 seconds for an average of 0.505.
In the same five races in 2006, the combined MOV was 4.817 seconds for an average of 0.963.
Laps Completed
? Matt Kenseth is the only driver that has completed every lap in 2007.
? Denny Hamlin has completed all but two laps this season.
? Mark Martin has completed every lap in the eight races that he has competed.
LMS Struggles Jeff Gordon failed to finish the Coca- Cola 600 ? his first DNF since the race at Lowe?s last fall. He has now failed to finish his last five races at Charlotte. Gordon has not had more than two consecutive DNFs at
any other track on the circuit.
Season in Review Laps Led
? No driver has led in every race this season.
? Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth have led in 10 races. Gordon leads all other drivers in bonus points
earned this season with 70.
? Jeff Gordon has led 674 of the 4,053 laps ? 18.45 percent of the laps raced.
? Six different drivers have led the most laps in a race: Jeff Gordon (four), Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch
(two each), Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin (one each).
? Only three times has the race winner led the most laps: California (Matt Kenseth), Atlanta (Jimmie
Johnson) and Talladega (Jeff Gordon).
Points ? Only two drivers have ranked in the top 10 in points for every
race: Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton.
? Mark Martin led the points from California through Atlanta, becoming the oldest driver to lead the points for more than a week under the current point system. Martin, who is 48, falls behind Bobby Allison (51 in 1988) and Morgan Shepherd (49 in 1990) as the third-oldest driver to lead the points. Allison and
Shepherd both led the standings for just one week at that age.
? Jeff Gordon assumed the points lead after Bristol.
? Kurt Busch moved into 10th in the point standings with his third-place finish at Talladega, his first time in
the top 10 since he finished the 2005 season in 10th place.
? Jeff Burton dropped from second to fifth at Richmond ? prompting the only change in the top five in point
standings since Martinsville.
? David Ragan ranked fifth in the point standings for the first two weeks of the season, the highest point
standings by a Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate in 2007.
Turn Around ? Eight of the current top-12 in the point standings finished in the final top 10 in 2006; nine finished in the
top 12.
? J.J. Yeley has made the largest gain over his 2006 final point standing? gaining 14 positions from 29th to
15th.
Rookie Performance ? Three different drivers have been the highest-finishing rookie at least once this season: Juan Pablo
Montoya (six), David Ragan (four) and Paul Menard (two).
? The best finish by a rookie has been fifth by David Ragan at Daytona and by Juan Pablo Montoya at
Atlanta.
Season in Review Car Owner Points ? Sterling Marlin and the No. 14 Ginn Racing Chevrolet was the only driver in the first five races of the
season that had to make the field on time and do so in all five races.
? The biggest gain in car owner points over the final 2006 standings is held by the No. 01 owned by Bobby Ginn. The No. 01 ranked 28th in the final 2006 owner point standings and is currently 22 positions ahead
of that ranking.
? Only one of the teams in the current top 35 in owner points did not compete in 2006: Bobby Ginn (No.
13).
Car Owner Streaks and Sweeps ? Hendrick Motorsports won five consecutive races (Phoenix through Charlotte). Prior to this season, the previous time that a car owner won five straight was by Petty Enterprises in 1971. Hendrick?s five wins
were compiled by three drivers.
? Hendrick Motorsports has already swept the top two finishing positions four times in 2007. Last season, an owner posted a 1-2 finish just once (Jack Roush Racing at Dover in June). In the 10 seasons prior to this, there were only thirty-two 1-2 (or better) finishes by an owner ? and an owner has posted four in a
season only once. Roush-Fenway Racing (2005).
? Hendrick also has posted back-to-back 1-2 finishes this season (Talladega and Richmond). In the previous 10 seasons this has occurred just once. Roush did so at Bristol and Texas in 1998.
Manufacturer
? Chevrolet and Dodge debuted new models for the Car of Tomorrow in its inaugural race at Bristol. The new Chevrolet model was an Impala while the Dodge was an Avenger. It was the first race for the Impala
model since the mid-1960s and the first ever for the Avenger.
? Chevrolet got its 600th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory with Kyle Busch?s win at Bristol. Busch?s victory was the first for the Chevrolet Impala since Wendell Scott won at Jacksonville (Fla.) Speedway Park on
Dec. 1, 1963.
? Toyota scored its first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup top-five finish when Brian Vickers finished fifth at
Charlotte.
Blazing Start ? Chevrolet has won 11 of the first 12 races this season, the best start to a season for a manufacturer since Chevrolet won the first seven races and nine of the first 11 in 1995. o Ford notched nine consecutive wins in 1992, the longest streak to start a season ever. o Ford won 33 of the first 34 races of the 55-race season in 1965. Mercury won the second
race of the season that year.
