- Jimmie Johnson is on a roll. In spite of his ninth place finish at Martinsville, he has taken over the points lead. Here comes championship #5. Everyone else is fighting for the table scraps from the champion's table.
- As good as Johnson is at Martinsville, he's even better at Phoenix. He's NEVER finished worse than 15th at the track, and has won four of the last five races, including three in a row.
- Mark Martin has won twice, 16 years apart (1993, spring 2009). Other active drivers that have two wins: Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Chevy has been dominant in recent years, but it wasn't always that way. In the early years, Ford was dominant, particularly Roush Fords. However, the last Ford driver to win at Phoenix: Kurt Busch.
- Johnson needs to lead 115 laps in order to reach 10,000 laps led in a career. He would become the fourth active driver to reach this milestone. The others: Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Bill Elliott, and Mark Martin
- In the last 10 races at Phoenix, Johnson has accumulated 1,685 points. That's 168.5 points per race! (Is there a track this guy DOESN'T run well at??)
- Thinking of you: Ernie Irvan.
- It's going to be all about Hendrick Horsepower on Saturday, with a bit of the Busch Brothers and RCR thrown in as appetizers.
Predicted Race Winner: Jimmie Johnson. Who else did you expect? JJ continues his mastery of PIR, leads the most laps, and wins in dominating fashion. Rest of the top 5: Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dark horse top 10 finisher: Regan Smith. The driver of the #78 has Earnhardt-Childress horsepower under the hood, and he will show it off impressively en route to a top 10 finish.
That's Gas and Go for this week! Your comments and insights are welcome.
4 comments:
I think Jimmie will get a solid top ten finish but don't think he will end up in victory lane. If you look at the trend, only one of his four wins has come in the spring race...
Can't go wrong when picking Jimmie, but I have a feeling those extra 100 km will come into play. Races that are extended just have a way of doing that.
Also, thanks for the Ernie Irvan mention. He was my favorite driver growing up.
Gonger, I picked Jimmie to jinx him, LOL. Good insight that you give in that he's only won once in spring.
jmayer, I think by the time there are 50 laps to go, JJ will feel like he's in a giant centrifuge. This could favor someone like Carl Edwards or Mark Martin, both of whom are extremely fit. I was thinking of Irvan when I was doing the Gas and Go, and he was superb at Phoenix as I recall.
Good G&G, Jon.
I have Truex as a darkhorse Sat night. Don't really see 50 more laps affecting JJ or any drivers. I bet 500 laps at Dover in the summer heat is a lot rougher than less than 400 at Phoenix. But, I picked JJ to jinx him also.
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