A lot of stats are brought up in the final week of the season. Who has the most top fives, top 10’s, laps led, laps on the lead lap.
Heading into the final race of the season at Homestead Miami Speedway a few drivers will be looking to crack back into victory lane.
Seven drivers who won in 2009 have yet to visit victory lane in 2010. Those drivers are Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers.
Vickers of course is out for the season and will be back at Daytona in Feburary. For four of the sports biggest stars they are still searching for victory lane.
For Martin the last 10 races of the season we have seen glimpses of the Martin of 2009. A little too late for 2010 but Martin is finding ways to finish in the top 10 even if his car is not a top 10 car.
He has seven top fives and 11 top 10’s but the team struggled for most of season with a very ill handling race car. At HMS, Martin has four top fives and five top 10 finishes. Martin has had no wins at the track.
Gordon just can’t seem to close the deal. As the races have worn on though they struggle with the handling of the car and are usually playing catch up in the final run of the race.
This season he has 11 top fives and 17 top 10 finishes. Gordon has never won at HMS; the only track on the circuit he has yet to see victory lane. At HMS he has five top fives and nine top 10 finishes. Gordon is in the longest drought of his career and the season could end in victory lane.
Kahne has had a very interesting year with turmoil inside the organization at Richard Petty Motorsports. In the end though he is finishing out the season at Red Bull Racing where he will run in 2011. Kahne has had fast cars at times this season but bad luck and mechanical failures have taken them out of contention.
This season he has just seven top fives and nine top 10 finishes. His average finish is 19.3 this season and he sits 21st in the standings. At HMS, he has one top five and just two top 10’s. Not his best track on the circuit and he is still looking for a win at the track.
Finally, Kenseth has quietly worked his way to fifth in the standings this season. The problem is he has been basically a non factor in the Chase. His season has been a struggle to find speed. While his teammates have found improvement, Kenseth continued to struggle.
He has six top fives and 14 top 10 finishes in 2010 and while has run better in recent weeks the team still is searching consistency like Gordon. At HMS, he has one win, two top fives and three top 10 finishes at HMS. Kenseth brought it home second at Texas two weeks ago and could very well be the one to beat on Sunday.
All four of these drivers while winless in 2010 have had cars that have been capable of winning races. Consistency or lack thereof has hurt them all this season.
All four drivers don’t need a win to justify their talent but a win could help boost confidence for not only the drivers and crew chiefs but for the guys who work on the cars.
There hasn’t been a sense of panic for any of them when they talk about going winless but all have talked about missed opportunities.
Those add up over time and from not winning every couple races to 70 plus races for Gordon. At some point you have to stop and ask; does it wear them out at all?
On Sunday, while three drivers will be battling for a title; these four drivers will be looking to end a long victory lane drought.
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