A mulligan is a do over, a chance to remove from consideration what one has done in the hopes of replacing it with something done better. This year in the Chase, a mulligan was no more than the name of a steam shovel operator from a book in primary school.
So, what would constitute a mulligan in Jimmie Johnson’s world? The closest he came during the Chase would have been his 13th place finish at Talladega. It was the only track he failed to record a Top Ten, one of just three he was not in the Top Five in those ten events. Matt Kenseth was 20th at Talladega and 23rd at Phoenix. Kevin Harvick was 20th at Loudon. Dale Earnhardt Jr had a 35th place result in Chicago, and 15th at Charlotte. All in all, pretty darn good, just not good enough when compared to the six time champion.
Johnson won the title by 19 points over Kenseth in the official standings and he was best over the ten Chase races by 22. Even if we went old school with a 36 race tally, Six Pack would have beat out Harvick by 41 points over the season and Kenseth by 56 to claim the crown. In short, Johnson did not allow any mulligan’s to be used, as a finish outside the Top 13 pretty much ended one’s hopes. His average finish in the Chase was a very hot 5.1.
The good news is that his standard, this hot streak, can, and has been done better. From August 12 through October 1st in 1967, Richard Petty’s average finish was 1…with a record of ten straight victories. Yes, it can be done but something tells me that this might not offer much solace to those hoping to keep J.J. from tying the King and the Intimidator in season championships in 2014.
Here is a look at our hottest 20 drivers over the ten Chase races.
|
Driver |
W |
T5 |
T10 |
Ave |
Pts |
|
|
1 |
Jimmie Johnson |
2 |
7 |
9 |
5.1 |
407 |
|
2 |
Matt Kenseth |
2 |
6 |
7 |
7.4 |
385 |
|
3 |
Kevin Harvick |
2 |
3 |
8 |
7.3 |
379 |
|
4 |
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. |
0 |
5 |
8 |
8.5 |
363 |
|
5 |
Kyle Busch |
0 |
5 |
7 |
9.5 |
352 |
|
6 |
Jeff Gordon |
1 |
3 |
5 |
11.3 |
337 |
|
7 |
Clint Bowyer |
0 |
2 |
6 |
10.9 |
336 |
|
8 |
Brad Keselowski |
1 |
2 |
5 |
12.9 |
321 |
|
9 |
Joey Logano |
0 |
3 |
5 |
12.6 |
320 |
|
10 |
Greg Biffle |
0 |
1 |
3 |
12.6 |
318 |
|
11 |
Kurt Busch |
0 |
3 |
3 |
13.3 |
309 |
|
12 |
Martin Truex, Jr. |
0 |
1 |
4 |
13.4 |
307 |
|
13 |
Jamie McMurray |
1 |
2 |
3 |
16 |
286 |
|
14 |
Ryan Newman |
0 |
0 |
6 |
16 |
286 |
|
15 |
Kasey Kahne |
0 |
3 |
3 |
16.2 |
283 |
|
16 |
Jeff Burton |
0 |
0 |
1 |
16.5 |
278 |
|
17 |
Carl Edwards |
0 |
1 |
3 |
16.9 |
276 |
|
18 |
Denny Hamlin |
1 |
1 |
4 |
17.8 |
268 |
|
19 |
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. |
0 |
1 |
2 |
17.6 |
265 |
|
20 |
Paul Menard |
0 |
1 |
2 |
18.9 |
251 |
