This is a debate that is certainty not new to NASCAR and in fact, it is the reason officials decided to mandate that each driver must declare at the start of each season which division they wish to be given points toward the championship in.
NASCAR is getting ready for Race #7 on the schedule located at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Will things finally settle down this weekend? I think so considering it is a large track with lots of room to race but you don't have to look any further than the 2013 Auto Club 400 if you want a shoot a gaping hole in that theory. It seems like this year anything can and will happen.
So, is 5-time better than Richard Petty and even the late, great Dale Earnhardt? Let's crunch some numbers first and see how the three compare. It took Richard 15 years to win 5 championships while Earnhardt did it in 13...a feat that took Johnson just 9 years to accomplish in arguably the most competitive era in NASCAR history.
While everyone focused on the battle for the win at Martinsville, there was a team that quietly finished 16th and continued their steady climb up the standings. They are Germain Racing with driver, Casey Mears who scored his 4th top 16 finish of the year at the historic short track.
2013 has not been a good year so far for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). Tony Stewart has one top 10 finish through five races, Danica Patrick looks like she's somehow regressed and its been feast or famine for Ryan Newman who has either scored a top 10 or a DNF.
Earnhardt posted his third top-5 result of the year with the runner-up in the Auto Club 400 and took over the top spot in the Sprint Cup point standings. He leads Brad Keselowski by 12.
Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished third at Bristol and snatched the points lead from Jimmie Johnson, who finished 22nd, two laps down. Keselowski now leads Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by nine.
Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished sixth at Las Vegas and maintained his lead in the Sprint Cup point standings. Johnson leads Brad Keselowski by five points.
As the 2013 season gets underway this weekend at Daytona for the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series, it’s time once again to analyze the statistics and see just who you should be watching this weekend at the “World Center of Racing”.
