Data shows Earnhardt finding consistency in ’10 (NASCAR.com)
April 21, 2010
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has just one finish worse than 16th through eight races this season.
Is it possible for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to do anything quietly?
No, not really. Not when you’re a seven-time winner of the most popular driver award.
But somehow, Earnhardt has done just that in 2010. Now seventh in the Cup Series points standings, Earnhardt has opened up a 72-point cushion on the Chase cutoff line.
One possible explanation would be his subpar 2009, when he finished the year 25th in points, his worst points position since joining the series full-time in 2000. Maybe there were some low expectations.
But more likely, it’s because Earnhardt has been the poster boy for quiet consistency in 2010.
But that might change soon enough.
The statistics from his most recent race, and those in the race to come, suggest that Earnhardt might win sooner than later. Earnhardt enjoyed his statistically strongest race of the season on Monday at Texas Motor Speedway.
In the eighth-place finish, Earnhardt tallied season-best marks in Driver Rating (116.5), average running position (5.1), laps led (46), fastest laps run (24) and laps in the top 15 percentage (96.1 percent).
His previous best was the Daytona 500, where he scored a Driver Rating of 92.1 in a runner-up finish.
The race was Earnhardt’s first with a Driver Rating more than 100.0. But consistency was the key, as seven of the eight races were over 80.0:
Dale Earnhardt Jr.TrackFinishDriver RatingDaytona292.1Auto Club3257.8Las Vegas1682.5Atlanta1588.0Bristol790.3Martinsville1591.0Phoenix1280.0Texas8116.5Average13.487.32010 Finishes and Driver Ratings
Now he heads to a track—Talladega Superspeedway—at which he has tons of success.
Consider these statistics:
• Earnhardt has five wins at Talladega, third-most all time. • Won four consecutive Talladega races from 2001-2003, longest streak at the track. • Average running position of 14.5, fifth-best • Driver Rating of 92.2, third-best • 47 fastest laps run, third-most • 3,203 green flag passes, seventh-most • Average green flag speed of 192.416 mph, third-fastest • Series-high 1,209 laps in the top 15 (63.7 percent) • 2,212 quality passes, fourth-most
Earnhardt’s last Talladega victory came in October 2004, but he seemed on the verge of another in each of last season’s Talladega events.
In a runner-up finish last April, Earnhardt scored a Driver Rating of 117.2. In an 11th-place run in November, he had a rating of 110.5.
Overall last season at Talladega, Earnhardt compiled these solid statistics: an average finish of 6.5, a Driver Rating of 113.9, an average running position of 7.7, a pass differential (passes minus times passed) of plus-17, seven fastest laps run and a laps in the top 15 percentage of 87.1 percent.
Nobody’s perfect
Because of the back-and-forth nature of Talladega, perfection—in terms of a perfect Driver Rating 150.0—will likely never be obtained. In fact, the top Driver Rating ever scored at Talladega was 135.5 by Jeff Gordon in May 2005. Here are the top single-race Driver Ratings scored at Talladega since the inception of Loop Data in 2005:
Talladega SuperspeedwayPos.DriverDateDriver Rating1.Jeff Gordon5/05135.52.Jeff Gordon4/07126.63.Denny Hamlin4/08125.04.David Ragan10/08121.55.Matt Kenseth10/05120.1Top-five Driver Rating
