Jeff Gordon’s Rebirth

Jeff Gordon, in a familiar place atop the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, has inserted himself into the always hot-button discussion: Who’s the best driver in the sport today?

Though Gordon’s winless drought reached 47 races after last Sunday’s event at Martinsville, Gordon ranks atop a number of key statistical categories:

Average Running Position
  
Driver                        ARP
1. Jeff Gordon             5.4
2. Jimmie Johnson      7.4
3. Denny Hamlin         8.9 
4. Kurt Busch             10.1
5. Carl Edwards          11.1

Fastest Laps Run
  
Driver                         FLR
1. Jeff Gordon               191
2. Jimmie Johnson        154
3. Kurt Busch               129 
4. Kyle Busch              126
5. Denny Hamlin           102

Statistically, this is Gordon’s best season in years, mirrored only by 2007 when he battled for the championship only to finish second to Jimmie Johnson (2007 was also the last season Gordon won a race). Through the first six races of the season since the inception of Loop Data in 2005:

Jeff Gordon After Six Races (2005-Present)
                        Avg.
Year      Rk      Finish      ARP      FLR      LT15%       Led      DR 
2005       6         15.0        15.8      130        60.8          93        93.2 
2006       7         11.8        10.2       69         88.2          8          97.9 
2007       1          5.2           9.9      171        75.9          241      108.7
2008       9         15.8          7.6      150        92.2          183      106.5
2009       1          5.2           5.4      191        97.2          289      119.6
ARP: Average Running Position
FLR: Fastest Laps Run
LT15%: Percentage of Laps in the Top 15
DR: Driver Rating

In this Sunday’s Samsung 500, Gordon hopes to end two droughts in one. He is winless in his last 47 races overall – and in all 16 races at Texas Motor Speedway. Texas is one of two tracks at which Gordon has yet to win (Homestead is the other). Still, Gordon has some success at Texas despite the lack of victories. Below are his numbers over the last eight Texas races:

Jeff Gordon at Texas Motor Speedway (Last Eight Races)
Date          Finish          ARP          FLR          LT15%          DR          Led
4/05             15              14.3           1            53.3             78.8           1
11/05           14              17.2           1            26.9             78.4            0
4/06             22              19.8           11          22.8             69.7            0
11/06           9                 9.3            7           91.4              98.1            0
4/07             4                 2.1            65         100               136.3          173
11/07           7                 10.1           5           91.9              98.6           20
4/08             43               39.7           0           0                   35.7           0
11/08           2                 11              7           72.5              99.9           15
Total           14.5             15.4           97         57.3              86.9           209
ARP: Average Running Position
FLR: Fastest Laps Run
LT15%: Percentage of Laps in the Top 15
DR: Driver Rating

PHOTO CREDIT: Nick Laham/Getty Images