Posted by Matt Willis
Last week I wrote all about
Jeff Gordon, and what do you know, he goes on to snap all sorts of streaks at Texas.
He finally wins at Texas and finally wins period, snapping a career-long 47-race winless streak.
It makes you wonder what else I could pull off by writing here. Maybe I could talk about how I've never won the lottery or had my own sitcom. I've never bench-pressed 400 pounds, either.
Three-hundred and ninety-nine? Yes, that's child's play. Who's going to spot me?
Now as we head into Easter, I'd like to wish everybody a happy holiday and a happy sports weekend. If you're like me, you'll be eating jelly beans while watching the Masters in your green jacket. I'm on top of the fashion game if nothing else.
Lone Star win
Gordon's win at Texas means there's only one track on the Sprint Cup circuit at which he has yet to win, that being Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the series runs only once a year, the season finale.
Gordon has won on 23 of the 24 tracks he has raced at in the Cup Series, including two tracks that are no longer active, North Wilkesboro and Rockingham.
He also draws just one win shy of Cale Yarborough for the fifth-most wins in Cup history, and a pair shy of tying Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for third. But how do those drivers shape up as far as number of tracks won at?
Let's check out the numbers:
Driver -- Wins -- Tracks won at
Richard Petty -- 200 -- 51 of 84
David Pearson -- 105 -- 38 of 65
Bobby Allison -- 84 -- 28 of 47
Darrell Waltrip -- 84 -- 16 of 26
Cale Yarborough -- 83 -- 18 of 46
Jeff Gordon -- 82 -- 23 of 24
Of course, a disclaimer here is that in the old days of NASCAR, many tracks were raced at once or just a handful of times, but that's still pretty impressive.
Trivia break! What is Jeff Gordon's best career finish at Homestead?
Who wants cookies?
I do! I do!
Well, maybe Jeff Gordon's making them … actually, probably not. But with the win Sunday, Gordon tied the late great Dale Earnhardt for the most wins, 14, on the 1.5-mile "cookie-cutter" tracks.
He shouldn't get too comfortable in his spot, though. His teammate, Jimmie Johnson, has 13 wins on those tracks, and I imagine he and Gordon will be putting some distance on the field.
The drivers with the most wins on 1.5-mile tracks in Cup history:
Driver -- Wins -- Win percentage
Dale Earnhardt -- 14 -- .136
Jeff Gordon -- 14 -- .116
Jimmie Johnson -- 13 -- .178
Bobby Allison -- 11 -- .120
Richard Petty -- 11 -- .085
Trivia break! What are the only two active 1.5-mile tracks at which Johnson has not yet won?
And in case you were curious, at this point last season, Gordon was 14th in points.
And in case Jeff Gordon is curious, if you're making cookies, I like snickerdoodles. Or good ol' chocolate chip. Really, you can't miss.
Signs of life
It had been a rough couple weeks for Roush Fenway Racing, but things looked to pick up for them as the Roush drivers left the short tracks and went to their specialty, the 1.5-mile ovals, starting with Texas.
Roush put three drivers in the top 10, and might've had a winner if not for Carl Edwards' late-race pit road problems. Biffle and Kenseth led 93 and 55 laps, respectively, and both led multiple times during the race. David Ragan, too, spent most of the race in the top 10 before experiencing engine trouble.
The best news was how fast the Roush cars ran in traffic during the race. Biffle was the fastest, Edwards second-fastest and Ragan fourth before his engine troubles.
Trivia break! What is David Ragan's career-best finish, and where did he get it?
Trivia Break answers
1. Gordon finished third at Homestead in 2004, behind
Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson. In each of the past two seasons, he has finished fourth there.
2. Johnson has never won at Chicago or Homestead (sound familiar?)
3. Ragan has a trio of third-place finishes, and they've come at a range of tracks: Richmond, Michigan and Talladega.
Remember, e-mail your thoughts, questions, complaints and praise to me at ESPNMattWillis@yahoo.com.
Matt Willis is a studio researcher at ESPN. He can be reached at ESPNMattWillis@yahoo.com.
