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Kasey Kahne was last year’s pole and race winner. He would battle back after a pit road miscue, leaving with loose lugs. Other drivers stayed out while he took fuel and tires. He was able to easily outrun the gamblers Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the win.

Kahne is not the only strong one here as far as the numbers go; you will even be surprised who is on the list! Read on, as we examine who’s hot at Pocono and who is on a current hot streak.

Richmond produced a wild finish this time last year. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was on a 71 race drought and within just 3 laps of a victory when he slammed into the wall in turn 3 after Kyle Busch slid up the track into his No. 88 as they both battled for the lead on lap 398. Kyle was showered with beer cans over the catch fence as the cars circled the track under caution before the green white checkered.

Last year, Kyle Busch made history in March 2008 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

He became the first driver to win a Sprint Cup race for a foreign manufacturer since 1954.

Let’s run down the numbers at Atlanta and see who’s hot statistically speaking.

Matt Kenseth will try his hand at making history this weekend going for win number 3 in a row.

Drew Blickensderfer and the crew have been flawless so far, getting Kenseth out in a hurry and in the right place at the right time.

Kenseth is no stranger to great finishes at Las Vegas either. He won back to back races during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. He finished runner up in 2006.

Matt has the fourth best driver rating here of 107.8 with a high of 135.8 (2nd best). He has 5 top 10’s out of the last 6 races here.

Jeff Gordon dominated the rain interrupted Auto Club 500, but did not win. Jimmie Johnson was leading until rain stopped the race on lap 87.

The race was continued on Monday. Johnson was leading the race until Carl Edwards took it away with 13 laps to go.

The race ended under caution as Dale Jarrett spins out. These same drivers mentioned are strong front-runners at California.

Read on as I run down California by the numbers showing who has a better handle on the track than others.

Track Facts:

Size – 2 miles

Race Length – 250 laps / 500 miles

Banking / Corners – 14 degrees

Banking / Frontstretch – 11 degrees

Banking / Backstretch – 3 degrees

It all started with practice, from a ti-re I hear
When Stewart took another, hard jab at Goodyear

Then the starting ceremony, felt like it went on forever
If they’d just started sooner, we could have beaten the weather

On lap 9 we saw, caution number 1
When Ragan bumped Almirola and then his car spun

Yellow number 2, for competition that’s all
But number 3 was when Kvapil, said hello to the wall

Newman comes down pitroad, to get tires and be gone
But the jack falls and the crew can’t get the left side ones on

Lagano t-bones the wall, caution 4’s under-way
Welcome to Sprint Cup, are you enjoyin’ your stay?

Daytona has proven it’s the race of all races. “Well Knowns” doing what they do best, and “Young Guns” trying to make a name for themselves, can have the makings for some good side by side racing. Short tempers, aggressive driving and little mistakes have lead to some bad pile-ups! Daytona should prove to be an exciting race!

Let’s take a look at Homestead under the microscope. This edition will include stats, past winners, hot streak driver (last 5 races) similar track stats (speedway) like who’s hot, manufacturer leaders, records, and much more! No matter if you are a Fantasy League player or just want to know the ins and outs at Homestead, you can get a full dose right here. You won’t leave the table wanting more!

This race could’ve been called the “Jimmie-Jo Show” but it did have some spicy moments. We had over-heating cars, wall slapping cars, pit-road spinning cars, delays from 10 cautions and Mother Nature, teammates taking out each other, a Hendrick crop-duster, a double-stacked car pile-up and two other drivers besides Edwards, that would prove to be contenders with Johnson, one of them challenging him for the most led laps. This lap-by-lap rewind will recap these and other events of this race.

Jimmie Johnson is sitting in the driver seat but Carl Edwards is not giving up without a fight. He has now won 8 races this season, tying Kyle Busch for the most so far. Carl is coming into this race with a ton of momentum with 2 consecutive Chase wins. He also placed 4th at Phoenix in the spring race, but Johnson has the edge statistically speaking. There are some more drivers that fair well here, read more as I break it all down. You don’t want to miss these last couple races. With fuel strategy, wrecks and penalties, the Chase is not over! How far will Carl push it this week?

Jimmie Johnson is taking the Chase by storm and Carl Edwards is chasing him.

We’re back at Texas, and Cousin Carl showed the world that he can contend at this track. Earlier this year in the Samsung 500, Edwards built a lead of more than seven seconds over second place Johnson. Two late cautions gave Johnson a fighting chance. One with 39 laps to go for debris, and the other with only 5 to go! Edwards would storm away after each restart. He was just too hot to handle. After the race; “I didn’t have anything at the end for Carl.” Johnson said.

Johnson must average a 9th place finish over the final three races to clinch a third consecutive series title.

This time last year after Richmond, Jimmie Johnson had locked a spot for the favorite to win the Cup title while Dale Jr was locked out. Dale Jr would finish the race 30th after blowing, yet, another DEI engine with only five laps to go, while fighting Tony Stewart for 2nd. This would make his fifth blown motor in six DNF’s. He finished 30th, and was clearly dejected as he shared a brief hug with the crew chief Tony Eury Jr.

Jimmie Johnson was not just the class of the field Sunday night, he overpowered it , in route to his third victory of the season at the Auto Club Speedway. The focus would soon shift from Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch to Jimmie Johnson as his lead laps started piling up. He would end up leading 227 of the 250 laps and averaged 165.68 mph.. The two-time reigning Cup champion, Johnson had earned the pole with a lap of 180.397 miles per hour. He clearly had the strongest car as he stormed back every time he relinquished the lead.