“Sorry I didn’t get this article out last week for the Martinsville race. I was pretty surprised at the number of emails I received wondering “where the heck is the Similar Track averages?!?”.

Thanks for letting me know that the article is useful to you.

Similar Track Concept

The theory behind this chart is that there are similar tracks (aka sister tracks) within the NASCAR schedule in terms of banking, distance and shape that a driver may excel at.

What Have You Done For Me Lately?

With all the team changes a driver may do over the course of his career I think the long term view of a driver at any track can be skewed. Bobby Labonte, for instance, is not in as good of equipment as he was when he won the pole at Texas in ‘03 & ‘04. Of course he didn’t finish too well in those races…but you know what I’m getting at.

I like to look at a driver’s career stats at a track, but moreso his most recent statistics. So, this table is sorted by 2008/2009 averages rather then over the length of the drivers career. That stat is still in the table though.

The Tracks

This week’s race is at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, TX. So, the similar tracks we are going to look at are: Texas, Atlanta & Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

The Similarities

C-o-o-k-i-e C-u-t-t-e-r

These tracks put the cookie in “cookie cutter’. They are all 1-1/2-mile, 24°-banked quad-ovals. They are super fast and (ho-hum) sometimes a little boring to watch. The wife and I will be at the track, head-phones on, scarfing down 1-pound mucho grande nachos and cheering (or jeering) the drivers on.

Enough rambling…here is the similar track averages chart for Texas Motor Speedway.

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