Welcome to Tuesday. It's been a while since I've had a race to react off of, so I'd better make this good.

Unfortunately, the talk of the track coming off this weekend seems to be unhappiness with the racing. NASCAR is at a stark disadvantage compared to other major sports in that when the race isn't a classic, there's no other race to flip to.

Yeah, there wasn't a ton of slamming and amazing maneuvering Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway, but race fans can appreciate the stamina showed by running high speeds for long green-flag stretches, and the ability it takes to get on and off pit road under green.

The man who did that better than the rest was Greg Biffle, who snapped a 49-race winless streak with the victory. And he kept up his incredible run this year, lowering his average finish to a tidy 6.0.

I know it's early, but no driver has run a full season and had an average finish that good since Jeff Gordon in his legendary 1998 season, when he had a 5.7. Before that, it was Dale Earnhardt in 1987.

Trivia break! Biffle's trying to be the first driver to win a Cup, Nationwide and Truck title. Who are the two other drivers to win two of the three?

Johnson and the Hendrick bunch

Jimmie Johnson finished second at Texas, the fourth time he's done that in the past five spring Texas races. But it was his most impressive effort.

Johnson had a 131.5 driver rating, his best mark there since NASCAR started tracking loop data for the 2005 season. It was better than any of those other runner-up efforts or his win.

Despite not picking up win No. 200, Hendrick Motorsports did put all four of its cars in the top 10 for the first time in over a year. But Hendrick is now winless in 13 straight Cup races for the first time since 2002-03.

Trivia break! How many races did it take for Rick Hendrick to pick up its first win?

Can-do Kahne

The weekend was pretty kind to Kasey Kahne.

First, a seventh-place finish in the Cup race, his first of the year. Then, a win from the rear of the field in Sunday's Camping World Truck Series race in NASCAR's return to Rockingham, Kahne's fourth win in five career Truck starts.

His Truck series win percentage of 80.0 is the best all time in any of the three NASCAR National Touring Series among drivers who have made at least five starts.

And it's by a very wide margin. The next best in the Truck series is Tony Stewart, who has won two of six races (33.3 percent). In Cup, it's road course specialist Dan Gurney, who won five of 16 starts (31.3 percent). In Nationwide, it's Sam Ard with 22 wins in 92 starts for a 23.9 percent mark.

Trivia break! Kahne finished second in the final Cup race at Rockingham. Who won the race?

Trivia break answers

1. Bobby Labonte won a Cup and Nationwide title. Johnny Benson won a Nationwide and Truck series title.

2. Hendrick needed only eight races to pick up win No. 1.

3. Matt Kenseth beat Kahne by .01 seconds in the last Cup race at Rockingham.

I hope everybody thoroughly enjoyed their off weekend. Treasure it, because I think NASCAR takes only one every decade. It's like an eclipse.

But this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway brings us to the semifinals in the NASCAR bracket, the Fast Four, if you will.

Martin Truex Jr. takes on Dale Earnhardt Jr. on one side of the bracket. Last year's bracket champ, Dale Jr., comes in hot, and his numbers at Texas are great. Truex, on the other hand, has one career top-5 finish at Texas. I'll take D Junior, not M Junior.

Tony Stewart versus Clint Bowyer is tougher. Stewart won last fall, but that's his only top-10 in the past four races there. Bowyer's running a streak of three straight top-10s there. I'll take consistency and Bowyer.

Texas two-stepping

Texas is one of those tracks where Roush Fenway Racing has had tons of success. The Roushketeers have eight wins there, five more than any other team.

Since 2005, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards each rank in the top four in overall driver rating and in the number of fastest laps run. But there's still room for the team to improve.

Both Biffle and Edwards' average finishes in that time are worse than 15th, both worse than where they were running midrace. So it's important for them to finish what they start.

Kenseth, however, moves from a 14.8 average start to 7.0 midrace and a 6.6 average finish in that time.

Looking for Trouble

Every week, our stats and analysis team compiles a breakdown of the wrecks at the next track on the schedule. Here's this week's takeaway:

Expect the wrecks at Texas to have even more impact than in your usual race.

Dating back to the start of 2008, there have been 18 wreck-related DNFs at Texas, the highest total of any non-restrictor plate track in that time.

So the stakes will be even higher than normal this weekend, with the high speeds of Texas making a disastrous finish a reality.

The Eliminator: Texas

For those of you new to my little blog, every week I use a device called The Eliminator to make my race pick. It's pretty simple: Instead of telling you why one guy will win, I'll point out why everybody else has to lose. The driver remaining, by process of elimination, will be the race winner.

1. Nine of the past 10 Texas winners had a previous top-2 finish at the track ( 31 eliminated, 15 remaining).

2. The past seven and 10 of the past 11 Texas winners had a top-15 finish in the previous Kansas race (five eliminated, 10 remaining).

3. Twelve of the past 14 Texas winners finished ninth or better in the previous California race (five eliminated, five remaining).

4. The past three Texas winners had a top-10 finish in each of the previous two Sprint Cup races (three eliminated, two remaining).

5. The past four Texas winners had a top-10 finish in the previous Michigan race (one eliminated, one remaining).

Your winner: Tony Stewart

Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway had a little something for everyone. It had long green-flag runs, slam-and-bang racing, heated tempers, controversial cautions and even a beacon of light for the conspiracy theorists out there in David Reutimann's late-race caution.

But regardless of what you enjoyed best, the checkered flag and grandfather clock now belong to Ryan Newman, who picked up the unlikely win.

That makes it eight wins in the past 16 races for Stewart-Haas Racing, but the focus of this race is going to be on the wreck during the first green-white-checkered that took out the top three cars, driven by Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer.

According to the ESPN Stats & Information crew, that was just the third wreck involving the cars running 1-2-3 in the past 150 Cup points races.

The other two took place in the Daytona 500. In 2009, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were involved. In 2011, Regan Smith, Kurt Busch and Bowyer tangled.

Bowyer, remember, also was a victim (or the perpetrator, depending who you ask) of Sunday's wreck.

Trivia break! Besides Stewart-Haas Racing, what other teams have multiple wins in the past 16 races?

Gordon's heartbreak

Gordon was going for all sorts of history Sunday. Not only would a win have been his eighth at Martinsville, good for third all time, it would've given Hendrick Motorsports its long-awaited 200th victory.

Gordon led 328 laps but finished 14th. In Martinsville history, that's the seventh-most laps led by a driver in a non-win and the most since Rusty Wallace led 343 in April 2000 but finished 10th.

Only one driver has ever led more than 300 laps in a Martinsville race and finished worse than Gordon. In 1971, Donnie Allison led 367 laps but finished 15th.

Trivia break! After Gordon and Johnson, what driver has the most wins for Hendrick Motorsports?

Best of the worst

NASCAR releases a stat called driver rating, which closely mirrors the NFL's passer rating. Anything over 100 is good, and it maxes out at 150. The stat involves many of NASCAR's loop-data numbers and is a good indicator of overall performance above just finishing position.

Well, Gordon's was a 133.0 on Sunday, despite the 14th-place finish.

Going back to the start of the 2007 season, Gordon's mark is the best single-race rating for a driver not to finish in the top 10. The previous best mark was Kyle Busch's 132.7 in the 2009 Chase race at Texas, where he finished 11th.

Sunday also was Gordon's first race this season with a driver rating of over 100.

Trivia break! Who are the only two drivers with more Martinsville wins than Gordon?

Trivia break answers

1. Penske Racing and Roush Fenway Racing have two wins apiece in the past 16 races.

2. Terry Labonte won 12 races with Hendrick, third-most with the team.

3. Richard Petty has 15 Martinsville wins. Darrell Waltrip has 11.

The men's and women's college basketball tournaments are down to just four teams each, but here in my NASCAR Bracket of Massive Significance, I'm not ready for that yet. Our quarterfinals have left us with some very intriguing matchups:

Earnhardt Bracket

Greg Biffle versus Martin Truex Jr.: Biffle's numbers at Martinsville are less than stellar. He's never had a top-5 finish there. Truex just has one top-5 but was eighth there last fall, so he's my pick.

Allison Bracket

Dale Earnhardt Jr. versus Matt Kenseth: These two have a history dating back to the Nationwide Series before it was the Nationwide Series. Junior has been excellent at Martinsville lately; I like him to reach the semis.

France Bracket

Kevin Harvick versus Tony Stewart: Fun matchup between last year's Martinsville winners. Stewart won his last start, but his three before that were all 24th or worse. Harvick has three straight top-5s at the Paper Clip, so he's my man.

Petty Bracket

Clint Bowyer versus Paul Menard: The only non-1-versus-2 matchup in the bracket. Bowyer's Martinsville numbers aren't great, but Menard has never had a top-10 there.

Three-man show?

In the previous 10 races at Martinsville, three drivers have separated themselves from the pack: Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson.

Those three all have an average finish of 5.1 or better in that time. No other driver has a mark better than 10th.

So, looking inside the numbers, who's the man to beat? Or who's the guy to pick up if you can have only one on your fantasy team? That depends on how you look at it.

In terms of how many times these drivers have been passed the previous 10 races, Johnson has been passed the fewest at 292. And he does the best of staying up front with an average position of 5.4. The other two each have been passed more than 300 times in those races, with average positions between sixth and seventh.

But if you look at pure speed, Gordon has been the fastest driver on the track most often. He's run the fastest lap on 559 circuits over the 10 races. Johnson's at 491, and Hamlin 420.

At the end of the race, a tight finish also favors Gordon. Over the final 10 percent in each of those 10 races, Gordon has a plus-2 pass differential, while Johnson and Hamlin have put up negative numbers.

However, not much separates these drivers, and all three will be heavy threats up front all day Sunday.

Looking for trouble

Every week, our stats and analysis team compiles a breakdown of the wrecks at the next track on the schedule. Here's this week's takeaway:

For everybody who missed the slam-banging action at Bristol two weeks ago, you might be in luck.

Since 2004, when Martinsville was repaved, no track has featured more accidents than Martinsville with 154. The next highest is Charlotte with 108, then Bristol at 103.

And when deciding what end of the track to focus on, pick Turns 3 and 4. Since 1990, there've been 130 accidents in Turns 3 and 4, opposed to 86 in Turns 1 and 2.

The Eliminator: Martinsville

For those of you new to my little blog, every week I use a device called The Eliminator to make my race pick. It's pretty simple: Instead of telling you why one guy will win, I'll point out why everybody else has to lose. The driver remaining, by process of elimination, is the race winner.

1. Eleven of the past 12 Martinsville winners finished in the top 20 in the previous week's race ( 26 eliminated, 19 remaining).

2. The past seven spring Martinsville winners finished ninth or better in the previous Martinsville race (12 eliminated, seven remaining).

3. The past nine Martinsville winners had a top-10 in the most recent Richmond race (three eliminated, four remaining).

4. The past seven Martinsville winners had a top-5 finish in the previous New Hampshire race (three eliminated, one remaining).

Your winner: Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart appreciates the history and lore of auto racing; just look at his idolization of and relationship with A.J. Foyt. So he probably knows who Elzie Wylie Baker is.

But others might not, and that's OK. If you're a new fan to NASCAR, that might be a new name to you. Others probably know him better as Buck Baker.

Baker, who died in 2002, drove 26 seasons in what is now the Sprint Cup Series. He was the first driver to win back-to-back championships, in 1956 and '57. He won a title in 1957 as an owner/driver after winning one in 1956 driving for Carl Kiekhaefer.

Stewart, with his 46th win on Sunday, tied Baker for 14th on the all-time list. Stewart likely is not done and is well on his way to becoming the 13th driver to win 50.

Stewart now has won 13 races as an owner/driver, matching Baker and Junior Johnson for sixth all time.

Baker is a NASCAR legend, and while Stewart is still writing his story, he's already in great company.

Trivia break: When was the last rain-shortened race prior to Sunday?

Seven Out Of 15 Ain't Bad

Dating back to last season, Tony Stewart now has won seven of the past 15 Sprint Cup Series races. In that stretch, he both won a title and replaced his crew chief.

Over the past 15 seasons, only three other drivers have won at least seven races in a 15-race stretch. Check out the chart.

Jeff Gordon did it multiple times in 1998 and won eight of 15 races in his stretch that year.

Trivia break: Gordon won four straight in 1998. Who is the only driver to replicate that feat since?

Yellow's Just Not In

Some people might have called Sunday's race a little boring, but I called it nearly historic.

There were no cautions in the race until the rains came around Lap 125 and eventually caused the race to be called.

Part of that might have been due to the multiple lines and width of the track. Part of it might have been the desire to get to halfway to make it an official race. Either way, we were on a historic pace.

The last time there was a caution-free race was in 2002 at Talladega, a Dale Earnhardt Jr. win, and it's happened just five times since the start of the 1985 season.

Unbelievably, three of the past four times we've had a caution-free race, it's come at Talladega, as races there in 1997 and 2001, as well as 2002, went the distance without a caution.

The last time we had a caution-free race at an intermediate track came at the track most similar to California on the schedule, at Michigan in 1999.

Trivia break: Who won the caution-free race at Michigan in 1999? Hint: He's now one of my co-workers.

Trivia Break Answers

1. The last rain-shortened race was in June 2009 at New Hampshire.
2. Jimmie Johnson won four straight in 2007.
3. Now-ESPN analyst Dale Jarrett won the caution-free race at Michigan.

The first round of my annual NASCAR Bracket of Massive Significance was nothing if not mad.

Bristol wrecking and bad luck led to such upsets as Bobby Labonte over Jeff Gordon, Brian Vickers over Jimmie Johnson, and David Gilliland over Carl Edwards.

But there's still plenty of big names and stars left in the running, including a matchup between last week's top two finishers, Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth. Seeding was based off last week's standings when the brackets were formed.

Petty Bracket
(1) Greg Biffle vs. (16) Bobby Labonte: Gotta love the points leader here.
(8) Martin Truex Jr. vs. (24) Juan Pablo Montoya: Neither has great numbers at California, but I'll take Truex, who's on a roll.

France Bracket
(4) Dale Earnhardt Jr. vs. (13) Ryan Newman: Newman was fifth in the last two California races, while Junior is top-fiveless in the last seven races.
(5) Matt Kenseth vs (21) Brad Keselowski: Kenseth is powerful here; taking him.

Earnhardt Bracket
(2) Kevin Harvick vs. (15) Jeff Burton: I'll take Harvick, the defending champ who has three straight top-seven finishes here.
(7) Tony Stewart vs. (10) Mark Martin: The collection of 55 drivers runs into the defending champ. I like Smoke here.

Allison Bracket
(14) Clint Bowyer vs. (30) AJ Allmendinger: The Dinger's had problems settling in, while Bowyer's been heating up. Give me a sip of Five-Hour Energy.
(11) Paul Menard vs. (27) David Gilliland: The Cinderella run comes to an end. Menard and his Nardburns moves on.

Just How Good Is The 48?

There's no denying that Johnson is a flat-out stud at California. In the last nine California races, he's finished in the top three eight times. The other race? A pathetic ninth.

Last year, Johnson finished an oh-so-tight second to Harvick after Harvick passed him in the final turn, and I imagine Johnson will be out for revenge.

But just how good is Johnson at California? Since the start of 2007, you can make the case that it's his best track on the circuit.

In that time, of the 2,150 laps Johnson has run at California, he was the fastest car on the track on 405 of them, nearly 19 percent.

That's Johnson's highest percentage at any track since 2007, beating his second-best track, Chicago, by nearly 2 percent.

Looking For Trouble

Every week, our stats and analysis team compiles a breakdown of the wrecks at the next track on the schedule. Here's this week's takeaway:

Two of the drivers looking to break long winless streaks could be in trouble this weekend. Biffle and Earnhardt have each been collected in four accidents at California, the most of any drivers.

So how do they prevent this? By starting up front.

All time at California, cars starting in the front five rows have been involved in 18 accidents. That number grows as you go through the field. Twenty-five that start 11th-21st and 32 from 22nd-32nd.

The Eliminator: California

For those of you new to my little blog, every week I use a device called The Eliminator to make my race pick. It's pretty simple, instead of telling you why one guy will win, I'll point out why everybody else has to lose. The driver remaining, by process of elimination, is my pick for the race winner.

1. The last 11 California winners had a previous top-four finish at the track (27 drivers eliminated, 19 remaining).

2. The last four California winners finished in the top 15 in the last Charlotte race (eight eliminated, 11 remaining).

3. The last 11 California winners finished in the top nine in the last California race (five eliminated, six remaining).

4. The last six California winners finished ninth or better in the last Kansas race (two eliminated, four remaining).

5. Six of the last seven California winners finished in the top nine in the last Chicago race (two eliminated, two remaining).

6. The last four and 10 of the last 11 California winners had a top-six finish in one of the previous two Cup races (one eliminated, one remaining).

Your winner: Carl Edwards

It may be a whole new Bristol, with side-by-side racing replacing the single-groove, knock-'em-out-of-the-way style that we all grew up with, but we saw one very familiar sight Sunday: the Blue Deuce rolling into Victory Lane.

We also saw one getting-much-more-familiar sight: Brad Keselowski celebrating a win. That's four in the past 28 for him.

That's the 10th Cup win at Bristol Motor Speedway for Penske Racing, all 10 coming from the No. 2 car. Keselowski is now responsible for two of those wins, with Rusty Wallace getting seven and Kurt Busch the other.

Penske's 10 Bristol wins are tied with Roush Fenway Racing for the most among active teams at the track. And it's good enough for a tie for second all time, behind only Junior Johnson's 16 owner wins at the half-mile bullring.

Keselowski also joined some pretty select company in drivers to win back-to-back Cup races at Bristol, becoming the 12th driver to do so. The only other active drivers to pull off that feat are the Brothers Busch. Kurt won three straight in 2003-04, while Kyle Busch twice went back-to-back.

Trivia break! Who holds the record for consecutive Cup wins at Bristol?

New power team?

Michael Waltrip Racing did something Sunday that it had never done, putting multiple cars in the top five. Not only that, but it put all three of its cars in the top five.

With those three top-5s, MWR now has as many top-5 finishes this season as the entire four-car Hendrick Motorsports organization. Only Roush Fenway Racing has more top-5s than Waltrip.

Furthermore, all three MWR cars are in the top 10 of the owner points standings (MWR is the only Cup team with three cars in the top 10).

Trivia break! Who recorded the first top-5 finish for Michael Waltrip Racing?

Everybody's a winner

With Keselowski winning in a Dodge, we've now seen all four manufacturers visit Victory Lane this season: Matt Kenseth's Ford, Denny Hamlin's Toyota and Tony Stewart's Chevrolet preceded Keselowski.

Although four car makers winning four straight races happened last year, a streak like this to start the season is a rare occurrence.

The last time we had different car models win the first four races of the season came in 1986, when Geoffrey Bodine won in a Chevrolet, then Kyle Petty in a Ford, Terry Labonte in an Oldsmobile and Morgan Shepherd in a Buick.

The amazing part, however, is my little trivia challenge below.

Trivia break! In 1986, we had different manufacturers win the first five races. Rusty Wallace won the fifth race in what make?

Trivia break answers

1. Darrell Waltrip won seven straight from 1981-84.

2. Michael Waltrip did it himself, with a second-place finish at New Hampshire in 2008.

3. Rusty Wallace won in a Pontiac.

What a great time to be a sports fan! NASCAR is in full swing, but right now, it gets overshadowed by the NCAA tournament.

But why let the college hoops fans have all the fun and enjoyment that brackets can bring?

For the past few years, I've had a little NASCAR bracket this time of year, humbly called the Bracket of Massive Significance.

Simply put, the top 32 in points are matched up bracket-style, going head-to-head, with the top finisher advancing. And in the spirit of the tournament, all the craziness of the first weekend begins with Bristol.

The matchups:

Petty Bracket
(1) Greg Biffle vs. (32) Landon Cassill
(16) Bobby Labonte vs. (17) Jeff Gordon
(9) Joey Logano vs. (24) Juan Pablo Montoya
(8) Martin Truex Jr. vs. (25) Jamie McMurray

France Bracket
(4) Dale Earnhardt Jr. vs. (29) Kurt Busch
(13) Ryan Newman vs. (20) Dave Blaney
(12) Kyle Busch vs. (21) Brad Keselowski
(5) Matt Kenseth vs. (28) David Ragan

Earnhardt Bracket
(2) Kevin Harvick vs. (31) Casey Mears
(15) Jeff Burton vs. (18) Marcos Ambrose
(10) Brian Vickers vs. (23) Jimmie Johnson
(7) Tony Stewart vs. (26) Kasey Kahne

Allison Bracket
(3) Denny Hamlin vs. (30) AJ Allmendinger
(14) Clint Bowyer vs. (19) Regan Smith
(11) Paul Menard vs. (22) Aric Almirola
(6) Carl Edwards vs. (27) David Gilliland

Some intriguing matchups in the first round. Let's start the conversation in the comments section, and fill out your brackets.

Smoke-free zone at Bristol?

Coming off a nice win at Las Vegas, Tony Stewart is heading to one of his worst tracks statistically. Sure, he won the fall race at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2001, but his top-10 percentage of just more than 30 percent is his worst at any Cup track he has raced at more than once.

Dating back to 2005, his overall driver rating at Bristol is an 89.5, which is 10th best at the track, and doesn't seem that bad.

But let's just look at the past three years, in his time with Stewart-Haas Racing, when Stewart has had a driver rating of 80.4 or lower in five of six starts there.

Last fall at Bristol, Stewart's driver rating was a paltry 46.6, and he didn't run a single lap in the top 15. Over the past six races at Bristol, his average driver rating is a 72.1. If that were his career mark at the track, it would rank him 24th among all drivers.

Looking for trouble

Every week, our stats and analysis team compiles a breakdown of the wrecks at the next track on the schedule. Here's this week's takeaway:

Although Bristol has undergone a major facelift recently, the fact remains that there are more accidents at Bristol than any other track.

In fact, Bristol has averaged 7.7 accidents per race since 1990, two more per race than the next-highest track, Martinsville.

And there's no breathing room, as each area of the half-mile track accounts for no more than 20 percent of the total accidents there, but also no fewer than 14.8 percent of the total accidents.

The Eliminator: Bristol

For those of you new to my little blog, every week I use a device called The Eliminator to make my race pick. It's pretty simple. Instead of telling you why one guy will win, I point out why everybody else has to lose. The driver remaining, by process of elimination, is the projected race winner.

1. Seventeen of the past 18 Bristol winners had a previous top-four finish at the track (23 eliminated, 23 remaining).

2. The past seven spring Bristol winners finished 18th or better in the previous Richmond race (11 eliminated, 12 remaining).

3. The past 11 Bristol winners finished in the top 20 in both of last year's Bristol races (five eliminated, seven remaining).

4. Six of the past seven Bristol winners had a top-four finish in one of the previous two races (six eliminated, one remaining).

Your winner: Ryan Newman.

A week after Darian Grubb proved he could win without Tony Stewart, Tony Stewart proved he could win without Darian Grubb. Classic fairy-tale ending.

But let's get away from the romanticized tales of vindication and betrayal, and start talking some numbers. And today's number is 14.

No, that's not because it's Tony Stewart's car number, give me some credit now. This was the 14th season in a row in which Tony Stewart has won a Cup race, making him just the eighth driver to do so, joining Richard Petty, David Pearson, Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon.

What else makes it impressive is that, other than this season, Stewart's only finished one year with just a single win during that streak. Among the other seven drivers, only Petty and Gordon had one or fewer single-win seasons during their streaks.

Trivia break: With his 45th career Cup win, Stewart moved into sole possession of 15th all-time. Who was he tied with?

None Shall Pass

Last year at Las Vegas, Stewart was dominant, leading 163 laps. But he came up short, finishing second to Carl Edwards.

This year, he didn't lead as many laps, but his average position on the track was two-and-a-half spots better. Plus, he was only passed nine times under green flag, compared to 71 last year.

That marks the fewest times a driver has been passed under green in a Cup win since Jimmie Johnson was only passed six times when he won at Phoenix in November 2009.

Trivia break: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made it three-for-three for non-Cup regulars in the Nationwide Series this weekend. When was the last time the first three Nationwide races were won by non-Cup drivers?

Third Time's The Charm

A little way behind Stewart, Greg Biffle was finishing third for the third time in three races this season. The rule of threes is in strong effect here.

The last time a driver started a season with three straight top-three finishes came in 2006, when Jimmie Johnson did it on his way to a title.

However, dating back to 1980, four other drivers besides Biffle and Johnson have done it, and none of them went on to win a title.

Trivia break: Who was the last driver to start a season with four straight top-three finishes?

Trivia Break Answers

1. Stewart broke a tie with Bill Elliott.
2. In 1995, Chad Little won the first two, and Kenny Wallace the third race.
3. Earnhardt had four straight top-threes to start the 1989 season.

Looking straight up at the Sprint Cup winners at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, two teams have dominated Victory Lane -- Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing, combining to win 12 of the 14 races at the track.

And although Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards have both won there recently, I want to analyze two Hendrick drivers for my little blog this week. And I can, because it's my blog.

Jimmie Johnson has won four of the past seven Las Vegas races, but in true Sin City fashion, it's been all or nothing for the 48.

Besides those four wins, Johnson has never had a top-5 finish at Las Vegas, and he's finished 16th or worse in three of the past four races. His race here last season was especially a letdown.

In that race, Johnson was passed 84 times under green flag, the most he's been passed in a Vegas race since NASCAR began tracking loop data in 2005. He also failed to lead a lap and spent just 37 percent of his laps in the top 15, so a 16th-place finish might've been better than he ran.

Jeff Gordon is another story. He has one Vegas win, coming back in his last championship season, 2001. But Gordon has been overdue for a win at Vegas, as he's had five top-5 finishes in his past seven races.

So what's his problem?

Plain and simple, Gordon has to run a clean race. His only two non-top-5 finishes in the past seven events there were races he wrecked out of, including a hard crash in 2008 that was scary to watch. Last year, Gordon finished 36th after wrecking out. Over the past four Vegas races, he's the only driver with multiple crash-related DNFs.

In fact, Gordon has been involved in four accidents at Vegas since the track opened, the only driver involved in that many.

Looking for Trouble

Every week, our stats and analysis team sends out a breakdown of the wrecks at a track. I'm going to call this weekly entry Looking for Trouble. Here's this week's takeaway:

Watch out for Turn 2 at Las Vegas. Statistically, the second turn is usually the most dangerous, as six of the past seven most-wrecked areas of all tracks are the second turn. But Vegas' second turn is especially treacherous.

At Vegas, 46.8 percent of all wrecks take place in the second turn. That's the highest percentage of any track's accidents in a single area dating back to 1999.

The Eliminator: Las Vegas

For those of you new to my little blog, every week I use a device called The Eliminator to make my race pick. It's pretty simple: Instead of telling you why one guy will win, I'll point out why everybody else has to lose. The driver remaining, by process of elimination, is the race winner.

1. The past eight Las Vegas winners finished 16th or better in both of the previous season's Charlotte races (32 eliminated, 11 remaining).

2. Every Las Vegas winner finished in the top 15 in the most recent Chicagoland race since that track opened (five eliminated, six remaining).

3. Every Las Vegas winner had a top-4 finish in one of the first two races of the season (five eliminated, one remaining).

Your winner: Kevin Harvick.