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Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart remain in Chase contention but neither driver has sniffed Victory Lane this season.

No Margin for Error

Gordon and Stewart looking for jump start at Kansas

By NASCAR.COM
September 26, 2008
12:54 PM EDT

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Jeff Gordon has four Cup Series championships. Tony Stewart has two. Both drivers are looking to add to their trophy collection -- and both are facing an uphill climb this weekend at Kansas.

Gordon, whose most-recent title came in 2001, and Stewart, who last won the Chase in '05, once were the faces of their respective organizations, Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing.

Both have been replaced, Gordon by two-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, and Stewart by Kyle Busch, who has a series-best eight victories this season (not to mention Smoke's decision to jet JGR at season's end to head up Stewart-Haas Racing beginning in 2009).

Gordon and Stewart remain in Chase contention but neither driver has sniffed Victory Lane this season and the clock is ticking with only eight races remaining.

Inside the Numbers

2008 Cup season statistics

Pos.	Driver	W	T5	T10	Points

7	Tony Stewart	0	9	14	5,277
8	Jeff Gordon	0	9	13	5,272

However, Kansas could prove to be a watershed race if either driver makes a run at the championship down the stretch:

Inside the Numbers

Career statistics at Kansas

Driver	Races	W	T5	T10	Avg. Finish

Tony Stewart	7	1	3	5 *	11.1
Jeff Gordon	7	2 *	4 *	5 *	10.6

* -- Track record

As similar as their season-to-date and Kansas statistics are, Gordon and Stewart also have near-mirror stats during their head-to-head careers:

All Cup Series Races

Total races	348
First race	Feb. 14, 1999, at Daytona
Last race	Sept. 21, 2008, at Dover

	Tony Stewart	Jeff Gordon

Wins	32	39
Top-5 finishes	128	143
Top-10 finishes	205	207
Avg. finish	12.6	12.9

As Mark Aumann notes in this week's Retro Racing column, Kansas Speedway is rapidly gaining a reputation as a graveyard where championship aspirations go to die -- Gordon's 39th-place finish in 2006 eliminated him from title consideration -- and while most of the post-race spotlight during the 2007 race was focused on whether or not eventual winner Greg Biffle maintained a "reasonable pace" on the final lap, for seven of the 12 Chase contenders (including Stewart), Kansas was the end of the road, yellow brick or otherwise (read more).

Last week: Dale Jr. vs. Jeff Burton

• No Margin for Error: Dover -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton entered Dover tied, 50 points behind Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson. Junior finished three laps down in 24th, while Burton posted a ninth-place finish.

As a result, Burton moved up one spot, to fourth, and now trails Edwards by 82 points. Junior tumbled five spots, to ninth, and is 129 points back.