After Nine-Week Marathon, Todd Bodine Statistically The Clear Winner
09-07-2010 6:51 pm

The series just wrapped up nine races in nine weekends, and there have been winners and losers after the marathon.

The clear winner is points leader Todd Bodine. He started the nine-race stretch with a 55-point lead over second-place Aric Almirola.

Now, that lead stands at 261 points. His performance over the stretch: two wins and six top 10s. He also led the series in Driver Rating (113.6) and Average Running Position (6.2). He was second in Fastest Laps Run (162) and fifth in Laps Led (175).

The second star goes to Austin Dillon, whose quick adaptation has moved him from 11th when the stretch started to his current position of sixth. The marathon couldn't have begun any better.

Dillon scored his first NASCAR national series win, at Iowa, and his stats over the last nine races have been tremendous: eight top 10s, a Driver Rating of 104.7 and an Average Running Position of 7.3.

The one loser, and it's harsh to call him that: Almirola. Almirola was in shouting distance of Bodine when the stretch began, but has since seen his deficit grow to triple digits. When the stretch began, Almirola ranked fourth in Driver Rating. Since then, he has had the seventh best (96.1). His Average Running Position when the streak began ranked second. Over the last nine, it has ranked eighth (10.8).