Tony and Mark seem to hold the edge being first and second in the points chase. JJ and Ryan both are wild cards in the deal having both shown the ability to run well almost anywhere. They have so few starts at the remaining tracks that their historical performance is meaningless.
Between Tony and Mark there is a bit more to work with.
Charlotte:
TS - Has run 7 races with a best finish of 2nd and 4 top 5's. Only once in those seven races has he finished out ot the top 10. Finished 6th here Memorial Day weekend this year. His average finsh is 7.4
MM - Since the pring of 1995 Mark ahas finished out of the tiop 10 only one time. During that stretch he amassed 3 wins,including the Memorial Day race this year. During that stretch he had 11 top 5 finishes with a 5 year finshing average of 4.5.
Edge to Mark for next week.
Martinsville:
TS - Again 7 races here for Tony with 2 top 5's including a win in the Fall of 2000. Finshed 3rd here in the spring, but DNF'ed this race last year. Average finish 17.0 Last 5 races here average finish is 11.6
MM - Has a long history with many up and downs, as is likely at any short track. To compare the last 7 races he also has two top 5's and win here in the Spring of 2000. Finished 7th in this race last year and 8th earlier this season. DNF'ed here in the Spring of last year. 5 year average finish is 12.7 with the last 5 races yielding a 14.6 average.
Toss-up
Atlanta:
TS - Won here in the spring. However in the 7 races Tony has under his belt at Atlanta he has only one other top 10 finish and hs 2 DNF's. Average finish 19.3
MM - Finished 8th here this spring and over the last 7 races head to head with Tony he has 3 top 5's. Over the last 5 years Mark Mark has 5 top 5's and 7 top 10's. He has some bad ones too, his five year average is 14.4.
Ever so slight edge to Mark, both might rather pass on this one.
Rockingham:
TS - Tony has 5 straight top 10's in 7 career starts here. His first attempts both resulted in 12th place finihses which are his career worst. Fourth here this spring and 7th in this race last year. Average finish 7.1
MM - Last four races here have been dismal with all fishes of 20th or worse. However beginning back in the Fall of 1997 Mark put together a string of 6 straight top 10's here. Finished 21st here this pring and 34th in this race last year. 5 year average finish 14.2.
Advantage to Tony.
Phoenix:
TS - Tony has three races under his belt here with a win in his first fo6.7llowed by a 14th and then a 5th last year. Qualifying here has been a problem for Tony with no starting spots in the top 10 and a 37th and22 nd in his last two races. Average finish is 6.7
MM - Up until last year when he finished 19th Mark has 9 straight top 10's here, seven of those were top 5's. He finished 2nd four times and had one win. Usually qualifies well and has an average finish of 7.0 over the past 5 years.
Toss-up
Homestead:
TS - Three times the WC folks have shown up here and twice Tony has won with last years 19th beining his only blemish. IF tony has a weakness here it is again qualifying where he has beenin the top 10 qualifiers only once. Average finish 7.0
MM - Has finishes of 4th, 3rd and last years 24th . He too has only starting spot in the top 10. A finishing average of 10.3
Edge to Tony, but not by as much as one might think.
No clear cut favorite to me in this deal at all. With the two rookies lurking and these two as close as the history indicates, the fat lady is gonna run around to the different camps so many times there may be no fat lady to sing at all come seasons end!
Don't ya just love it!
