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Juan Montoya has five top-fives on the season with four of them coming in the past five races.Fontana the springboard for Montoya's magical '09
Track was first of 14 he would post a career-high finish
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We should have seen the writing on the wall.
As the Cup Series made its annual February trip to Fontana, not too many people were talking about Juan Montoya. He had finished 25th in points in 2008 and didn't appear to be a title threat heading into 2009. But at the February Fontana race, Montoya showed for the first time past stats meant absolutely nothing.
Montoya finished 11th that day, but considering it was a career high for the third-year driver at the 2-mile track, and his average finish prior to that was 24.8, this was almost like a victory.
Fontana was the first of 14 tracks this season Montoya would post a career-best finish. At 12 of those tracks, he scored top-10 finishes for the first time including a second at Pocono, a third at Atlanta and again at New Hampshire, and fourths at the past two Chase races -- Dover and Kansas.
So as the series heads back to Auto Club Speedway for Sunday's running of the Pepsi 500, Montoya will try to best himself for a third consecutive week and finish in the top 10 for the first time in Southern California.
Inside the Data
Chase drivers at Auto Club Speedway
| Driver | Starts | Wins | Top-fives | Top-10s | Poles | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmie Johnson | 13 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 597 | 9.2 | 6.2 |
| Carl Edwards | 10 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 121 | 18.5 | 6.7 |
| Jeff Gordon | 18 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 591 | 10.7 | 10.9 |
| Kurt Busch | 14 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 226 | 12.0 | 12.9 |
| Kasey Kahne | 11 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 268 | 9.4 | 13.0 |
| Denny Hamlin | 7 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 13.6 | 14.0 |
| Mark Martin | 16 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 273 | 13.9 | 14.9 |
| Tony Stewart | 16 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 228 | 14.9 | 15.9 |
| Brian Vickers | 11 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 49 | 12.6 | 16.0 |
| Greg Biffle | 13 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 297 | 13.2 | 17.1 |
| Ryan Newman | 13 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 12.8 | 19.2 |
| Juan Montoya | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22.0 | 22.0 |
DID YOU KNOW?
99Ninety-nine points is all that separates the top six drivers in the standings, the closest margin between the top six after three races in Chase history.
GORDON'S POLE STREAK
16Since his first full-time season in 1993, Jeff Gordon has won at least one pole in a season -- a streak that has lasted 16 years. Through 29 races in 2009, Gordon has yet to win a pole, putting the longest active streak in the Cup Series in jeopardy. At Fontana, Gordon has started in the top five six times, including from the P1 position in 1998 and 2007.
NECESSITOUS NUMBERS
4Four drivers average a finish inside the top 10 at Fontana: Jimmie Johnson (6.2), Carl Edwards (6.7), Matt Kenseth (9.0) and Kyle Busch (9.2).
4Four drivers have competed in all 18 Cup races and Fontana: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Joe Nemechek. Gordon is the only one with a victory.
5Thanks to Matt Kenseth's win in February, Roush Fenway Racing has won at least one race at Fontana since 2005 -- a streak of five years. Ironically, all five wins have come in the spring race (Greg Biffle, '05; Matt Kenseth, '06, '07, '09; Carl Edwards, '08).
6With his seventh-place finish at Kansas, Mark Martin has six consecutive top-10 finishes, leading all drivers.
9Carl Edwards has nine top-10 finishes at Fontana in 10 starts including a win, a second, a third and two fourths.
13.2Average starting position of the 18 race winners at Fontana. Nine of the 18 have started outside the top 10 with only two winners coming from the front row -- Jimmie Johnson in the 2007 and 2008 fall races, when he started second and first, respectively.
305Mark Martin needs to lead 305 laps to catch Junior Johnson for 10th all time in laps led in the Cup Series. Johnson led 12,651 laps in his career; Martin currently is at 12,346.
518Number of points Jimmie Johnson has scored in the past three races at Fontana, tops among all drivers. In those three races, he finished first, second and ninth and led at least 74 laps. Matt Kenseth has the second-most points with 515 and Carl Edwards is third with 491.
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Sprint Cup Series
Standings
| Pos. | +/- | Driver | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | -- | Mark Martin | 5,551 | -- |
| 2. | -- | Jimmie Johnson | 5,533 | -18 |
| 3. | -- | Juan Montoya | 5,500 | -51 |
| 4. | +1 | Tony Stewart | 5,484 | -67 |
| 5. | -1 | Kurt Busch | 5,460 | -91 |
| 6. | -- | Denny Hamlin | 5,452 | -99 |
| 7. | +1 | Jeff Gordon | 5,448 | -103 |
| 8. | +1 | Greg Biffle | 5,437 | -114 |
| 9. | -2 | Ryan Newman | 5,387 | -164 |
| 10. | +1 | Carl Edwards | 5,386 | -165 |
| 11. | +1 | Kasey Kahne | 5,361 | -190 |
| 12. | -2 | Brian Vickers | 5,301 | -250 |
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