Running out of gas in a green-white-checkered while leading. Running out of gas 500 feet from your first checkered flag in over 100 races. Everyone hates having a winless streak. Several drivers have them. Some drivers haven’t won in years, and some haven’t won at all. Some of the more notable drivers in that winless streak group are fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton, and Martin Truex Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who drives the Number 88 National Guard Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports, has been winless since 2008 when he won a single race in that season at Michigan in June. The next two seasons were not stellar for the 36-year-old. 2011 has been a big turn-around for the driver. Sitting fourth in points, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been there to contend for wins.
Kasey Kahne, who drives the number 4 Red Bull Toyota for Red Bull Racing, has been winless since 2009 when won twice in the Cup series, the most recent coming at Atlanta in September. The 2010 season wasn’t a great one, despite a streak of 3 out of 4 races with a top 5 in the summer months. He finished his worst in the points standings last season, 20th. Kasey signed with Hendrick Motorsports for the 2012 season, leaving 2011 undetermined. 2011 has been a sort of slow start for Kahne, though he’s had some almost wins.
Jeff Burton, the driver of the Number 31 CATERPILLER Chevy for Richard Childress Racing, has been winless since 2008, winning the Bank of America 500. With the success of his teammates, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick and his new teammate Paul Menard, Jeff has been trying to keep up to par with the likes of them, but 2011 has been liking Burton this year.
Martin Truex Jr., the driver of the 56 Napa Know How Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, has been winless since 2007 when he won at what he considers his home track, Dover, which propelled him to his first and only chase seed. For the 2010 season, Martin made the move to Michael Waltrip Racing. In 2011, Martin has had some bad luck, wrecking at Martinsville, Texas; had pit problems several times, even fired his whole crew during a race.
The big question right now, with 13 races to go before the chase, is when are these four drivers going to break their winless streak, if at all. After 116 votes from my Facebook fan page, 62 people voted that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would go to Victory Lane before the others. 46 people said that Kasey Kahne would. Only one said Martin Truex Jr., and seven said Jeff Burton.
I picked Kasey Kahne. Why you may ask? It’s not because I’m a huge fan of his. It’s because there are so many tracks that are coming up that Kasey is really good at and has won at. Kasey has won at Pocono (where they are running this weekend), he’s won at Michigan (next week’s track), Sonoma, Atlanta, Richmond, Charlotte. There are some tracks that Kasey’s not very good at, but he always makes it up by running good at another track.
Whether you’re a Kasey Kahne fan or a Kyle Busch fan, you hate seeing your driver in a winless slump. It happens and there’s nothing you can really do about it. If the driver is good enough, that winless steak will end and a winning streak will start.
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