After watching last night’s Coke Zero 400, I couldn’t help but wonder how much does luck play a factor in races. All of the drivers on the Sprint Cup circuit are talented people. Sure, some might be more talented than others, but it takes good equipment and, yes, some luck to win the championship. Every season, there are guys who catch all the breaks. Last year it was Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon who could do no wrong. This year it’s Kyle Busch. Then there are guys who can’t seem to do anything right. So this year, who has luck on their side and who can’t seem to catch a break?

Obviously, the aforementioned Kyle Busch has been the luckiest. Last night was proof of it. It looked as though Carl Edwards was going to try to beat him on the outside down the backstretch when the “Big One” broke out and ended the race, with Busch narrowly in the lead. Two weeks ago at Infineon, the cautions came out just right for Busch to move to the front after a horrible starting position. When he took the lead, he never looked back. He kept bouncing his car off the wall at Darlington and still pulled off the win. Others were worse for wear, but Busch shrugged it all off. Do you want to know a statistic? Busch has not gone five races this season without a win. The longest stretch he’s gone without a win this season was from his first win at Atlanta to his second at Talladega. Yes, his team is good and Busch is a very talented driver, but he’s had luck on his side, too. Although, here’s some food for thought: after Race 18, Busch has six wins. In 1998, after Race 18, Jeff Gordon had won five of his 13. Is it possible for Busch to not only reach that win total this season, but to also surpass it?

When you look at the guys who haven’t had very good luck at all this season, the three names that should pop into your head are Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, and Jeff Gordon. Unlike his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Stewart can’t seem to catch any breaks. The fact that he lost the Daytona 500 again could be called by some bad luck, but I think that it was more just a case of picking the wrong partner. Bristol was a clear case of bad luck, as was Charlotte. Stewart was leading with only a handful of laps left when something happened to him, whether it be Kevin Harvick spinning him out or a cut tire. At Dover, he was caught up in somebody else’s mess and at Infineon, he was once again spun out by Harvick. Then last night, Stewart felt so ill that he got out of his car, a move which ultimately dropped him to 12th in the points.

Biffle hasn’t done very well either. He’s been hit by a rash of pit road speeding penalties. Certainly most will argue that those are his own fault, but after the third time it happened this season, I couldn’t help but wonder whether or not Biffle’s getting a good tach reading on the pace laps. Or, hey, maybe he really can’t keep it under 55. Biffle’s had some other bad luck as well. At Darlington, he had the car to beat until problems hit. Last night, he was taken out in a wreck. He may have 5 Top 5s and 7 Top 10s, but he’s sitting 11th in points, the result of his misfortunes.

Jeff Gordon, meanwhile, looked to turn things around with a win at Daytona. Instead, with two laps to go, he gets punted by Carl Edwards and ends up finishing 30th, the last car on the lead lap. At the Daytona 500, Gordon had engine failure, which is something that doesn’t happen often with those Hendrick engines. At California, he had the car to beat on Sunday, but when the rains came and washed out the race until Monday, Gordon’s car just wasn’t the same. Yes, he finished 3rd, but that had to have been disappointing after such a dominant car. At Las Vegas, Gordon was looking to get another Top 5 when he and Matt Kenseth tangled, resulting in one of the worst wrecks NASCAR’s seen in awhile. The fact that he wasn’t injured is a testament to the new car. Moving on to Texas, Gordon’s car was so horrible that he spun out, receiving yet another DNF. Move on to Talladega, it was almost a rehash of last night. Gordon was in position to win, but was shuffled out of line and ended up in the crash that gave Kyle Busch the win. Thanks to decent finishes at Martinsville, Darlington, Dover, and Infineon, though, Gordon is 6th in points, a good 70 points ahead of that tight battle back there from 8th to 16th.

When it comes to luck, I always find one thing to be very funny about it. When a driver has good luck, we attribute that to skill and talent. When a driver has bad luck, we say he has been having bad luck. So which comes more into play during a racing season? Skill or luck?