5 NASCAR Drivers Who Are Due for a Return to the Winner's Circle

When Carl Edwards flipped into Victory Lane after the Coca-Cola 600, he got that monkey off his back. As the new member of Joe Gibbs Racing, he faced pressure to match the performances of teammates Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth.

Up until this win, you could make the argument that he was one of the pre-eminent drivers due for a trip to Victory Lane.

Edwards became the ninth winner on the circuit, thus sliding the screen door a few more inches shut for those drivers looking to qualify for the Chase. The surest way into the postseason competition is to win a race, and perhaps these hungry and expectant drivers can clinch a spot—and soon.

These five drivers haven’t won this year—or in a few years—and are due to return to Victory Lane.

Greg Biffle

Mike McCarn/Associated Press

Greg Biffle has been in a slump. He hasn’t won since 2013, but things appear to be turning around for the flagship driver of Roush Fenway Racing.

“It’s been well-documented how bad we’ve been running,” Biffle said, according to Daniel McFadin of NASCAR Talk.

He won the first Sprint Showdown on All-Star Weekend and parlayed that experience into a runner-up effort in the Coke 600 a week later.

“It’s been a tough challenge all together, even last year when Carl [Edwards] was there,” Biffle said. “It was really tough trying to find anything, trying to get anything to get our cars to go.”

Now Biffle heads to tracks where he’s had some success. He has won twice at Dover, once at Pocono and four times at Michigan.

Yes, the struggles of Biffle's team have been well-documented, but with seven wins over the following three tracks, now seems like the time for Biffle to return to Victory Lane.

Like all the drivers on this list, he’s due.

Kasey Kahne

Chris Keane/Associated Press

Kasey Kahne, the other driver for Hendrick Motorsports, has to feel like Charlotte, his best track, was a missed opportunity for him to qualify for the Chase outright.

Kahne, who finished 12th in the Coke 600, said the following, per Jay Pennell of Fox Sports:

"

This was the most difficult 600 to pass that I've ever been involved in. You can take that for what you want, but I've raced 11 or 12 of these and this was by far the most difficult 600-miler I've ever raced in to pass a lapped car, a car you're racing for 28th or a car you're racing for ninth. It was really, really tough.

"

He’s currently 13th in the Chase, with four top-10 finishes on the season. He, like many others, will benefit from some of his better tracks surfacing on the schedule. Kahne is winless at Dover, but he has two wins at Pocono, one at Michigan and one at Sonoma.

The iron is heating up.

Martin Truex Jr.

Terry Renna/Associated Press

Martin Truex Jr. has been one of the surprise drivers on the circuit in 2015, and he may now be peaking.

Three weeks ago at Kansas, he led 95 laps en route to finishing ninth at the SpongeBob SquarePants 400. In the next points race—the Coke 600—Truex led a race-high 131 laps to take fifth and earn his third top-five finish of the season.

Truex said the following, according to Pennell:

"

I don't know what to do about that. We had a great car. Had a chance at it and it stinks to come up short like that on fuel mileage. I've never once in my whole career gained positions on a fuel mileage deal. I don't know what I have to do to catch a break on them deals. It is what it is.

"

NASCAR heads to Dover this week, and Truex can boast that one of his two career wins came at Dover back in 2007.

Ryan Newman

Terry Renna/Associated Press

Ryan Newman nearly subverted NASCAR’s win-and-you’re-in Chase format by finishing second to Kevin Harvick in 2014 without winning a single race.

He hasn’t won since 2012, but that could change for the No. 31 car. He has four top-five finishes in 2015, and following his team’s failed tire audit (which saw him lose 50 driver points), Newman’s ready to move on.

“I'm obviously disappointed. I don't believe at all in the outcome of it, but in the end it doesn't really matter," Newman said, per Pennell. "We've got to be focused on this weekend and obviously the Chase for the Championship. It's as simple as that. It's all behind us now and we'll go on."

Newman has at least one win at four of the next five tracks on the NASCAR schedule, including three at Dover and two at Michigan.

Jeff Gordon

Mike McCarn/Associated Press

Jeff Gordon’s farewell tour has done little for his winning ways. He came into this season with 92 career wins, and it was within reason for him to reach 100. Technically, it’s still a possibility, but he has to shift his game into a higher gear.

"I never could get track position," Gordon said following the Coke 600, according to Fox Sports' Tom Jensen. "We got it one time and held on to it OK, and I have no idea what sequence of events happened there at the end for us to finish 15th. That was a lot of darn work for us to finish 15th."

That’s been his season—driving hard for relatively sour results—but now is when Gordon’s 2015 season will take a turn for the better.

The next three venues are Dover, Pocono and Michigan. Gordon has won five times at Dover, six times at Pocono and three times at Michigan. That’s 14 career wins over the next three tracks.

Pat DeCola of NASCAR.com wrote, “As Dover's most recent winner, Gordon certainly has a chance to pick up his first 2015 win this weekend at the Monster Mile. That said, it was just his second Dover win in 36 races since winning three straight at Dover from 1995-96."

If Gordon has any tricks up his sleeves, now’s the time to unleash the fury. He could go on a run here and remind people that the old man still has the chops to win a fifth Sprint Cup.