Driver Points Poles Wins Top 5 Top 10 Winnings ($) Tony Stewart 2403 1 5 9 19 6,529,870 Carl Edwards 2403 3 1 19 26 8,485,990 Kevin Harvick 2345 0 4 9 19 6,197,140 Matt Kenseth 2330 3 3 12 20 6,183,580 Brad Keselowski 2319 1 3 10 14 5,087,740 Jimmie Johnson 2304 0 2 14 21 6,296,360 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2290 1 0 4 12 4,163,690 Jeff Gordon 2287 1 3 13 18 5,912,830 Denny Hamlin 2284 0 1 5 14 5,401,190 Ryan Newman 2284 3 1 9 17 5,303,020 Kurt Busch 2262 3 2 8 16 5,936,470 Kyle Busch 2246 1 4 14 18 6,161,020 Clint Bowyer 1047 0 1 4 16 5,633,950 Kasey Kahne 1041 2 1 8 15 4,775,160 A.J. Allmendinger 1013 0 0 1 10 4,825,560 Greg Biffle 997 3 0 3 10 4,318,050 Paul Menard 947 0 1 4 8 3,853,690 Martin Truex Jr. 937 1 0 3 12 3,955,560 Marcos Ambrose 936 0 1 5 12 4,750,390 Jeff Burton 935 0 0 2 5 3,807,780 Juan Montoya 932 2 0 2 8 5,020,780 Mark Martin 930 2 0 2 10 3,830,910 David Ragan 906 2 1 4 8 4,203,660 Joey Logano 902 2 0 4 6 3,856,010 Brian Vickers 846 0 0 3 7 4,301,880 Regan Smith 820 0 1 2 5 4,579,860 Jamie McMurray 795 1 0 2 4 4,794,770 David Reutimann 757 1 0 1 3 4,374,770 Bobby Labonte 670 0 0 1 2 4,505,650 David Gilliland 572 0 0 1 2 3,878,390 Casey Mears 541 0 0 0 0 2,838,320 Dave Blaney 508 0 0 1 1 3,229,210 Andy Lally* 398 0 0 0 0 2,868,220 Robby Gordon 268 0 0 0 0 2,271,890 J.J. Yeley 192 0 0 0 0 2,559,500 Matt Kenseth won the 2012 Daytona 500, the most important race of the NASCAR season. His win was no surprise because for the 2011 season he finished fourth in the point standings with 2330 points, behind Tony Stewart (2403 points), Carl Edwards (2403 points), and Kevin Harvick (2345 points). In 2011 he earned $6,183,580 by winning three Poles (fastest driver in qualifying), winning three races, finishing in the top five 12 times, and finishing in the top ten 20 times. NASCAR’s point system in 2011 allocated 43 points to the driver who finished first, 42 points to the driver who finished second, and so on down to 1 point for the driver who finished in the 43rd position. In addition any driver who led a lap received 1 bonus point, the driver who led the most laps received an additional bonus point, and the race winner was awarded 3 bonus points. But, the maximum number of points a driver could earn in any race was 48. Table 15.13 shows data for the 2011 season for the top 35 drivers (NASCAR website, February 28, 2011). 1. Suppose you wanted to predict Winnings ($) using only the number of poles won (Poles), the number of wins (Wins), the number of top five finishes (Top 5), or the number of top ten finishes (Top 10). Which of these four variables provides the best single predictor of winnings? 2. Develop an estimated regression equation that can be used to predict Winnings ($) given the number of poles won (Poles), the number of wins (Wins), the number of top five finishes (Top 5), and the number of top ten (Top 10) finishes. Test for individual significance and discuss your findings and conclusions. 3. Create two new independent variables: Top 2–5 and Top 6–10. Top 2–5 represents the number of times the driver finished between second and fifth place and Top 6–10 represents the number of times the driver finished between sixth and tenth place. Develop an estimated regression equation that can be used to predict Winnings ($) using Poles, Wins, Top 2–5, and Top 6–10. Test for individual significance and discuss your findings and conclusions. 4. Based upon the results of your analysis, what estimated regression equation would you recommend using to predict Winnings ($)? Provide an interpretation of the estimated regression coefficients for this equation.