Here are my early driver rankings for this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta. I compiled them by crunching:
- The loop data for the past 15 Sprint Cup races (excluding Daytona, Talladega, Sonoma and Watkins Glen);
- the loop data for the past four races (excluding Watkins Glen);
- the loop data for the past four races at Atlanta;
- the loop data for the past eight races at other tracks in the Large Ovals track group (i.e., Michigan, Kentucky, Fontana, Charlotte, Texas, Chicagoland and Kansas);
- the practice and qualifying data for the past four races at Atlanta; and
- the practice and qualifying data for past eight races at the aforementioned Large Ovals.
The results:
- Jimmie Johnson
- Denny Hamlin
- Kasey Kahne
- Greg Biffle
- Martin Truex, Jr.
- Mark Martin
- Matt Kenseth
- Jeff Gordon
- Kyle Busch
- Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
- Carl Edwards
- Brad Keselowski
- Clint Bowyer
- Tony Stewart
- Ryan Newman
- Kevin Harvick
- Marcos Ambrose
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Paul Menard
- Sam Hornish, Jr.
- Joey Logano
- Jeff Burton
- Jamie McMurray
- Trevor Bayne(i)
- Regan Smith
- Kurt Busch
- Bobby Labonte
- Aric Almirola
- David Ragan
- David Gilliland
- Casey Mears
- Landon Cassill
- David Stremme
- Dave Blaney
- Danica Patrick
- Travis Kvapil
- T.J. Bell
- Scott Speed
- Stephen Leicht
- Jason Leffler
- J.J. Yeley
- Michael McDowell
- Reed Sorenson
- Josh Wise(i)
- Joe Nemechek
- Mike Bliss
- Scott Riggs
Menard?, Menard? Menard? …
Argh, you’re right! Somehow I left Skinner in and clipped Menard out. Fixed now. Thanks!