Here are my early driver rankings for this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Phoenix. 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 Talladega);
- the loop data for the past four races at Phoenix;
- the loop data for the past eight races at the other tracks in the Flats track group (i.e., Richmond, Martinsville, Indy, Pocono and New Hampshire);
- the practice and qualifying data for the past four races at Phoenix; and
- the practice and qualifying data for past eight races at the aforementioned Flats.
The results:
- Jimmie Johnson
- Denny Hamlin
- Kyle Busch
- Kasey Kahne
- Brad Keselowski
- Mark Martin
- Jeff Gordon
- Clint Bowyer
- Tony Stewart
- Greg Biffle
- Kevin Harvick
- Ryan Newman
- Carl Edwards
- Martin Truex, Jr.
- Matt Kenseth
- Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
- Joey Logano
- Paul Menard
- Kurt Busch
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Jeff Burton
- Marcos Ambrose
- Jamie McMurray
- Aric Almirola
- Regan Smith
- Sam Hornish, Jr.
- Bobby Labonte
- David Reutimann
- David Ragan
- Travis Kvapil
- Casey Mears
- Landon Cassill
- David Gilliland
- Danica Patrick
- TJ Bell (i)
- Dave Blaney
- Stephen Leicht #
- Michael McDowell
- Joe Nemechek
- David Stremme
- J.J. Yeley
- Josh Wise
- Reed Sorenson
- Mike Bliss