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 Talladega 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
- Kyle Busch
- Matt Kenseth
- Brad Keselowski
- Kasey Kahne
- Jeff Gordon
- Kevin Harvick
- Kurt Busch
- Carl Edwards
- Clint Bowyer
- Denny Hamlin
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Joey Logano
- Ryan Newman
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Greg Biffle
- Mark Martin
- Jeff Burton
- Paul Menard
- Jamie McMurray
- Aric Almirola
- Marcos Ambrose
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Elliott Sadler
- Bobby Labonte
- Casey Mears
- Justin Allgaier
- David Ragan
- Danica Patrick
- Travis Kvapil
- David Reutimann
- Landon Cassill
- David Gilliland
- Dave Blaney
- J.J. Yeley
- Reed Sorenson
- Michael McDowell
- Josh Wise
- Cole Whitt
- Joe Nemechek
- Timmy Hill
- Tony Raines