Here are my early driver rankings for this week’s race at Talladega. I compiled them by crunching the qualifying data for the past three races at Daytona and the spring 2013 race at Talladega (rain washed out qualifying at the fall 2013 Talladega race), and the loop data for the past two races at Daytona and the past two races at Talladega. Those metrics reflect speed, the ability to pass and the ability (and inclination) to run a lot of laps up front:
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Matt Kenseth
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kyle Busch
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Joey Logano
- Ryan Newman
- Carl Edwards
- Paul Menard
- Kasey Kahne
- Jeff Gordon
- Brian Vickers
- Kevin Harvick
- Danica Patrick
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Marcos Ambrose
- Greg Biffle
- Brad Keselowski
- Denny Hamlin
- Trevor Bayne
- Clint Bowyer
- Casey Mears
- Tony Stewart
- Jamie McMurray
- Aric Almirola
- Austin Dillon
- Kurt Busch
- Kyle Larson
- Michael Waltrip
- David Gilliland
- AJ Allmendinger
- David Ragan
- Justin Allgaier
- Josh Wise
- Michael McDowell
- Dave Blaney
- J.J Yeley
- Brian Scott
- Landon Cassill
- Michael Annett
- Cole Whitt
- Alex Bowman
- Terry Labonte
- Joe Nemechek
- Eric McClure(i)
- Ryan Truex #
- Reed Sorenson
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