Here are my mid-week driver rankings for this week’s race at Talladega. I compiled them by crunching the qualifying data from this year’s Daytona 500 (because that’s the only plate race this year in which qualifying didn’t involve drafting), and the loop data for the past three plate races. Those metrics reflect speed, the ability to pass and the ability (and inclination) to run a lot of laps up front:
- Denny Hamlin
- Greg Biffle
- Joey Logano
- Kurt Busch
- Kyle Busch
- Dale Earnhardt. Jr.
- Jimmie Johnson
- Jeff Gordon
- Austin Dillon
- Kasey Kahne
- Casey Mears
- Paul Menard
- Matt Kenseth
- Aric Almirola
- Marcos Ambrose
- Kevin Harvick
- Brad Keselowski
- Tony Stewart
- Brian Vickers
- Danica Patrick
- Clint Bowyer
- Martin Truex. Jr.
- Jamie McMurray
- Ryan Newman
- Carl Edwards
- Landon Cassill
- Reed Sorenson
- David Gilliland
- Michael McDowell
- Ricky Stenhouse. Jr.
- Justin Allgaier
- Kyle Larson
- Trevor Bayne
- AJ Allmendinger
- Michael Annett
- Cole Whitt
- David Ragan
- Ryan Blaney (i)
- Travis Kvapil
- Alex Bowman
- Josh Wise
- Mike Wallace
- J.J. Yeley(i)
- Michael Waltrip
- Joe Nemechek(i)
- Terry Labonte
Pingback: Final NASCAR Driver Rankings: Talladega II, 2014 | NASCARpredict.com