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, and Watkins Glen);
- the loop data for the past four races (excluding Daytona);
- 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, and Kansas);
- the practice and qualifying data for the past four races at Atlanta; and
- the practice and qualifying data for past seven races at the aforementioned Large Ovals.
The results:
- Jeff Gordon
- Kevin Harvick
- Joey Logano
- Brad Keselowski
- Matt Kenseth
- Jimmie Johnson
- Denny Hamlin
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Ryan Newman
- Carl Edwards
- Kyle Larson
- Jamie McMurray
- Clint Bowyer
- Tony Stewart
- Greg Biffle
- Kasey Kahne
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Paul Menard
- Regan Smith
- David Ragan
- A.J. Allmendinger
- Sam Hornish Jr.
- Austin Dillon
- Aric Almirola
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Danica Patrick
- Casey Mears
- Justin Allgaier
- Trevor Bayne
- #34 Car – Driver TBA
- Ty Dillon
- Michael Annett
- David Gilliland
- Cole Whitt
- Landon Cassill
- Reed Sorenson
- Alex Bowman
- Michael McDowell
- Ron Hornaday Jr.
- Josh Wise
- Jeb Burton #
- Travis Kvapil
- J.J Yeley
- Matt Dibenedetto
- Brett Moffitt
- Mike Wallace
- Brendan Gaughan
- Mike Bliss
I edited the rankings to reflect David Ragan taking the wheel of the 18 car (and not Erik Jones). Ragan’s replacement in the 34 car has not yet been announced.