Update: I posted my final Richmond I driver rankings today.
Here are my early driver rankings for this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond. I compiled them by crunching:
- The loop data for the past 15 Sprint Cup races (excluding Daytona and Talladega);
- the loop data for the past four races;
- the loop data for the past four races at Richmond;
- the loop data for the past seven races at the other tracks in the Flats track group (i.e., Martinsville, Phoenix, Indy, Pocono and New Hampshire);
- the practice and qualifying data for the past four races at Richmond; and
- the practice and qualifying data for past seven races at the aforementioned Flats.
The results:
- Kevin Harvick
- Joey Logano
- Kyle Busch
- Brad Keselowski
- Carl Edwards
- Matt Kenseth
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kurt Busch
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Denny Hamlin
- Kyle Larson
- Jamie McMurray
- Chase Elliott
- Ryan Newman
- Kasey Kahne
- AJ Allmendinger
- Austin Dillon
- Ryan Blaney
- Brian Vickers
- Paul Menard
- Clint Bowyer
- Greg Biffle
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Aric Almirola
- Danica Patrick
- Casey Mears
- David Ragan
- Trevor Bayne
- Landon Cassill
- Regan Smith
- Brian Scott
- Cole Whitt
- Chris Buescher
- Michael Annett
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Michael McDowell
- Ryan Ellis(i)
- Josh Wise
- Reed Sorenson
- Jeffrey Earnhardt