Early Rankings: All Star Race, 2016

Kevin Harvick photo

Kevin Harvick tops my early All Star Race driver rankings. (photo courtesy nascar)

Here are my early driver rankings for this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup All Star and Sprint Showdown races at Charlotte. 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 (excluding Talladega);
  • the loop data for the past four races at Charlotte;
  • the loop data for the past eight races at the other tracks in the Large Ovals track group (i.e., FontanaKansasAtlantaTexasChicagoMichigan and Kentucky);
  • the practice and qualifying data for the past four races at Charlotte; and
  • the practice and qualifying data for past eight races at the aforementioned Large Ovals.

Note: This early list doesn’t include whoever gets into the All Star race via the fan vote.

The results for the All Star race:

  1. Kevin Harvick
  2. Carl Edwards
  3. Martin Truex Jr.
  4. Kyle Busch
  5. Matt Kenseth
  6. Joey Logano
  7. Kurt Busch
  8. Jimmie Johnson
  9. Brad Keselowski
  10. Denny Hamlin
  11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  12. Ryan Newman
  13. Kasey Kahne
  14. Jamie McMurray
  15. Tony Stewart

The results for the Showdown:

  1. Austin Dillon
  2. Chase Elliott

    Austin Dillon photo

    Austin Dillon tops my early Showdown driver rankings. (photo courtesy nascar)

  3. Ryan Blaney
  4. Kyle Larson
  5. Greg Biffle
  6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  7. Paul Menard
  8. Aric Almirola
  9. AJ Allmendinger
  10. Clint Bowyer
  11. Trevor Bayne
  12. Danica Patrick
  13. Casey Mears
  14. Brian Scott
  15. David Ragan
  16. Chris Buescher
  17. Landon Cassill
  18. Regan Smith
  19. Matt DiBenedetto
  20. Michael McDowell
  21. Michael Annett
  22. Cole Whitt
  23. Josh Wise
  24. Jeffrey Earnhardt
  25. Reed Sorenson