Early Rankings: Talladega II, 2016

brad keselowski photo

Kez tops my early Talladega II driver rankings. (photo courtesy nascar)

Update: I’ve posted my final Talladega II driver rankings, which improve upon the below early rankings.

Here are my early driver rankings for this week’s race at Talladega. I compiled them by crunching the loop data for the past four plate races and the qualifying data from the past four plate races. Those metrics reflect speed, the ability to pass and the ability (and inclination) to run a lot of laps up front.

The results:

  1. Brad Keselowski
  2. Jimmie Johnson
  3. Chase Elliott
  4. Kurt Busch
  5. Kevin Harvick
  6. Matt Kenseth
  7. Kasey Kahne
  8. Denny Hamlin
  9. Ryan Blaney
  10. Joey Logano
  11. Kyle Busch
  12. Paul Menard
  13. Martin Truex Jr.
  14. Trevor Bayne
  15. Austin Dillon
  16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  17. Jamie McMurray
  18. Kyle Larson
  19. Carl Edwards
  20. Tony Stewart
  21. Alex Bowman
  22. Greg Biffle
  23. Ryan Newman
  24. Aric Almirola
  25. Clint Bowyer
  26. Regan Smith
  27. Danica Patrick
  28. Ryan Reed
  29. Casey Mears
  30. Reed Sorenson
  31. Michael McDowell
  32. David Gilliland
  33. Landon Cassill
  34. Cole Whitt
  35. David Ragan
  36. Chris Buescher
  37. AJ Allmendinger
  38. Bobby Labonte
  39. Brian Scott
  40. Michael Annett
  41. Jeffrey Earnhardt
  42. Matt DiBenedetto