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:
- Brad Keselowski
- Jimmie Johnson
- Chase Elliott
- Kurt Busch
- Kevin Harvick
- Matt Kenseth
- Kasey Kahne
- Denny Hamlin
- Ryan Blaney
- Joey Logano
- Kyle Busch
- Paul Menard
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Trevor Bayne
- Austin Dillon
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Jamie McMurray
- Kyle Larson
- Carl Edwards
- Tony Stewart
- Alex Bowman
- Greg Biffle
- Ryan Newman
- Aric Almirola
- Clint Bowyer
- Regan Smith
- Danica Patrick
- Ryan Reed
- Casey Mears
- Reed Sorenson
- Michael McDowell
- David Gilliland
- Landon Cassill
- Cole Whitt
- David Ragan
- Chris Buescher
- AJ Allmendinger
- Bobby Labonte
- Brian Scott
- Michael Annett
- Jeffrey Earnhardt
- Matt DiBenedetto