Brad Keselowski tops my early Talladega I driver rankings. (photo courtesy nascar)
Update: I’ve posted my final Talladega I 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 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
- Joey Logano
- Ryan Blaney
- Kurt Busch
- Chase Elliott
- Denny Hamlin
- Kyle Busch
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr
- Austin Dillon
- Kyle Larson
- Dale Earnhardt Jr
- Martin Truex Jr
- Kevin Harvick
- Jamie McMurray
- Trevor Bayne
- Paul Menard
- Jimmie Johnson
- Matt Kenseth
- Aric Almirola
- Kasey Kahne
- Clint Bowyer
- Ty Dillon
- Michael McDowell
- Ryan Newman
- AJ Allmendinger
- Danica Patrick
- Erik Jones
- Chris Buescher
- Daniel Suarez
- Landon Cassill
- David Ragan
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Cole Whitt
- Gray Gaulding
- Elliott Sadler
- Brendan Gaughan
- Jeffrey Earnhardt
- Joey Gase
- Corey LaJoie
- DJ Kennington
- Reed Sorenson
- Timmy Hill
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