Early Rankings: Bristol II, 2017

Martin Truex Jr photo

Martin Truex Jr. tops my early Bristol II driver rankings. (photo courtesy nascar)

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

Here are my early driver rankings for this week’s NASCAR Cup race at Bristol. I compiled them by crunching:

  • The loop data for the past 15 Cup races (excluding DaytonaTalladega, Watkins Glen and Sonoma;
  • the loop data for the past four races;
  • the loop data for the past four races at Bristol;
  • the loop data for the past six races at the other tracks in the Steeps track group (i.e., DoverDarlingtonLas Vegas and Homestead);
  • the practice and qualifying data for the past four races at Bristol; and
  • the practice and qualifying data for past six races at the aforementioned Steeps.

The results:

  1. Martin Truex Jr
  2. Kyle Busch
  3. Kevin Harvick
  4. Denny Hamlin
  5. Kyle Larson
  6. Matt Kenseth
  7. Chase Elliott
  8. Erik Jones
  9. Joey Logano
  10. Brad Keselowski
  11. Jimmie Johnson
  12. Ryan Blaney
  13. Kurt Busch
  14. Daniel Suarez
  15. Kasey Kahne
  16. Jamie McMurray
  17. Ryan Newman
  18. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  19. Austin Dillon
  20. Clint Bowyer
  21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  22. AJ Allmendinger
  23. Trevor Bayne
  24. Paul Menard
  25. Aric Almirola
  26. Chris Buescher
  27. Ty Dillon
  28. Danica Patrick
  29. Michael McDowell
  30. David Ragan
  31. Landon Cassill
  32. Matt DiBenedetto
  33. Cole Whitt
  34. Corey LaJoie
  35. Joey Gase
  36. JJ Yeley
  37. Carl Long
  38. #51 Driver TBA
  39. Reed Sorenson
  40. Jeffrey Earnhardt
  41. Derrike Cope