Update: I’ve posted my final Phoenix II driver rankings, which improve upon the below early rankings.
Here are my early driver rankings for this week’s NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix. I compiled them by crunching:
- The loop data for the past 15 Cup races (excluding Daytona, Talladega, Sonoma and Watkins Glen);
- the loop data for the past four races (excluding Talladega);
- the loop data for the past four races at Phoenix;
- the loop data for the past seven races at the other tracks in the Flats track group (i.e., Richmond, Martinsville, Indy, Pocono and New Hampshire);
- the practice and qualifying data for the past four races at Phoenix; and
- the practice and qualifying data for past seven races at the aforementioned Flats.
The results:
- Kyle Busch
- Martin Truex Jr
- Kevin Harvick
- Denny Hamlin
- Kyle Larson
- Brad Keselowski
- Chase Elliott
- Matt Kenseth
- Joey Logano
- Ryan Blaney
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kurt Busch
- Erik Jones
- Jamie McMurray
- Dale Earnhardt Jr
- Kasey Kahne
- Daniel Suarez
- Clint Bowyer
- Ryan Newman
- Austin Dillon
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr
- Paul Menard
- Aric Almirola
- Danica Patrick
- AJ Allmendinger
- Trevor Bayne
- Ty Dillon
- Chris Buescher
- Michael McDowell
- David Ragan
- Landon Cassill
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Cole Whitt
- Corey LaJoie
- #83 Car TBA
- Joey Gase
- Jeffrey Earnhardt
- Derrike Cope
- DJ Kennington
- #51 Car TBA