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

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

• The loop data for the past 15 Cup races (excluding Watkins Glen and Talladega;
• the loop data for the past four races;
• the loop data for the past four races at Homestead;
• the loop data for the past six races at the other tracks in the Steeps track group (i.e., Bristol, Darlington, Las Vegas and Dover);
• the practice and qualifying data for the past four races at Homestead; 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. Matt Kenseth
5. Chase Elliott
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Kyle Larson
8. Brad Keselowski
9. Jimmie Johnson
10. Joey Logano Continue reading →