Kyle Larson took over the top spot in my final Dover II driver rankings. (photo courtesy nascar)

Here are my final driver rankings for today’s race at Dover. I compiled them by crunching the practice data from Dover on Friday and Saturday, and then melding it with the historical data:

1. Kyle Larson
2. Kyle Busch
3. Martin Truex Jr.
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Matt Kenseth
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Chase Elliott
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Kurt Busch
10. Ryan Blaney Continue reading →

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

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

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

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

The results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Kyle Busch
3. Kyle Larson
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Chase Elliott
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Brad Keselowski
10. Joey Logano Continue reading →