Field Filler. n. A driver there to make up the numbers, who has no chance of winning and so doesn’t deserve to be driving at.

The field filler, a modern NASCAR virus. I’m sure we all have our own ideas of who the ultimate field filler is (cough)Paul Menard, but it’s never been scientifically studied as to who is the ultimate field filler. Well, sort of scientifically. This is where this blog comes in taking a random sample of drivers (those who finished 43rd, 42nd, 41st, 3th, 27th, 17th and 7th in the previous race) and giving them a unique Field Filler Quotient™ - the higher the more filler-esque you are. You’ll get the hang of it, so lets start with the Bristol race, using the finishers from Michigan.

 Marcos Ambrose – Marcos was bumped out of the #21, so we’ll look at the car rather than the driver, which Bill Elliot took the wheel of. A surprisingly good run in qualifying gave Bill a far from Field Filler-esque 5th place start and stuck around on the lead lap till lap 264, not bad considering the relatively yellow-free race to that point a comfortable 3 lap-down finish in 26th earns Bill an FFQ of.....35%

 Jeff Gordon – Don’t hate me Hendrick fans, it’s the randomness. Of course you don’t need me to tell you that Jeff isn’t a real field filler, and his weekend numbers support the obvious. 3rd in qualifying, consistent enough to grab the lead for a single lap – number 48 – and hold on for a 5th place finish. So it’s a very unfiller-esque....7%

 Dave Blaney – This blog should actually be required reading for Dave and his spotter, as fillers seem to be aiming for him. The CAT car’s quail and practice runs were distinctly filler like, the starting spot of 36th being the highest of the three. In the race the run was good, rising steadily through the field to 12th before. POW!. CAT met concrete wall. A 38th place finish resulted, a whopping 221 laps down at the close. Therefore it’s....60%

Robby Gordon – A man who’s race was so anonymous about the only time I realised he was actually racing was when his car was all over turn 2. But anonymity maketh not a field filler. But a 31st place start and an eventual 39th place finish do. But practice speeds good enough for 8th and 12th do not. So it’s a fence sitting.....50%

Bobby Labonte – A mildly filler-like race that could have been much worse. He was lapped for the first time on lap 84 after starting in 37th and not moving forward.  That sort of thing is bad. But only losing one more lap for the remaining 416 laps and avoiding the carnage that increased during the race shows that there a remnants of champion in the potential field filler, finishing 23rd. Those remnants mean......43%

 Jimmie Johnson – A wonderfully filler-y performance from the man who filled most people’s ‘Love to Hate’ box before a certain younger Busch brother. Starting 34th (bad) going a lap down after only 26 circuits (bad) getting caught up in one of those six-of-one-half-a-dozen-of-the-other crashes (bad) going 13 laps down (bad) and finishing 33rd (bad). The verdict? Bad – and it feels sooooo good.82%

 Brian Vickers – Average. How else can you define a 26th place start and a two-lap-down 20th place finish after losing a first lap on lap 144. Besides from disappearing in the smoke a few times the only vaguely noteworthy thing he did was nearly rear-end Paul Menard as the two came up on Blaney’s demise. And that would have doing the world a favour.....38%

 Honorary field filler – a special place reserved for the dumbest move of the race....

Dale Earnhardt Jr – Either he’s very, very stupid, or he thinks that NASCAR officials are blind. No, of course no-one will notice you overtake about 5 cars before the start line. If you’re going to try and cheat at least be smart about it. I recommend magnets.

I'm still looking for a nice idea to make a series of, and I think I might run with this. If anyone knows of any websites with small car/number images on it would be appreciated and help brighten it up a little.