OK, I look at Power Rankings from foxsports.com, nascar.com, and espn.com. Nascar.com likes to go with a little bit of a sarcastic approach, foxsports.com goes directly off driver rating, and espn.com, well, it's espn. So I'm making my own rankings, based on driver performance in the past few races, NOT NECESSARILY THE RESULT OF THE RACE, and how they usually fare at the upcoming track. Feel free to disagree, I'm sure some of you will.
1. Carl Edwards
If not for a transmission failure with 50 laps to go at Atlanta, people would be talking about how dominant Carl has been to start the year. His performance will carry over to Bristol, where he won when they re-configured the track last year.
2. Kyle Busch
Busch is certainly strong this year, and his win at Atlanta proved it. Now the Shrub goes to Bristol, where he won last year, looking for more success. He and Carl are the two drivers to beat right now.
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The fan favorite has run well since his switch to Hendrick Motorsports, and has been the most consistent driver out of the organization. In three out of four races this year, Jr. has been the best finishing Hendrick driver. Jr. is no slouch at Bristol, with a win here in the 2004 night race and three straight finishes of 7th or better
4. Greg Biffle
Greg Biffle has been the most consistent driver out of the Roush camp, with his worst finish this year a 15th, with top-10's in every other race, which has allowed the Biff to rise to 2nd in points. And although he's not known for being the best short track racer, Biffle has the best average finish of any active driver at Bristol at 10.3
5. Kasey Kahne
Kahne is quietly having a good season, defidently an improvement from last year. Kahne was right behind Carl last year when they reconfigured the track at Bristol.
6. Kevin Harvick
Happy Harvick has been consistent this year, but hasn't yet had a car that could win. However, Bristol could be the site of Harvick's first win, he won there in 2005 and has 9 top-10's in 14 starts.
7. Jeff Gordon
The consistency Gordon had in 2007 hasn't carried over to 2008, but the performance has. Gordon has run in the top-5 of every race, but has 2 DNF's in the four races he's run. He's tied for most victories among active drivers with Kurt Busch at 5, and could be expected to run up front Sunday, it's just a matter of whether or not he'll finish.
8. Kurt Busch
Kurt Busch has struggled since finished 2nd in the Daytona 500, with no top-10's since. However, Bristol is the place for Busch to turn it around, where he has 5 wins in 14 starts.
9. Tony Stewart
Smoke was infuriated by the tires at Atlanta after a 2nd place finish, but he'll have to put that behind him as he goes to Bristol where he only has 6 top-10's in 18 starts, though he finished 4th on this configuration last year.
10. Matt Kenseth
Kenseth has run well this year, but like Gordon just hasn't had the finishes. However, he heads to Bristol where he has 2 wins and an average finish of 12.5.
Other notable drivers:
11. Brian Vickers- off to a fast start with Red Bull, sitting 9th in points. 12. Jeff Burton- consistent as always, his patience will pay off in Bristol. 13. Ryan Newman- The 500 winner is getting top-15 finish after top-15 finish. 14. Martin Truex Jr.- Haven't heard much about him, but he's had a couple of good runs this year, but he'll be looking for more, with just one top-10 so far. 15. Jimmie Johnson- Really needs to step it up if he wants to go for a third championship.
Good write Tyler, I'm learning more by the minute!
I'm hoping this will be Biffle's break out race on the short track... Someone said all these NASCAR drivers (most likely refering to the ones from the USA) were raised on short track so I've got to feel that any one of them should have a reasonable shot at winning. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems to be that winning on this type of track has a lot to do with being at the right place in the field (1st thru 4th) at the right time in the race (late) when on the short track. Thinking about it that probably qualifies for any type of race and race track though! It just seems to me that the leader is in control here. He can simply move to block and stay out front...
Who do you pull for and who do you think will win?
Dwindy1- Yes, being out front is a good thing at any race, lol, but even moreso at short tracks, because it's so hard to pass. However, they reconfigured the banking here last year so passing has gotten to be easier, but I'd still prefer to be out front.
Who do I pull for?
Jeff Gordon mainly, but I also like Casey Mears, don't know why, but for some reason I wasnt to see him do good.
Who do I think will win?
It's so hard to predict at a short track, because with the bumping and ####ing the most important thing is to be patient and try to avoid putting yourself in a situation that could put you out of the race. However, my pick this weekend is Kasey Kahne, who is recovering from a tough year last year but is doing very well, and wasn't too bad last year at Bristol, starting on the pole and finishing 2nd when they reconfigured the place. If he can avoid trouble you could just see him go to victory lane for the first time since 2006.
volfan69- Vickers has been really impressive, especially considering the year he had last year. Yes, I'm going to do this every week, glad you like it. =)
Tyler, while your analysis is good, I have to disagree with your power rankings. I'd rate Kyle Busch #1, Carl Edwards #2, Kevin Harvick #3 (based on the strength of no finishes below 15th), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. #4, Greg Biffle #5, Jeff Gordon #6, Kurt Busch #7, Tony Stewart #8, Brian Vickers #9, and Matt Kenseth #10.
While Edwards will be strong at Bristol, I'd look for Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Kevin Harvick to be just as strong, if not stronger.
photogr- They'll probably all end up with DNF's, I never get these things right, lol.
jon_464- I know I probably could've put Carl lower than I did, but I feel that he's been the class of the field this year and I think that will carry over to Bristol. Harvick has been consistent, but I'd like to see him running up front and contending for the win instead of just quietly taking a 7th, an 8th, etc.
Edwards, Busch and Harvick I would expect to be good at Bristol, but I worry about Johnson. As I said in a previous blog, he's kinda struggling right now, and last year at the reconfigured track he struggled. But we'll see, thanks for reading.
Hello, I'm Tyler Head. I live in Utica, NY and currently attend Ilion Jr. Sr. High School. I'm in 10th grade this year, and I'm persuing a career in Computer Hardware design, or Journalism... I guess I'm undecided, lol. I enjoy a lot of sports, with my favorite being NASCAR. My favorite driver is Jeff Gordon, I even made a fansite. As much as I enjoy NASCAR, I also like Baseball, Football, and College Basketball.
All articles from February 2008 on can also be found on my website, 24fansite.5u. com.
