Power Rankings: Leaders eye Daytona
by Jorge A. Mondaca, FOXSports.com
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However, unlike the buildup to the season-opening Daytona 500, the buzz for this week's Coke Zero 400 is a little more manageable. Yes, every race at the 2.5-mile superspeedway is a major event, but this week has the feel of a more "business as usual" type atmosphere.
Who's got the juice to win this weekend? Here's a snapshot look at the top drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series this season.
Power Rankings after the Sprint Cup race at Loudon, N.H.
1. Kyle Busch — 108.7 driver rating (No. 1 last week): So far this season, Kyle Busch has conquered intermediate tracks, superspeedways, road courses and concrete ovals. But as he learned last weekend, trying to conquer Juan Pablo Montoya may be one of his most difficult challenges this season.
Rowdy in Daytona
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If he is able to stay away from another Montoya confrontation this weekend, expect big things from Rowdy. Don't let the fact that he is winless in seven Cup starts at Daytona International Speedway fool you, he has two runner-up close calls during the summer tilt at the superspeedway and an additional top-five result. Combine his prowess at the 2.5-mile superspeedway with the raw power put out by the Toyota engines and you'd be hard pressed to bet against Busch on Saturday night.
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. — 103.7 driver rating (No. 3 last week): This past weekend at New Hampshire, Dale Jr. was en route to having a near perfect race until Jamie McMurray took him out from behind late in the running of the rain-shortened 284-lap affair. How good was he? Despite finishing 24th after the wreck, Dale Jr. still had an average running spot of 7.496 (fifth best overall) and spent 271 laps inside the top 15 (third overall).
Of course, this weekend he will join Busch and a handful of others as favorites for victory — two wins and 10 top 10s in 17 Daytona Cup starts is certainly the type of statistic that'll make people wake up and notice.
Daytona and Talladega are the stomping grounds for Jr. Nation. Earnhardt will do his best to put on a show come Saturday night.
3. Carl Edwards — 103.0 driver rating (No. 2 last week): For the first time since the May 3 race at Richmond International Raceway, Carl Edwards finished outside the top 10 last week at New Hampshire (17th).
And if past achievements hold true, expect that downward trend to continue this week as Daytona is statistically Edwards' worst track on the Sprint Cup schedule. Sprinkled among his seven Cup starts is a fourth-place result in this event last season, but that is simply an aberration based on his average finish of 24.7 at the 2.5-miler.
4. Jimmie Johnson — 100.3 driver rating (No. 4 last week): After a brief hiccup at Infineon Raceway, Johnson righted the ship this past weekend in New Hampshire and recorded his eighth top-10 finish of the year and fourth in the last five races.
He should continue that sort of consistency at Daytona. In 12 starts at the venue he has recorded one win (2006 Daytona 500), five top fives and eight top 10s.
"We're taking the same car we had in Talladega this year and we had a pretty good run there," said Johnson. "Restrictor-plate racing is all about patience so hopefully we can stay out of trouble and get a good finish."
5. Denny Hamlin — 95.2 driver rating (No. 5 last week): Excuse the pun, but Hamlin delivered on Sunday. Hamlin could not make it to the front of the pack at New Hampshire, but he was incredibly consistent and was the only driver to complete every lap inside the Top 15 during his eighth-place run.
It's the type of run that builds momentum right? Ehh, not so much.
In five career starts at Daytona, Hamlin's best finish is 17th (twice) and an average finish of 27.0. On the plus side, if he is looking for more items that slow him down to auction for charity, he may get another one this weekend.
6. Jeff Gordon — 94.4 driver rating (No. 7 last week): It's a numbers game for Jeff Gordon this weekend.
Last Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Gordon recorded his 10th finish of 11th or better this season. Now, the restrictor-plate king with 12 victories goes to Daytona looking for lucky No. 13. If he does pick up that lucky victory, he'll certainly improve on his 14th (okay, 14.7) average finish at the speedway.
Okay, so maybe the rationalization is a little hokey, but the number sure seem to be pointing towards No. 24 on Saturday.
7. Tony Stewart — 93.9 driver rating (No. 9 last week): Unfortunately for Stewart, he was simply the biggest loser of the entire fuel-mileage game at New Hampshire. There's no denying the fact that the No. 20 was top of the class, but such is life in big time auto racing I guess.
An angry, "I'm on a mission" Stewart may just be what's needed this weekend in Daytona, a track which can be hit-or-miss for him. In 19 career starts, Stewart has two wins, six top fives and 10 top 10s. He also has five finishes of 35th or worse.
If nothing else, Stewart should be entertaining to watch on race day.
8. Jeff Burton — 92.9 driver rating (No. 8 last week): How can a guy who has yet to finish outside of the top 15 all year long, has an average finish of 8.7 and has completed all but one lap of competition complain? Simple, he's Jeff Burton.
"If you're a team that hasn't found a way to win, you're a team that hasn't done the things that you want to do, then you are not having the success that you need to have. That has an effect on you," Burton said. "We race to win. We race to finish the best we can. When we can't win and when you don't feel like you're doing that and the pressure starts, what are we going to do? How are we going to get better? What do we have to do? The workload gets higher and it just snowballs. Then when you work harder and you don't have success because you worked harder. The pressure just builds and builds and builds. When things go well, you are able to always see that you're making the next step. You're always being able to improve. When you aren't seeing that then you start questioning ... what are we doing wrong or how do we do it better ... and that builds tension within the team as well."
9. Greg Biffle — 91.5 driver rating (No. 6 last week): When Greg Biffle sits back and analyzes the 2008 season, I'm quite sure he will want to skip the calamity that was New Hampshire. It's not that his 21st place finish was horrible, it's the fact that the entire Roush Fenway organization looked like they were out to lunch this weekend (teammates Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth finished 17th and 18th respectively — the highest ranked Fords on race day).
Based on his quotes this week — "If we can just finish the race, that will be a step in the right direction" — don't look for Biffle to add another win to his July 2003 Daytona triumph.
10. Kevin Harvick — 86.5 driver rating (Not ranked in top 10 last week): Happy's rollercoaster year took a few more twists in New Hampshire. He ran well throughout the event but had to settle for 14th due to the "Perfect Storm" that took place at the end.
No matter, the result was enough to get Harvick back into the top 12 in the Chase. To stay inside that threshold, Harvick will have to ride the Daytona wave and be on the right side of his up-and-down relationship with the track. In 14 starts, the driver of the No. 29 has one win, five top 10s ... and four finishes of 25th or worse.
Dropped out: Kasey Kahne
To check out where all the Sprint Cup drivers rank, read the complete list here.
2008 Power Rankings: Post Daytona | Post California | Post Las Vegas | Post Atlanta | Post Bristol | Off Week 1 — Owners | Post Martinsville | Post Texas | Post Phoenix | Off Week 2 — Crew Chiefs | Post Talladega | Post Richmond | Post Darlington | Off Week 3 — Endurance special | Post Lowe's | Post Dover | Post Pocono | Post Michigan | Post Infineon
Editor's Note: Jorge A. Mondaca's weekly power rankings are based on NASCAR's Driver Rating system. Why these statistics and not others? The NASCAR Driver Rating system is based on a formula combining several categories which show how a driver is racing, not only how he is finishing, by looking at the point-paying races this season. As a result, it offers a much clearer explanation as to how they are currently performing.
The statistics used to determine the final numeric value are: Wins, finishes, Top-15 results, average running position while on lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most laps and lead-lap finishes.
The system has a maximum of 150 points per race. Drivers must have raced in 75 percent of scheduled point-paying races to be included in this rating.
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