NASCAR Stocks: The Top 10- Moving Up, Going Down
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 by Jim Mc Coy
Races like we had in Richmond really make this mor art than science. The stats that are sued to hel determine performance will never reflect that Denny Hamlin and Dale Jr. were the class of the field. But because this is MY system, I’ll do it how I see fit.
There’ll be some changes this week. Â
#10- Ryan Newman (unranked last week)- “Rocket” fought his way back with a 6th place finish at Richmond. Newman has sown signs of life the last two weeks, and his recent results are good enough to bump Greg Biffle- who’s weaker in average finish, has no wins and has the same number of top 10s as Newman. Ya have to like this guy, so maybe I’m biased. The dude never complains, no matter how bad things are.
#9- Kevin Harvick (up 1 from 9th)- “Happy” is hangin’ tough. His presence in my top 10 with teammates Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton is a testament to the depth at Richard Childress- quietly putting them in a league with Hendrick and Gibbs.
#8- Jimmie Johnson (down 3 from 5th)- A 30th place finish will hurt you, no matter how good you are. trust me, I still maintain Johnson will be a top 5 by season’s end, he’s just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Still, he’s too good to stay down long.
#7- Carl Edwards (unchanged)- The circuit leader in wins (3)Â didn’t hurt himself with his 7th at Richmond. That’s more than I can say for his image, which took a hit in the Carpentier incident.
#6- Tony Stewart (up 2 spots from 8th)- Smoke just barely cleared Edwards, but that 4th Saturday night, helped him in this tight pack of drivers. Stewart really needs a win. I think it will come soon.
#5- Jeff Burton (down 2 from 3rd)- It’s a shame, because this guy’s remarkably consistent. Nonetheless, there are guys making just a little more noise. I feel perfectly justified in ranking J.B. where he is below the guys that I think have been perhaps a little more daring.
#4- Dale Earnhardt Jr. (unchanged)- Junior’s finish obviously doesn’t reflect how good he was. Same story for Denny Hamlin. The win will come soon enough, I just hope he doesn’t press too hard.
#3- Denny Hamlin (down 1 spot from 2nd)- What a bummer! Denny should have won Saturday, a victim of the worst luck. Even with this 24th at RIR, Hamlin’s average finish of 7.2 over the last 5 races is second only to….
#2- Clint Bowyer (up 4 from 6th)- Bowyer is the hot pick of hot week. He’s been hanging around like a stalker for the last several weeks, and he finally got that elusive first win of 2008. Bowyer has an average finish of 6.4 over the last 5 races, best on the Sprint Cup tour. Bowyer’s 7 top 10s ties him with Junior and the #1 guy….
#1- Kyle Busch (unchanged)- Shrub is also #1 a new category “Most Hated Driver in NASCAR.” He’s helping elevate the likes of Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon to sainthood. No matter what you think of him personally, his 6 top 5s are easily the best at the Cup level. People, get over the incident- that was racin’. If he just keep his fool mouth shut, he might be able to give the new title up.
I just can’t dismis Busch’s talent and performance- hopefully proving to you that this Jeff Gordon fan is not guilty of bias.
Ready to Strike- The aforementioned Gordon showed life at Richmond. Kasey Kahne continues to hang around. Greg Biffle may be down is far from over.
What will happen next? There’s only one way to find out.
Â
Spread the Boom:
Linda
Jim, I couldn’t agree more with your comments on Kyle Busch. He IS a VERY TALENTED DRIVER. Even Dale Jr. said it was ‘just racin’ and he’d done the same thing to Kyle in the All Star Race [I believe it was].
Like you, he feel if he would JUST SHUT HIS TRAP and RACE he’d take a LOT OF HEAT OFF of himself. The ATTITUDE is what turns me off to him. NOT the fact that he drives a *cough* Toyota or that his name is Busch or that he wrecked Dale Jr. [yeah, I was HOT when it happened...I, like all Earnhardt fans, was
so dissapointed that Dale Jr. didn't get the win and needed *someone* to blame..so why not Kyle? He's the
one that wrecked Jr. right? NO...they BOTH could have
*given* a little more. But having to make split second decisions driving at what, 200mph, and going for a WIN..it's hard to make the *right* decision/move all the time.] IT WAS JUST HARD RACIN !
I think Kyle’s MOUTH {I don’t care how many cars I have to wreck to get the win} was the FIRST thought that came to my mind [and probably many others] was the #1 reason for thinking {at the time} it was an
*intentional* act on Kyle’s part. After looking at the replays…they could have BOTH given a little more.
I said that already didn’t I.
So, from another Jeff & Junior fan, I too hope Kyle will SHUT HIS TRAP so you can prove your point.
KYLE IS A GOOD DRIVER AND DESERVES THE CREDIT.
See ya back at NN !
Linda