2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver Rankings: Week 4 Edition
And the winners are...Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick.
Those three NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers won the first three races of the 2015 season at Daytona, Atlanta and Las Vegas, respectively. Harvick was the latest to pull into Victory Lane last Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he dominated the Kobalt 400.
Fox television analyst and FoxSports.com columnist Darrell Waltrip, a NASCAR Hall of Famer and former Cup champion himself, wrote, "Kevin is enjoying an amazing run. Sunday's win was Kevin's third in five races dating back to the final two events of last season and it marked his sixth consecutive top-two finish. That is phenomenal."
No kidding. The six consecutive top-two finishes have not occurred since Jeff Gordon accomplished it in 1996.
So, is it enough to place Harvick at the top of the driver rankings? Remember, it's based not only on wins and finishes, but on which drivers are displaying the best chemistry with crew chiefs and pit crews, the consistency with which fast cars are being placed underneath them by the boys back at the shop and who is flashing the most momentum as the Sprint Cup Series heads to Phoenix International Raceway.
10. Ryan Newman
1 of 10
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
Why He's Here: Last year's surprise runner-up in the Chase for the Sprint Cup struggled to a 38th-place finish after wrecking in the season-opening Daytona 500, but Ryan Newman has recovered from that debacle well. He's up to 12th in the actual points standings but is ahead of some others in these rankings because of back-to-back top-10 finishes, including a third-place run at Las Vegas.
Key 2015 Stats: Not only did he finish third at Vegas, but he led 14 laps at the 1.5-mile track, which is a good sign. Last year, the Richard Childress Racing driver didn't lead his 14th lap until the 23rd race of the season at Michigan. Newman also finished 10th at Atlanta and qualified well in each of the last two races, starting seventh both at Atlanta and Vegas.
What's Next: He frequently runs well at Phoenix, where he has won once, grabbed four poles and finished in the top five eight times. But he's never won at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, where he's led only 22 of 4,310 laps he's run in his career.
9. Matt Kenseth
2 of 10
Previous Ranking: 5
Why He's Here: After struggling in the Daytona 500, where he started 35th and ended up 35th after rising to as high as 12th, Matt Kenseth looked strong at both Atlanta and Vegas. Throw in the fact that he won the Sprint Unlimited non-points race at Daytona to unofficially kick off the season, and he's showing the type of speed necessary to win some races (speed that was lacking in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota last season).
Key 2015 Stats: Kenseth led 10 laps and finished fifth after starting 36th at Atlanta. He started sixth and finished ninth at Vegas, giving him back-to-back top-10 finishes. Of course, he did that sort of thing many times last season but never did get to Victory Lane, so he still needs to accomplish that in a points race to prove this season will be different.
What's Next: His career numbers at the next two tracks are impressive, with one win, six top-fives and 10 top-10 finishes in 25 starts at Phoenix and three wins, nine top-fives and 15 top-10 finishes in 22 starts at Fontana. But he needs a win, not just another decent finish, to make certain he'll be locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup at season's end.
8. Kasey Kahne
3 of 10
Previous Ranking: NR
Why He's Here: While Kasey Kahne has been far from spectacular over the first three races, he's also proved to be adept at staying out of trouble of his own doing. He was headed for a third consecutive decent finish at Las Vegas when Carl Edwards ran into him, messing up Kahne's day, but he still came out of that race sixth in the current points.
Key 2015 Stats: After opening the season with a ninth-place finish in the Daytona 500, he started 10th and finished 14th at Atlanta. Then he had to settle for 17th after starting third at Vegas, mostly because Edwards threw the proverbial wrench into Kahne's day. "We just needed another full car's worth of racing room there, and (Edwards) just plowed us into the wall. That was discouraging," Kahne told FoxSports.com.
What's Next: He has one win each at Phoenix and Fontana in his career. Whether he can start showing he can run up front and lead some laps (he's led none so far this season) will indicate if he's starting to really hit it off with new crew chief Keith Rodden (or not).
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7. AJ Allmendinger
4 of 10
Previous Ranking: NR
Why He's Here: AJ Allmendinger's season seemed to get off to an inauspicious start when he wrecked in his Budweiser Duel qualifying race and had to start near the rear, in 40th, for the Daytona 500. But he drove his JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet to a respectable 20th-place finish in the 500 and since has posted back-to-back finishes inside the top 10 to move up to fifth in the current points standings.
Key 2015 Stats: It says something about Allmendinger's driving ability that he's consistently finishing higher than he's starting. After the 500, he started 11th and finished seventh at Atlanta, and at Vegas he started 22nd and finished sixth.
What's Next: He's had only three top-10 finishes in 21 combined career starts between Phoenix and Fontana. So these next two races could go a long way toward determining whether his fast start to the season is the real deal or fool's gold.
6. Denny Hamlin
5 of 10
Previous Ranking: 8
Why He's Here: Maybe Denny Hamlin should start further back in the field every race. In the two where he has (42nd at Daytona, 19th at Las Vegas), he's roared back to finish in the top five both times. Displaying that kind of speed and ability to drive through the field from anywhere is promising.
Key 2015 Stats: The one race when Hamlin did qualify well, starting fourth at Atlanta, he finished 38th after getting loose and causing a wreck that also collected Newman, Gordon and Jamie McMurray. But even on that day, he showed speed early and led 14 laps. He finished fourth on the 2.5-mile superspeedway at Daytona and fifth at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
What's Next: Hamlin has totaled two poles, one win, nine top-fives and 10 top-10 finishes in 19 career starts at Phoenix, but he's never won at Fontana despite starting from the pole three times. His average career finish there is 19.0, compared to 11.0 at Phoenix.
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6 of 10
Previous Ranking: NR
Why He's Here: What a difference a year makes, at least so far for Martin Truex Jr. Last year, his first with Furniture Row Racing after he lost his ride at Michael Waltrip Racing through no fault of his own, was nothing short of a disaster. This year, he's out of the gate with three consecutive finishes of eighth or better, placing him fourth in the current points standings, the highest a Furniture Row driver has ever climbed.
Key 2015 Stats: Truex finished eighth in the Daytona 500, sixth at Atlanta and second in Vegas. Last year, he didn't register his third top-10 finish until the 30th race of the season, he had only one top-five run all year and he never finished higher than fourth.
What's Next: Truex seems to be in a much better frame of mind this season, and rightly so. His girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last summer but now seems to be doing much better. She encouraged Truex to keep racing last year, and the extra time with his Furniture Row team seems to be paying off. Although, it also has helped that the team hired extra engineers in the offseason and Truex is hitting it off with new crew chief Cole Pearn, who replaced Todd Berrier.
4. Jimmie Johnson
7 of 10
Previous Ranking: 3
Why He's Here: Jimmie Johnson won at Atlanta after starting second and finishing fifth in the Daytona 500. So despite then running into all kinds of trouble, repeatedly, before finishing a disastrous 41st at Las Vegas, Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet has been one of the fastest cars this season.
Key 2015 Stats: He came from the 37th starting position to visit Victory Lane at Atlanta. Even in the Kobalt 400 at Vegas, Johnson led 45 laps before he started having tires blow on him. He also led 39 at Daytona and 92 en route to the Atlanta triumph, giving him 176 laps led on the season. Only Harvick has led more.
What's Next: He loves the next two race tracks, and it shows in his career numbers. In 23 starts at Phoenix, he has piled up four wins, 14 top-fives and 18 top-10 finishes. In 20 starts at Fontana, his home track, he has five wins, 12 top-fives and 14 top-10 finishes. Look for him to contend strongly for the win at both places.
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
8 of 10
Previous Ranking: 7
Why He's Here: Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn't won a race yet, but he has contended in each of the first three races. He seems to be making a seamless transition to his new crew chief, Greg Ives, who replaced Steve Letarte this season. Earnhardt didn't even seem to mind when Ives' two-tire gamble late at Las Vegas didn't pan out.
"I like to gamble, I like the call," Earnhardt told FoxSports.com afterward. "I love being aggressive. We weren't going to be able to drive up and pass that 4 (Harvick), so we had to take a chance. Second, fifth, fourth, whatever, it doesn't matter if you don't win."
Key 2015 Stats: Other than Harvick, no other driver has been more consistent than Earnhardt over the first three races. He started third and finished third in the Daytona 500, leading 32 laps. He started ninth and finished third at Atlanta. And he started fourth and finished fourth at Las Vegas. All of which left him second in the points, but third in these rankings because he has yet to finish the job and get to Victory Lane.
What's Next: Earnhardt usually runs well at Phoenix, where he has won twice, finished in the top five seven times and finished in the top 10 on 12 occasions. At Fontana, it's an entirely different story. He's never won at that two-mile track and has led a total of only 28 laps there in 22 career starts. The only current Sprint Cup tracks where he's led fewer laps in his career are Kentucky, where he's made only four starts, and the road course of Sonoma.
2. Joey Logano
9 of 10
Previous Ranking: 9
Why He's Here: Logano won the Daytona 500, NASCAR's biggest race. That counts for a whole lot in any season. In addition, he followed it up by finishing fourth at Atlanta and 10th at Las Vegas, indicating that he and crew chief Todd Gordon are picking up right where they left off last season when Logano was one of the last four drivers left standing in the Chase.
Key 2015 Stats: Logano not only is finishing races well, he's starting them in good positions too, by crushing it in qualifying. He won the pole at Atlanta, qualified fifth at Daytona and qualified second at Vegas, putting him on the front row. Logano's No. 22 Team Penske Ford has been fast enough to lead at least 31 laps in each of the first three races.
What's Next: In a combined 20 career starts at Phoenix and Fontana, he's never won a race at either track. Then again, Logano is still young and had never won at Daytona before capturing the Daytona 500 this year, either. So don't rule him out at either venue.
1. Kevin Harvick
10 of 10
Previous Ranking: 1
Why He's Here: Perhaps more than anyone else, Harvick seems to be benefiting from the fact that the new 2015 Sprint Cup car drives like an Xfinity Series car. Then again, Harvick drove the 2014 car to the Sprint Cup championship too. In the first three races this season, he has finished second in the Daytona 500, second at Atlanta and first at Las Vegas.
Key 2015 Stats: Dating back to last season, Harvick has finished first or second in a remarkable six consecutive races. That makes him and crew chief Rodney Childers the new No. 1 power couple in the Sprint Cup garage. Harvick already has led a series-high 258 laps this season, including 116 at Atlanta and 142 en route to the win at Las Vegas.
What's Next: Like the teams of Johnson and Logano, whose race wins clinch a berth in the Chase for them, Harvick and Childers can now relax and work on fine-tuning their cars for the defense of their 2014 championship that they know will be coming this fall when the 2015 Chase commences. Oh, and by the way, now the series heads to the Phoenix track where Harvick has won four of the last five races and six times overall in his career.
Unless otherwise noted, all information was obtained firsthand.
Joe Menzer has written six books, including two about NASCAR, and now writes about it and other sports for Bleacher Report as well as covering NASCAR as a writer and editor for FoxSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @OneMenz.
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