2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver Rankings: Week 7 Edition
After a rare weekend off in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (the next one it will take off is in mid-June), it's back to business this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
Already this season, there have been a number of unforeseen developments that have rocked the landscape at the top of the points standings.
As Tom Jensen of Fox Sports wrote recently:
"Just six races into the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and already there have been enough surprises and plot twists to make this one of the most interesting campaigns in years.
"Call it the good, the bad and the ugly. There's already been lots of all three."
Kyle Busch, for instance, figured to be in the mix near the top of the points standings. But he has yet to run a single race after suffering injuries that sidelined him in the season-opening XFINITY Series race at Daytona.
Many thought Tony Stewart was primed for a bounce-back season, but that hasn't materialized yet either. Meanwhile, defending Cup champion Kevin Harvick has continued to be on a roll. At this point, everyone else is chasing him and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team.
See who's giving the fastest pursuit based on not only where they sit in the points standings or whether they've won a race or not, but also current momentum, chemistry and communication with crew chiefs and pit crews, and how consistently fast the cars that are being built for them back at the shop are.
10. Aric Almirola
1 of 10
Previous ranking: Not ranked
Why he's here
Almirola edges Paul Menard out of our top 10 based on their results in the latest race at Martinsville. Almirola finished 12th to make it five out of six races inside the top 20. Menard slipped to 23rd, even though he still remains ahead of Almirola in the points standings (Menard is a surprising sixth; Almirola is ninth).
Key 2015 moments
It should be noted that only three points currently separate the sixth- through ninth-place drivers in the points standings, so Almirola is in a virtual tie with Menard, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the surging Denny Hamlin. In his last five races, Almirola has finished 11th twice (at Atlanta and Fontana) in addition to his 12th-place finish at Martinsville. More importantly, he's done so at three different types of tracks.
What's next
The challenge for Almirola and his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford team is to continue to maintain consistency while eventually cracking the top 10 and perhaps contending for wins. They haven't done that yet and now head to two tracks in Texas and Bristol where Almirola has never led a single lap and has only one top-five and three top-10 finishes in a combined 19 career starts.
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2 of 10
Previous ranking: 6
Why he's here
Earnhardt began the season with three consecutive finishes of fourth or better, including third in the Daytona 500 and third at Atlanta in the first two races. But in two of his last three races, he's finished horribly (last in the 43-car field at Phoenix and 36th after running into trouble again at Martinsville).
Key 2015 moments
It seemed important for Earnhardt and the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team to get off to a fast start this season with new crew chief Greg Ives atop the pit box, and they did. But then a blown tire caused by excessive brake temperatures sent the No. 88 car into the outside wall early to ruin their day at Phoenix, and another wreck triggered by someone else caused further calamity at Martinsville. The first incident could have been avoided, according to Dale Earnhardt Jr. himself. And while the second wreck was simply bad luck, it was preceded by a series of issues with the car's shifter that also perhaps could have been avoided and didn't help his day.
What's next
He's won one time each in his career at Texas and Bristol, where he's led a combined 1,238 laps. But his win at Texas came in 2000, his first year in Cup racing, and he's led more than two laps there in just one of his last 13 trips to the 1.5-mile track. And at Bristol, his lone win came more than a decade ago in 2004, and he's led more than two laps in only three of the last 20 times he's raced there.
8. Matt Kenseth
3 of 10
Previous ranking: 9
Why he's here
Remarkably, it's been since September 2013 at New Hampshire, now 50 races ago, that Kenseth last visited Victory Lane. And that streak started after he won seven of the first 28 races of the 2013 season, his first with Joe Gibbs Racing. But he's coming off of a fourth-place run at Martinsville and has led 10 or more laps in three of the first six races this season, so he's at least getting closer to winning again.
Key 2015 moments
In addition to finishing fourth at Martinsville, he also finished fifth at Atlanta and ninth at Las Vegas. And he led 43 laps, including late in the race, before a broken axle did him in on the final pit stop at Fontana. He's also consistently qualified well, which is a big deal these days because it helps gain valuable track position right out of the gate. He's started in the top eight in each of the last four races.
What's next
Kenseth seems to be in great position to make a good run at ending his winless streak over the next two weeks. He's not only won twice in his career at Texas, but he also owns 13 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes in 25 career starts while leading 834 laps. At Bristol, he owns three wins, 12 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes in 30 career starts while leading 1,383 laps.
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7. Kasey Kahne
4 of 10
Previous ranking: 8
Why he's here
He's up to fifth in points after finishing 11th at Martinsville. Unlike in recent past seasons, Kahne is off to a good, solid start grounded in consistency. He led his first laps of the season (29 in all) at Martinsville.
Key 2015 moments
His best finish of the year was fourth at Phoenix, with his only other top-10 finish being ninth in the season-opening Daytona 500. But he hasn't had any really bad runs yet at all, with a pair of 17th-place finishes (at Las Vegas and Fontana) being his worst results.
What's next
As he continues to develop a better relationship with new crew chief Keith Rodden, he now heads to two tracks where he has proved he can lead laps (a combined 730 in his career) and contend for wins (one win at each track, plus a combined 10 top-five finishes).
6. Jimmie Johnson
5 of 10
Previous ranking: 4
Why he's here
In a sport where consistency—a trait Johnson has always been among the best at providing during his stellar career—is prized, the driver and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team have been wildly up and down this season. The latest stumble, a 35th-place finish at Martinsville, was especially troubling because it came at the short track where he had won eight times previously in his career.
Key 2015 moments
Johnson's sole win at Atlanta was followed by a 41st-place finish brought on by a blown tire at Las Vegas. His disaster at Martinsville was preceded by decent finishes at Phoenix (11th) and Fontana (ninth). Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus have won six Sprint Cup championships together, but there have been times this season and last when it has appeared they are not on the same page.
What's next
Texas could be the 1.5-mile track that cures whatever consistency problems ail Johnson, Knaus and the No. 48 team. They've won four times there, and they have also registered 11 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes in 23 career starts while leading a total of 889 laps. Then it's on to Bristol, the short track where Johnson has performed better of late after struggling there earlier in his career. He now owns one win, eight top-five and 14 top-10 finishes there, too, while leading 833 laps over 26 career starts.
5. Denny Hamlin
6 of 10
Previous ranking: Not ranked
Why he's here
Hamlin earned a much-needed victory not only for himself and his No. 11 FedEx Toyota team, but for the entire Joe Gibbs Racing organization at Martinsville. It came in the wake of the team's earlier announcement that popular team president J.D. Gibbs would be undergoing medical treatment for "symptoms impacting areas of brain function," per Jay Pennell of Fox Sports. It also came after Hamlin had finished 23rd or worse in three of the previous four races.
Key 2015 moments
Hamlin is yet another driver still adjusting to a new crew chief in 2015, and it's likely that the win at Martinsville will do wonders for the driver's relationship with Dave Rogers, which had hit a rough patch. After a fourth-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500, Hamlin finished 38th at Atlanta, a solid fifth at Las Vegas, then 23rd at Phoenix and 28th after starting sixth at Fontana.
What's next
The 1.5-mile track at Texas will be a good test, and it bodes well that Hamlin finished fifth at the 1.5-mile Vegas track already earlier this season. Hamlin owns two career wins at Texas and one on the short track at Bristol.
4. Martin Truex Jr.
7 of 10
Previous ranking: 5
Why he's here
No one has been more consistent this season than Truex Jr., whose sixth-place finish at Martinsville gave him six consecutive finishes of eighth or better to begin 2015. He's up to third in points and already has registered one more top-10 finish than he had over the course of the entire 36-race schedule last year.
Key 2015 moments
He led 23 laps at Martinsville, giving him 32 for the season. While that may seem modest to some, he led only one lap over the course of the entire 2014 season while finishing 23rd in points. The chemistry between Truex and new crew chief Cole Pearn appears to be off the charts, and the confidence of the entire No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team is soaring. That means a lot and is a big reason they've been able to avoid trouble and run up front all season, leading laps in four of the first six races and getting strong finishes.
What's next
For Truex, this seems to be the kind of season in which past performances at particular tracks may mean little, as the driver and his team already have proved they can finish well at all types of tracks. But just for the record, he's never won at either Texas or Bristol and has only two top-five finishes at both in a combined 37 career starts.
3. Brad Keselowski
8 of 10
Previous ranking: 3
Why he's here
Since suffering a blown engine while running near the front with 40 laps to go in the Daytona 500, which relegated Keselowski to a 41st-place finish, it could be argued that the only driver who has been better is two-time winner Kevin Harvick. Keselowski has finished ninth or better in each of the last five races, including a win at Fontana and a second-place finish at Martinsville in the last two.
Key 2015 moments
Nothing beats winning, which Keselowski did at Auto Club Speedway after leading only the last lap. He's led more laps than that in every other race this season except for the Daytona 500, including 52 at Phoenix, where he finished sixth. It's obvious that he and Paul Wolfe continue to be one of the best driver-crew chief tandems in the Sprint Cup garage.
What's next
Keselowski has never won and has only two top-five finishes in 13 career starts at Texas. He's won twice and owns four top-five finishes in 10 career starts at Bristol, where he's been especially good of late.
2. Joey Logano
9 of 10
Previous ranking: 2
Why he's here
Six races, six top-10 finishes. Logano began the season by winning the Daytona 500, and his worst finish so far is 10th at Las Vegas. He finished third at Martinsville in his latest effort, and he remains a solid second in the points standings behind only the red-hot Harvick.
Key 2015 moments
Your season already is guaranteed to be special when you open it by going to Victory Lane in the Daytona 500. But Logano has backed up that performance with solid runs at every track the Sprint Cup Series has visited. Whether it be at superspeedways, short tracks or 1.5-milers, Logano has worked efficiently with crew chief Todd Gordon to earn solid finishes. That's what champions do, so you can expect Logano to contend until the end of the season again this year.
What's next
He's the defending champion in the spring race on the 1.5-mile Texas track, and he won the last race run at the 0.533-mile short track in Bristol last August. So the No. 22 Penske Ford team should be good at both places again this time around.
1. Kevin Harvick
10 of 10
Previous ranking: 1
Why he's here
Harvick's streak of consecutive top-two finishes ended at eight when he finished eighth at Martinsville. It was the longest such streak in NASCAR since the legendary Richard Petty finished first or second in 11 races in a row in 1975.
Key 2015 moments
He won back-to-back races at Las Vegas and Phoenix, and he has finished second everywhere else except for Martinsville. The defending Sprint Cup champion looks like a very good bet to repeat right now, although there obviously is a long way to go. And it's not just that Harvick is great at his job. Crew chief Rodney Childers is setting up the cars so they're fast, adjusting them perfectly during the races when it's required, and the pit crew has been deadly efficient. This No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy team obviously is the one to beat everywhere they race these days.
What's next
Texas is one of only five current Sprint Cup tracks where Harvick has never won, although he does have four top-five finishes. He has one win and nine top-five finishes in 28 career starts at Bristol. But with the way he and Childers have been clicking this year, don't count him out at either track.
Joe Menzer has written six books, including two about NASCAR, and now he writes about it and other sports for Bleacher Report. He also covers NASCAR as a writer and editor for FoxSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @OneMenz.
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