2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver Rankings: Week 11 Edition
Fresh off an emotional victory at Talladega, where his father used to rule, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is on the move in the right direction in the Bleacher Report driver rankings.
More importantly than that, he's all but locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup. With 16 regular-season races left before NASCAR's version of the playoffs begins, now he can feel free to experiment more with new crew chief Greg Ives to get ready for it.
Furthermore, Earnhardt sent a message with his aggressive style at 'Dega. A year ago in the spring race at the same 2.66-mile superspeedway, he made the choice to ride around most of the day in the back. He said after Sunday's latest race that he was "ashamed" of that choice, telling FoxSports.com that helped fuel his winning strategy this time around.
"I feel like the fans want to see us up front." Earnhardt told FoxSports.com of his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team.
"They love to see us win the race, but they want to see us lead every lap. They get excited when we take the lead. They're happy when we're up front. They want us up front every lap. I mean, I feel that. You'll get up there and get the lead. You know you're delivering upon the promise that you're going to run hard and run good."
See what the more aggressive style and the latest win earned Earnhardt in the rankings, which are based not only on wins but also on chemistry with the crew chief and pit crew, the ability of teams to build fast race cars and who seems to be carrying the most momentum into the next left turn.
10. Jamie McMurray
1 of 10
Previous Ranking: not ranked
Why he's here
Jamie McMurray is up to seventh in the points standings. And even though he has yet to win a race and he's led only 14 laps all season, he now has two top-fives and four top-10 finishes in the first 10 races, putting him on pace to perhaps make the Chase for the Sprint Cup for the first time in his 13-year career as a full-time driver.
Key 2015 moments
He finished 11th at Talladega and fourth at Richmond in the last two races. But his best finish of the season was second at Phoenix, beginning a stretch of seven races in which he registered all four of his top-10 finishes.
He's obviously gaining momentum with crew chief Matt McCall, who stepped in for Keith Rodden this year when Rodden left Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates to move over to Hendrick Motorsport atop Kasey Kahne's pit box. Right now, McMurray and his team are outperforming Kahne and his.
What's next
McMurray has never really run very well at Kansas Speedway, where he's never registered a top-five and has only three top-10s in 16 career starts. But he's usually pretty strong at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he has won two points races in his career and also won the non-points Sprint All-Star Race last year.
9. Denny Hamlin
2 of 10
Previous ranking: 8
Why he's here
Denny Hamlin's season has been more than a little up and down. But he does have a win at Martinsville and the almost certain ticket into the Chase that will provide.
Key 2015 moments
The victory at Martinsville obviously was the highlight. Two weeks later, he had to get out of the car at Bristol after only 23 laps when his neck cramped up during a long rain delay. Then he struggled to a 22nd-place finish after qualifying second at Richmond before coming home ninth after a typically crazy day at Talladega.
Which Hamlin is the one who will show up in the Chase? That's something he and new crew chief Dave Rogers hope to have figured out by then.
What's next
He owns one career win at Kansas but has never won at Charlotte, despite 11 top-10 finishes in 19 career starts. It's a fact that the Joe Gibbs Racing teams seem to be a little behind Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing at these types of 1.5-mile venues.
8. Martin Truex Jr.
3 of 10
Previous ranking: 7
Why he's here
Martin Truex Jr. is up to second in the points standings. So why only eighth here? Because as good as he's been (and it's a major improvement over last year and just about any season in his 12-year career), he's still led a total of only 32 laps (more than five in only one race) and has yet to win a race.
Key 2015 moments
He finished fifth at Talladega, giving him top-10 finishes in all but one race this season. His total of nine top-10s is nearly double what he registered all of last season, his first with the single-car Furniture Row Racing team.
Truex's chemistry with new crew chief Cole Pearn has clicked from the start, and it shows. They are able to make in-race adjustments that have helped them overcome starting positions outside the top 10 in six of the first 10 races all but once (when he finished 29th at Bristol for his only poor result of the season).
What's next
He's never won at either Kansas or Charlotte in a combined 32 career starts. In fact, he's never even had a top-five finish in 19 career starts at Charlotte. He has four of those at Kansas.
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7. Matt Kenseth
4 of 10
Previous ranking: 4
Why he's here
Like his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth has a win to his credit but has been inconsistent. He's coming off a 25th-place finish at Talladega after winning at Bristol and finishing a hard-earned seventh at Richmond when he and his team had to really battle to finish that well.
Key 2015 moments
He has five finishes of ninth or better and four of 23rd or worse. So obviously he and his No. 20 JGR Toyota team are seeking more consistency. He won Bristol from the pole and has qualified eighth or better in seven of the last eight races. So the speed is there in his car in qualifying trim, but crew chief Jason Ratcliff needs to find a way to find it more often in race trim.
What's next
He has two career wins at each of the next two tracks and usually runs well at both. As further evidence, he's led more than 1,100 laps combined at the two venues and finished in the top 10 in an impressive total of 26 of his 49 career starts at the two venues.
6. Brad Keselowski
5 of 10
Previous ranking: 5
Why he's here
After six consecutive finishes of ninth or better, Brad Keselowski's season took a turn for the worse at Bristol when he ran into Team Penske teammate Joey Logano 22 laps into the race and ruined both of their days. He followed that up with a 17th-place run at Richmond and a 22nd at Talladega, where he frequently excels.
Key 2015 moments
His lone win came at Fontana, where he led only the final lap. In fact, Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe have encountered difficulty coming up with the speed in the No. 2 Ford that they're accustomed to enjoying. They've led only 118 laps over the first 10 races for an average of 11.8 per race. That's a far cry from the average of 42.8 Keselowski led last season, when he won six races and led a total of 1,540 laps in all.
What's next
Keselowski owns one win each at Kansas and Charlotte in his career. It's way too early for him or his team to push the panic button, but it will be important for him to put his recent string of poor finishes behind him and start running up front again soon.
5. Kurt Busch
6 of 10
Previous ranking: not ranked
Why he's here
As hard as it may be to believe, Kurt, the elder of the racing Busch brothers, has led 521 laps already this season. Only points leader Kevin Harvick has led more, and Busch sat out the first three races of the season while serving a NASCAR suspension for alleged domestic abuse.
Key 2015 moments
Busch's most pivotal moment this season came when the state of Delaware decided not to pursue criminal charges against him for the alleged domestic abuse against ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll and NASCAR promptly reinstated him.
Ever since he's climbed back into his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, he's been driving like a man on a mission to make up for the lost time. He's led 21 or more laps in five of his seven starts, including the career-high 291 he led while winning at Richmond.
What's next
Busch seems very comfortable with crew chief Tony Gibson, who in turn seems to accept Busch as is, rough edges and all (at least for now). They'll have their work cut out for them over the next two weeks. Busch has one career win at Charlotte but often has struggled there, and he's 0-of-18 in his career at Kansas with only one top-five finish.
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
7 of 10
Previous ranking: 6
Why he's here
All hail, Dale Jr.! He made it back to Victory Lane at Talladega for the first time since 2004, continuing a resurgence that began last year when he won the season-opening Daytona 500 and four races overall. That gives him five wins in the last two seasons or one more than he managed in the previous nine combined.
Key 2015 moments
Nothing tops winning at Talladega for an Earnhardt, which Junior acknowledged after capturing last Sunday's GEICO 500. Earnhardt told FoxSports.com after what was his sixth career win at 'Dega:
"I felt like we had a lot of supporters here because of dad's success. He won so many races here. I think about all the races he won here and at Daytona. I love when we go to Victory Lane because I feel like I add to his legacy there.
All I ever want to do is make him proud. I feel like when we win at those tracks where he was successful, that's exactly what we're doing.
"
What's next
It's somewhat surprising, but he's struggled mightily at his hometown Charlotte track virtually his entire career, going 0-of-30 there in points races with only five top-five finishes. He's never won at Kansas, either, with only two top-five finishes in 17 career starts. So the newfound success he discovered at Talladega with new crew chief Ives will immediately be put to the test.
3. Joey Logano
8 of 10
Previous ranking: 3
Why he's here
Joey Logano has been a model of consistency most of this season, racking up his one win in the season-opening Daytona 500, three poles, five top-fives and eight top-10 finishes over the first 10 races. But after opening the season with seven consecutive top-10s, he has finished 40th (Bristol) and 33rd (Talladega) in two of the last three races.
Key 2015 moments
The 40th-place finish at Bristol was not his fault, as his day was doomed the minute Team Penske teammate Keselowski inadvertently wrecked him in the early going. Then at Talladega, he got caught up in someone else's mess late in the race.
So while frustrating, those incidents were not his fault and are no reason for concern in a season where he already has displayed the speed and consistency to contend for a championship.
As evidence, he's led 19 or more laps in all but three of the first 10 races for a total of 418 laps led on the season, third behind only Kurt Busch and points leader Harvick. Plus Logano's chemistry with crew chief Todd Gordon has been on the upswing since the beginning of last season and shows no signs of doing anything but continuing to improve.
What's next
He has run 4,227 laps in his career at Charlotte Motor Speedway and led the grand total of just three, which explains why he has never won there. He has one career win at Kansas.
2. Jimmie Johnson
9 of 10
Previous ranking: 2
Why he's here
Along with Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson is the only two-time winner thus far this season. It's as if Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus have been inspired (or maybe challenged is the better word to use here) by the stunning success of Harvick and his crew chief, Rodney Childers. Over the last four races, Johnson has finished first, second, third and second, respectively.
Key 2015 moments
Johnson's two wins came at Atlanta and at Texas, a pair of 1.5-mile tracks that bode well for his chances in the Chase. He has a total of six top-fives and seven top-10 finishes already and has led 39 or more laps in half of the races run so far. Translation: More wins are on the way for this guy and his stellar No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team, led by the crafty Knaus atop the pit box.
Although some thought he wasn't aggressive enough in going for the lead late at Talladega, Johnson told FoxSports.com that he was happy about finishing second because he "didn't mess it up."
What's next
The next two tracks set up nicely for Johnson, who has won twice at Kansas and seven times in points races at Charlotte. Seriously, it's almost like Johnson and Knaus have taken the incredibly fast start to the season put on by Harvick as extra motivation where they are determined to match or better their Stewart-Haas Racing counterparts.
1. Kevin Harvick
10 of 10
Previous ranking: 1
Why he's here
The defending Sprint Cup champion still reigns atop the points standings and is tied with Johnson for most wins in the series with a pair. But where he trumps Johnson is in top-fives (seven to Johnson's six), top-10s (nine to Johnson's seven) and total laps led (series-high 953 to Johnson's 354).
Key 2015 moments
Harvick finished first or second in the first five and seven of the first nine races. That's nothing short of incredible. Crew chief Childers has risen to a level that obviously challenges Knaus for supremacy with the wrenches and computers in the Sprint Cup garage.
Harvick's two wins came in dominating performances at Las Vegas, where he led 142 of 267 laps, and at Phoenix, where he led 224 of 312, in back-to-back weeks. But the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet had led 34 or more laps in seven of 10 races overall, including 96 or more in six of those. All of these numbers are simply staggering in scope.
What's next
Harvick and his team figure to be formidable at the next two tracks too. He owns one win at Kansas and three at Charlotte in his career and has been on such a roll that he figures to be a threat to run up front and possibly win at both places.
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 for FoxSports.com as a Digital Content Producer. Follow him on Twitter @OneMenz.
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