One unique feature of NASCAR is that its drivers often run in multiple series. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, and David Ragan to name a few ran full or almost full Nationwide Series, and Shrub also did a lot of Truck racing as well. As a result, I felt the need to have more than one chart was necessary. There are in fact three charts: a Sprint Cup only chart, a single-series season chart, and a chart combining a driver's performances between all three national NASCAR series.
Sprint Cup Rankings
Unlike the previously released Overall chart, this one extends to the top 50 point earners in the Sprint Cup series for 2008. Unsurprisingly Jimmie Johnson occupies the #1 spot, with Carl Edwards #2. Kyle Busch is #3, although when I began charting he was in the #1 spot for NASCAR drivers and fell coinciding with his poor Chase performance. Mark Martin is fifth despite his part-time schedule, which may mean good things for his full-time ride with Hendrick next year. Not bad for a guy who could have gone to high school with my dad (that is, if he lived in New Jersey or my dad lived in Arkansas).
Single Season Rankings
Kyle Busch occupies both the top two spots on this chart, with his performance in the Trucks at #1 and his Nationwide season with a record-tying win tally at #2. In the trucks, strangely enough Ron Hornaday bested Johnny Benson in the rankings although Benson was #1 in the points that actually counted.
The best total overall though is not listed here. Tony Stewart had the best season in the Nationwide Series, with an ranking average of 29.460. He did not make the cutoff though, as he ran 9 races in the season. In those nine appearances though he had five wins, finished in the top 10 all but once, and had 2 poles and a front row appearance. Ryan Newman's sole Truck appearance also bested Kyle Busch's best marks, as he won the race to pick up 26 points.
The Combined Rankings
Running just the Craftsman Truck season, Ron Hornaday tops Kyle Busch for the #1 spot. Still, Shrub's work is an impressive feat considering that he had 86 races in major NASCAR competition this season, and he won 21 times. Also breaking double digits is Carl Edwards, who had 16 wins in 2008.
The hyped "Next big driver" in NASCAR, Joey Logano, finished in the top 10. Note above in the Sprint Cup chart he's dead last, so his Nationwide work went a long way towards securing the top 10. I don't think he'll be there next year, although if he does we won't hear the end of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment