Another week, another set of driver rankings to reveal. None of my big 3 series had particularly interesting racing, however that wasn't the case with this week's rankings. The big ones at Talladega had several top NASCAR guys lose big points. With only three races completed so far, the IndyCar rankings are still quite volatile, with the biggest gainer and biggest loser this week coming from the IRL.
The rules of my rankings require that a driver participate in at least half of the events his or her series runs in order to be ranked. Because of that, the most recent NASCAR winner Brad Keselowski, whose run 4 of 9 Sprint Cup events, is ineligible. His current average of 9.625 would place him in 37th place though if he was included.
Top 10 in Focus
1. Jenson Button, F1 (last week - 1)
Fourth week in a row that Button sits #1 in the standings, now by a margin of more than 10. Without any IndyCar races until the end of next month, he's bound to stay on top until at least then. Even if he scored no ranking points in Spain, he'll still have a 31.800 average.
2. Will Power, IndyCar (last week - 3)
Being rideless this week actually helped Will Power become the top ranked IndyCar driver after Dario Franchitti crashed out and got his qualifying run thrown out. He will get to run at Indy though, hopefully for him it will be good enough to get sponsor dollars for the rest of the season.
3. Rubens Barrichello, F1 (last week - 4)
Rubens had a solid point gain this week to maintain a high position on the chart. He has not been as strong as his teammate Button, which may be an area of concern as the other teams close the diffuser gap in Spain and Monaco.
4. Sebastian Vettel, F1 (last week - 12)
A runner-up finish in Bahrain together with his victory in China has seen Vettel moved in two weeks from 41st to 4th. Unless Button suffers a disaster run of form the only way I could see someone else getting up to #1 is if this kid gets on a serious winning streak, preferably with a few poles along the way.
5. Jarno Trulli, F1 (last week - 16)
Earning pole in Bahrain was key to Jarno's success this week, as he actually earned more ranking points than Vettel despite finishing third.
6. Tony Kanaan, IndyCar (last week - 7)
Another consistently good week for Kanaan saw him become the ICS points leader if just barely, while he remains the highest ranked driver with a guaranteed ride for the season.
7. Dario Franchitti, IndyCar (last week - 2)
Dario scored a big ol' donut this week, causing him to drop five places.
8. Jeff Gordon, NASCAR (last week - 5)
The biggest victim of the first Big One of Talladega '09.
9. Kurt Busch, NASCAR (last week - 9)
Older Busch has been #9 for three weeks running.
10. Ryan Briscoe, IndyCar (last week - 10)
Briscoe caught an unlucky break on Sunday when the caution flew prior to hitting the pit line, but it did not effect him to badly here.
Other Facts
- Biggest Gainer: Kansas winner and last year's #1 driver Scott Dixon, who went from 60th to 15th in one weekend.
- Biggest Loser: Raphael Matos, who went from 45th to 59th.
- Only one man is keeping Jenson Button from having the top average in all three categories (race results, qualifying and bonus) : Graham Rahal, whose qualifying average of 8.67 points/qualifying session leads Button and Will Power (8.5 each).
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