The B.D.S. Weekly Top 10- Consistency Counts

Even in this early junction of the season, there’s a time when “Mr. Right Now” becomes “Mr. Right.” The contenders and pretenders, the prospects and suspects become a little more evident.

Let’s dive in and see how the top 10 drivers of the week shake out as we consider the evidence. Of course, this is subjective, and my opinion carries no more weight then yours.

See what you think, and then comment with your own. The point here is get a good sense of what each fan places a higher value on when it comes to evaluating performance.

Let’s take a look shall we?

#10- Brian Vickers (new entry)- Can you imagine where Ol’  “Red Bull Red” might be now were not for the infamous Daytona incident. Or…consider this….what if the pit fortunes played a little different in the end. Since Daytona, Vickers has run 10th, 8th and 5th. The key here is for he and his team not to beat themselves- which they are occasionally prone to do. Personally, I think the downforce tracks favor his driving. He’ll need to watch his tendency towards aggressiveness in the Bristol Bullring.

#9- Greg Biffle (down from 5th)- The Biff took a beating with his misfortunes in Atlanta. Biffle currently sits 10th in the points and has a top 5 and a top 10 prior to yesterday’s debacle. Like his teammates at Roush- Fenway, I tend to think of Biffle as an intermediate racer, so Bristol and Martinsville may test his standing a bit.

#8- Tony Stewart (up from 9th)- Wipe out his 26th place finish at Vegas, and Smoke has been averaging a finish of 8th. Overall, Stewart’s average finish of 12.5 ranks him 6th among the 18 drivers I put up for consideration. Think about it- with a change of teams and the mantle of ownership- you’d have to say the Rushville Rocket is good out of the gate.

#7- Kevin Harvick (holding steady)- I never cease to marvel at how Happy will start mid to the back of the pack, hang around in all that chaos, and then somehow end up at or near the front. A 4th place finish after being put a lap down in the Ambrose pit crew incident speaks volumes of Harvick’s perseverance. You’ve got a feeling this is another veteran fixin’ to end a winless streak.

#6- Kyle Busch (down from first)- You really can’t blame Wild Thing for his lack of grip yesterday. Considering that- it’s probably some minor miracle he didn’t finish wrose than 18th. However- I think you’ll agree- at least for this week’s purposes- it’s not so much I downgraded Kyle as much as I UPgraded the others.

#5- Carl Edwards (up from 8th)- “Opie” put himself back in the spotlight with his 3rd place run in the old southland. Like Biffle, I will watch with interest to see how he handles the cramped quarters of Bristol. Let’s not forget, it was on a summer night last summer when Edwards and Kyle Busch got together for a little lovefest at race’s end. Ya never know, we could get a repeat. With his top 5 at AMS, coupled with an average finish of 11.2- I’m not hesitant to Edwards ahead on the basis of his avoiding the some of Busch’s lows.

#4- Matt Kenseth (down from 3rd)- The “17″ battled bad handling for a 12th place finish in Atlanta. Seems kind of a shame that a guy with two wins this early gets downgraded to 4th.

#3- Clint Bowyer (up from 4th)- Check this out…throw out his 19th at California, and Bowyer has run 4th, 2nd, and 6th. Only Jeff Gordon’s average finish is better than Bowyer’s 7.8. He may be the most underrated driver on the circuit right now.

#2- Kurt Busch (up from 6th)- How does Kurt rank this high? He’s won a race, finished 10th and 5th and has done no worse than 23rd. The Blue Deuce is representing Dodge and Miller Lite with pride. His 9.8 average finish puts him right behind Bowyer and Gordon.

And our new numero uno is…….

#1- Jeff Gordon (up from 2nd)- Like I said, consistency counts- not only in NASCAR’s standings in the Bump Drafts Studs power rankings as well. The Rainbow Warrior’s worst finish is 13th, and he’s finished second twice, plus a 6th. Big Daddy should be knocking the door down sometime soon. With 4 wins at Bristol- it could shape up as a good battle between Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Burton and all the other usual suspects.

FALLING OFF THE PACE

David Reutimann….I am by no means kicking Beak to the curb. Time was, just getting in the race was an accomplishment for the MWR.

READY TO STRIKE

Jimmie Johnson….can you believe he hasn’t scored a top 5 yet. That will change in time. Denny Hamlin….his car started out well in Atlanta, but……Kasey Kahne….every week, Kasey’s performance gets a little better- from 29th to 12th to 11th to a 7th at AMS. Off in the distance, I hear the roar from the engine of Jeff Burton.

CHECK BACK TOMORROW WHEN PATRICK REYNOLDS BRINGS US ANOTHER INSTALLMENT OF “BENCH RACING.” HE’LL BE SHARING WITH US A CONVERSATION HE HAD WITH A MODIFIED RACER WHO ONCE DID HIS THING ON THE TRACKS AROUND REYNOLDS OLD STOMPING GROUNDS IN CONNETICUT. A MUST READ FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO LIKE GRASS ROOTS RACING.

ALSO…..THE LOVELY AND TALENTED MISS MUSTANG JACKIE WILL BRE BRINGING US THE CLASSIFIEDS…..NASCAR STYLE.

BUT WAIT…THERE’S MORE. I WILL ALSO BE DOING A “NASCAR LEGENDS” PIECE ON DAVID PEARSON.

By the way….heee’s baaack…. In case you’ve missed it former Yahoo! writer Jerry Bonkowski is up and running on his new website. I don’t know that I’ve always agreed with him, but at the same time, he;s a writer I respect a great deal. Good piece on Atlanta today. Go to http://jerrybonkowski.com

PHOTO CREDITS- Vickers by shedger23, Harvick and Bowyer by Walter G. Arce. Click on their hyperlinks to see more and visit flickr.com.