B.D.S. Weekly Top 10- Tight Behind The Leaders

  The defense rests. Though nobody seemed to argue my choice for number one in my weekly top 10, I had a ready defense for putting a winless driver on top. By now, I don’t think even the most ardent Gordon-hater would challenge the selection now.

That said, things get pretty interesting once you get past Jimmie Johnson. For weeks, I’ve used this as an opportunity to discuss the “consistency vs. wins” debate (especially timely with F-1’s move to a wins-based championship selection. Now- another element comes into play: trending. We’ve run enough races now, that you have some drivers who have bobbed in and out of the top ten due to wild race-to-race variations.

It makes picking a top 10 of the week a very interesting discussion. Not only am I looking at the entire season of work, I’m looking at who’s trending the right way with at least one eye on history in terms of what past performance. I guess what I’m saying is Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart and Mark Martin have less of a mountain to climb than Kasey Kahne, A.J. Allmendinger and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Here are my picks for this week:

#10- Jeff Burton (previously unranked)- In typical Jeff Burton fashion, “The Mayor” has quietly creeped towards the front. Since finishing 32nd at California, Burton has had nothing but top 15s- including a 3rd at Vegas, 8th at Bristol and a 9th at Texas. His methods may not be exciting, but they’re very effective.

#9- Carl Edwards (ranked 10th last week)- His 10th place finish at Texas a symptomatic of what has been a very weird season. While I would agree with Lee Spencer that Edwards is in no slump, I would conversely argue he’s not having the season so far that anyone- not even Carl Edwards- had envisioned. He’ll come around, he’s just not there yet.

#8- Matt Kenseth (unranked last week)- Some would argue I’m ranking him too high, but this is where my slight bias in favor of wins comes in. You CANNOT ignore those two season opening wins, and the Texas finish of 5th suggests Matty is back on track.

#7- Denny Hamlin (4th last week)- It’s not like Hamlin really had a bad week. I think you’ll agree it’s hard to rank him higher than the guys ahead of him. When Denny’s been on, he’s come so close but hasn’t closed the deal. Hey- 7th out of 50 some-odd drivers is nothing to sneeze at.

#6- Kurt Busch (6th last week)- You have to like that Busch rebounds well from a relatively off performance. He followed a 23rd at Vegas with a win at Atlanta, and an 18th at “The Paper Clip” with a a top 10 in Texas.

#5- Kyle Busch (5th last week)- I swear there are two Kyle Buschs. One Kyle who wins races and runs fearlessly around the front, another Kyle who seems to be a trouble magnet. For my part, the Junior incident was unintentional, and The Andretti thing? Well…that’s another story. When he’s on, he’s on. When he’s not…..check this out, his finishes in order for the year: 41st, 3rd, 1st, 18th, 1st, 24th, 18th. All over the map.

#4- Clint Bowyer (2nd last week)- Like Hamlin, he’s been good in a number of races, but unable to finish the job. Then there are those off weeks that make you tend to forget him. Still- he’s accomplishing more than many had envisioned for him.

#3- Tony Stewart (7th last week)- Smoke’s numbers bear a strong resemblance to Bowyer’s. I give Stewart the nod on trending. You just get a feeling that first win for Stewart- Haas is just around the corner.

#2- Jimmie Johnson (2nd last week)- Simply put, if not for Jeff Gordon, Johnson is #1. Need proof? He’s rung up 4 top 10s in a row- including the win at Martinsville. The only other guy to do that is our #1.

#1- Jeff Gordon (1st last week)- The monkey is off Big Daddy’s back, and don’t look now, but the “Drive For Five” has left the station. Gordon has 6 top 10s in a row, and at least seems poised for a dominant run.

FALLING BACK OF THE PACK

Kasey Kahne..he got a mulligan for Martinsville, but a second consecutive finish of 19th has him in the shop. Kevin Harvick…the road has been very bumpy for “Happy.” Harvick has been very up and down.

READY TO STRIKE

Mark Martin…After 3 sub-30th finishes, Martin’s run off 3 consecutive top 10s. Juan Pablo Montoya…in his last 3 starts, Montoya has an average finish around 9th. David Reutimann…is it time to stop acting surprised that Reutimann is doing so well? Now it’s time to take it to the next level. Greg Biffle…there’s nothing like a top 5 to show folks you’ve not become irrelevant.

DISTANT THUNDER

Brian Vickers…believe it or not, he has 3 top 10s. It wouldn’t take a lot to get back in the mix. A.J. Allmendinger….’Dinger has shown he can drive, the question is one of whether or not that RPM equipment can get it done for him. Ryan Newman…After two straight top 10s, the 15th place finish at Texas had to be a disappointment.

PHOTO CREDITS- Gordon courtesy of Getty Images. Stewart and Kenseth by Total Photo (Leon). To see more of his work, click on the hyperlink or visit flickr.com.