Big 10 Driver Rankings: The Shake-Out

Gradually, the wheat is being separated from the chaff. Starting out the season on a plate track is fun because you can generally take a Cinderella story or two out of it. Trouble is, over time, the coach turns into a pumpkin.

It’s still early, and driver fortunes are still as erratic as stocks on the Dow- Jones, but still you get the feeling that some trends are starting to take hold….

“Bump Drafts Big 10”

10. David Reutimann- (unranked last week)- It’s time to give the man his due. Beak has come a long way since his days as a “go or go homer” just three seasons ago. A little more consistency can only help.

9. Jamie Mc Murray- (ranked 3rd last week)- What goes up must come down. Gravity did its number on Jamie Mac with his 17th place finish after the Daytona win. What happens in Vegas will go a long ways towards figuring out whether Mc Murray has become a well-rounded driver or just a plate specialist.

8. Matt Kenseth- (unranked last week)- The only way you could get much better than what Kenseth has done is if you actually won both of the first two race. Oh yeah, he actually did that before. The way the weekend started, there was no way one would have thought that Kenseth and his Roush teammates would be as good as they turned out to be at Auto Club.

7. Kurt Busch- (ranked 7th last week)- Fontana was a reversal of fortunes in more than one way. No question the “Blue Deuce” leads the way in what is left of the Dodge Brigade.

6. Mark Martin- (unranked last week)- Last season, Martin started lousy and finished well. What will happen this year with Martin’s far better start? He won’t have to dance on the head of a pin, that’s for sure.

5. Greg Biffle- (ranked 5th last week)- Give the man props, he’s having a better start than I had envisioned for him. He actually seems to be picking up right where he left off in 2009. That’s not too bad, but you’ve got to know he really want to close the deal. Four top tens in six Las Vegas races has to supply a nice shot of confidence going into this weekend.

4. Jeff Burton- (unranked last week)- Think about this: Burton is a beast at LVMS, with two career wins and an average finish of 9.8. The way I see it, as good as all the RCR guys, J.B. just might be the one with the best chance of winning a championship with his overall consistency.

3. Jimmie Johnson- (ranked 8th last week)- Ah, Jimmie’s being Jimmie again. Nothing he does is surprising anymore. Uh, Johnson haters- I hate to tell you this- but the champ has three career wins at Las Vegas.

2. Clint Bowyer- (ranked 2nd last week)- You know you’re going well when an 8th place finish seems like real downer. Bowyer supplies yet further evidence at Richard Childress are “to the good” again. The problem for Bowyer is this track coming up has never been one of his better places.

1. Kevin Harvick- (ranked 1st week)- OK- who saw this before the season began? I’ll tell you I didn’t. The “29” is knocking ‘em dead, now they just need some wins. It’s bound to happen with the schedule we have coming up.

Falling Off The Pace

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex, Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya each had their own reasons for falling off at Fontana. The good news is that its just one race on the schedule.

Ready To Strike

Joey Logano is making a quantum leap in his apprenticeship. Could he be ahead of schedule?…Carl Edwards isn’t doing anything that gets you real jacked up, but then on the other hand, he’s not far off the pace…Two 14th place finishes is consistency, but probably not the kind Kyle Busch really wants.

Distant Thunder 

Tony Stewart is ponderously quiet, at least on the track. I suppose, actually, the real surprise is how well he started last year. Smoke fans don’t get too worried about his fortunes until July. It’s a long season. Scott Speed? Paul Menard? Yes, they’re showing up on the radar.