NASCAR: Power Rankings — Talladega

Most power rankings are not scientific.

Mine are. Kind of.

Using an arbitrary formula I've come up with that combines both the statistics of the Sprint Cup series' previous five races and the series' previous five races at the upcoming track, I determine the strongest drivers heading into the upcoming weekend's NASCAR event.

It also doubles as a decent fantasy tool, if you decide you enjoy these rankings. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Here is how the drivers on this week's entry list rank:


1. Jimmie Johnson
Performance Rating: 2.40

2. Matt Kenseth
Performance Rating: 3.18

3. Kyle Busch
Performance Rating: 5.58

4. Clint Bowyer
Performance Rating: 5.83

5. Kevin Harvick
Performance Rating: 6.88

6. Kasey Kahne
Performance Rating: 8.30

7. Carl Edwards
Performance Rating: 9.13

8. Brad Keselowski
Performance Rating: 10.80

9. Greg Biffle
Performance Rating: 10.98

10. Aric Almirola
Performance Rating: 11.30

11. Joey Logano
Performance Rating: 12.30

12. Paul Menard
Performance Rating: 13.15

13. Jeff Gordon
Performance Rating: 13.22

14. Martin Truex Jr.
Performance Rating: 13.32

15. Jeff Burton
Performance Rating: 14.43

16. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Performance Rating: 15.00

17. Jamie McMurray
Performance Rating: 16.80

18. Regan Smith
Performance Rating: 17.02

19. Ryan Newman
Performance Rating: 17.38

20. Michael Waltrip
Performance Rating: 18.81

21. Tony Stewart
Performance Rating: 19.73

22. Brian Vickers
Performance Rating: 21.07

23. Kurt Busch
Performance Rating: 21.10

24. Trevor Bayne
Performance Rating: 22.11

25. Juan Pablo Montoya
Performance Rating: 22.22

26. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Performance Rating: 22.40

27. Terry Labonte
Performance Rating: 23.78

28. David Ragan
Performance Rating: 23.95

29. Danica Patrick
Performance Rating: 24.00

30. Casey Mears
Performance Rating: 24.25

31. Marcos Ambrose
Performance Rating: 24.55

32. David Gilliland
Performance Rating: 25.28

33. David Reutimann
Performance Rating: 25.92

34. Bobby Labonte
Performance Rating: 26.90

35. Dave Blaney
Performance Rating: 27.37

36. Elliott Sadler
Performance Rating: 28.28

37. Landon Cassill
Performance Rating: 29.60

38. Travis Kvapil
Performance Rating: 29.66

39. J.J. Yeley
Performance Rating: 30.33

40. David Stremme
Performance Rating: 31.80

41. Josh Wise
Performance Rating: 34.48

42. Joe Nemechek
Performance Rating: 35.80

43. Scott Speed
Performance Rating: 36.68

44. Mike Bliss
Performance Rating: 37.01

45. Michael McDowell
Performance Rating: 40.95


(Totally not confusing at all) Explanation of the performance rating (PR):

Avg = average finish
Subscript R = last five races
Subscript U = last five races at upcoming track

X = ( Avg_R * 3 +Avg_T ) / 4

W = wins
F = Top-fives
T = Top-tens

PR = X - W_R * 3 - F_R / 2 - U_R / 2 - W_T - F_T / 6 - U_T / 6