NASCAR: Kyle Larson is the Real Deal

To steal the tag from the current line of Samsung Galaxy commercials, "The next big thing is here."

And it's name is Kyle Larson.

Two weeks ago at Phoenix, we had the pleasure of watching him race with Jimmie Johnson — who was making a rare appearance on the Nationwide tour — for much of the race.

Yes, it was a battle for 13th place, a type of fight that rarely carries any more meaning than simply two drivers with average cars trying their hardest to gain every spot possible.

But in that rare case, it was a potentially prophetic moment as the current five-time Sprint Cup Series champion fought tooth and nail with the 20-year-old up-and-comer who has been the subject of much praise from current stars such as Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon.

The battle was eventually won by Johnson, but not before the usually cool-head champion threw a major I'm-tired-of-this-crap block on Larson, who had up to then managed to go toe-to-toe with the champ undaunted.

Now, to say Larson was "intimidating" Johnson would certainly be too strongly worded, not to mention that it would draw unfortunate comparisons that Larson is far from deserving of at this point.

But Larson's persistence was certainly bugging the champ, compounding the frustration he was understandably already feeling with a car that wasn't handling like he would have wanted.

Despite that jarring end, it was still an incredible race to watch, fought between decorated veteran and talented rookie; the now, and what's to come.

And by all indications, Larson is coming soon.

If his star isn't already illuminated enough, it became even brighter with his performance at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Bristol is a high-banked, half-mile circuit known for, like many short tracks, chewing up inexperienced drivers and spitting them out. And like every track, there always seems to be a driver who has the place mastered.

That master is Kyle Busch, who has amassed 13 victories at the facility across NASCAR's three national touring series.

And of course on Saturday, it was Busch, also the Nationwide Series' all-time wins leader, who stood between Larson and his first ever victory in NASCAR's top three divisions.

That's the epitome of a daunting task, having to run down Kyle Busch at a race track where he seems to be most at home, and having to do so with limited time and slow cars that worked like moving chicanes blocking the path.

But after making a rookie mistake by running over a lapped car and possibly compromising his right front tire, Larson began to settle in and settle down.

The "rookie" began patiently searching around the race track for more speed, moving higher and higher up, into a groove where few drivers were daring to go.

And as the laps wound down and the two combatants weaved through lapped traffic, Larson began edging closer and closer.

Coming that white flag, he was on Busch's bumper.

In the final corner, Busch made a calculated gamble by running the lesser-preferred low line, hoping to avoid oncoming lapped traffic. This gave Larson an opening, as they drove off of turn four, he was there beside Busch.

The two bounced off of each other, the wall, off each other again.

At the line, Larson came up short by a nose.

While Busch was headed to victory lane, Larson was forced to settle for second. But in his defeat, he turned many heads and confirmed the beliefs of many who think he has the talent to become one of the biggest stars in NASCAR.

So while Kyle Busch won the day, it was Kyle Larson who stole the spotlight.

That light is expected to shine on him for quite some time.

NASCAR: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Off to a Solid Start in his Rookie Season

We're only three races into the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season. To analyze anyone's year to date, positively or negatively, would be nothing more than premature overreaction.

That said, any time a driver can say they are eligible for the Chase for the Sprint Cup is a good thing.

And, with a current ranking of 11th in the overall points standings, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. can say that.

While his finishes to-date of 12th, 16th and 18th don't look like much at first glance, the truth is that scoring three top-20's to begin a maiden voyage on the Sprint Cup Circuit is at worst solid.

Look at Brad Keselowski, the reigning champion. His first three starts in 2010 — his first full season at Penske Racing — started off with finishes of 36th, 21st, and 26th.

A driver who had a high profile similar to Stenhouse's entering his rookie season was Joey Logano. Logano began his tenure in the No. 20 with finishes of 43rd, 26th, and 13th.

And if you're someone who prefers to live in the here and now, look at perennial Chase contenders like Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick and how they have started 2013.

Each is ranked lower than Stenhouse in the standings. While the driver of Roush-Fenway Racing's No. 17 Ford hasn't finished worse than 18th yet, the five drivers listed above have combined for eight finishes of 19th or worse.

Finally, look at his Rookie of the Year competition, Danica Patrick. Despite an impressive eighth place run in the season opening Daytona 500, subsequent runs of 39th and 33rd leave her 30th in the overall points standings.

Safe to say, every single driver named would like to be where Stenhouse currently sits.

But now that he has a solid foundation, it's time to start building on it. And the going won't be getting any easier.

During his time in in the Nationwide Series — in which he won two series championships — he never won at the two tracks coming up on the Sprint Cup schedule: Tennessee's Bristol Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

However, during the 2012 year, he never finished worse than sixth at each track, with a runner-up finish in his last visit to each facility. So he certainly knows how to race each speedway.

One place he doesn't know how to get around is Martinsville Speedway, which is where the series heads after the stops at Bristol and Fontana. He's never raced on the half-mile paperclip before, and the track has a knack for chewing up rookies and spitting them out.

Once he makes it through the upcoming three-race stretch, the Sprint Cup Series will be at the approximate one-quarter mark of the regular season. At that point, we'll have a better understanding of where Ricky Stenhouse Jr. stands among the best that stock car racing has to offer.

But he's laid down a solid foundation for himself, with plenty of room to build. And there's definitely some good to be said of that.

NASCAR: Power Rankings — Bristol

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. Brad Keselowski
Performance Rating: 2.08

2. Brian Vickers
Performance Rating: 6.71

3. Kyle Busch
Performance Rating: 7.07

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Performance Rating: 7.10

5. Jimmie Johnson
Performance Rating: 7.53

6. Carl Edwards
Performance Rating: 8.00

7. Matt Kenseth
Performance Rating: 8.40

8. Kevin Harvick
Performance Rating: 9.18

9. Greg Biffle
Performance Rating: 9.42

10. Denny Hamlin
Performance Rating: 9.95

11. Jeff Gordon
Performance Rating: 10.88

12. Clint Bowyer
Performance Rating: 12.57

13. Paul Menard
Performance Rating: 12.78

14. Kasey Kahne
Performance Rating: 13.18

15. Ryan Newman
Performance Rating: 13.75

16. Kurt Busch
Performance Rating: 16.42

17. Marcos Ambrose
Performance Rating: 17.15

18. Aric Almirola
Performance Rating: 17.30

19. Jamie McMurray
Performance Rating: 18.32

20. Martin Truex Jr.
Performance Rating: 18.38

21. Joey Logano
Performance Rating: 18.43

22. Jeff Burton
Performance Rating: 18.53

23. Tony Stewart
Performance Rating: 19.65

24. Juan Pablo Montoya
Performance Rating: 19.72

25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Performance Rating: 21.20

26. Bobby Labonte
Performance Rating: 22.70

27. Terry Labonte
Performance Rating: 23.85

28. A.J. Allmendinger
Performance Rating: 24.45

29. Danica Patrick
Performance Rating: 24.90

30. Casey Mears
Performance Rating: 25.70

31. Dave Blaney
Performance Rating: 27.30

32. Travis Kvapil
Performance Rating: 27.35

33. David Reutimann
Performance Rating: 27.57

34. J.J. Yeley
Performance Rating: 27.83

35. David Ragan
Performance Rating: 31.35

36. Landon Cassill
Performance Rating: 31.88

37. David Gilliland
Performance Rating: 31.95

38. Michael McDowell
Performance Rating: 33.05

39. David Stremme
Performance Rating: 34.05

40. Scott Speed
Performance Rating: 35.08

41. Josh Wise
Performance Rating: 38.18

42. Joe Nemechek
Performance Rating: 38.65

43. Mike Bliss
Performance Rating: 38.93

44. Scott Riggs
Performance Rating: 42.05


(Totally not confising 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