What Lincoln is Thinkin’ - Driver Terrific 13

Driver Terrific 13 - After Daytona

1. Kyle Busch - I know what you're thinking, he wrecked and didn't finish in the top 40. But there's no question he had the best car, and many NASCAR fans this week are feeling bad for Kyle Busch. How weird is that.

2. Kevin Harvick - A couple of laps more, and he would have won that race. He also won the Bud Shootout last week. Harvick may make a run for the Sprint Cup title this year.

3. Matt Kenseth - Lucky dog usually means something else in NASCAR, but this guy was surely the lucky dog on Sunday.

4. Tony Stewart - With those Hendrick engines, Stewart-Haas doesn't look like a little startup team. Smoke definitely had a chance to win Sunday, and he will win multiple races this year.

5. Jimmie Johnson - The guy is the three-time reigning series champion, so I'm not going to hold a sub-par Sunday that much against him. But still, he will need better effort from his team than that to win a fourth straight.

6. Denny Hamlin - Hamlin got stuck in the same wreck with his teammate, Busch, and did not finish well. But he ran well on Sunday. He's three-for-three in chases made in his career, so he should be in line for another.

7. Carl Edwards - This was the Roush Fenway Ford that was supposed to win on Sunday. Edwards and Kenseth have flip-flopped through the years who is Jack's number one driver. I wonder if this is Edwards' year to take a back seat.

8. Jeff Gordon - Serious tire issues and he still finishes 12th. He was my pick to win on Sunday, and seemed on his way to it, until he burned a little too much rubber.

9. Martin Truex Jr. - The pole-sitter sank like a stone after the start of the 500, but was able to salvage a top 10. Would he have been there if Junior hadn't started that wreck? Probably not, but still, not a terrible week for Truex.

10. Clint Bowyer - Nice top 5 for a brand new team. The changes that Bowyer is going through (new car, new crew, new number) is flying under the radar in terms of news coverage. I'll be interested to see if he'll make the chase this year.

11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - I don't think Junior wrecked Brian Vickers on purpose, but at the same time, even if that wreck didn't happen, you would still wonder what the hell was he doing on Sunday? Missing his pit? Parking on the pit box line? These are mistakes Joey Logano should be making, not Dale Earnhardt Jr.

12. Jeff Burton - Another driver taking a number in the "Pissed off at Junior" line.

13. Elliott Sadler - If Aric Almirola had spun out just one lap earlier, we might be talking about Daytona 500 winner, Elliott Sadler.

Just missed: David Ragan, A.J. Allmendinger

Who do you think should be number one?

Posted by on 02/16 at 04:21 PM

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