Who's Hot - Who's Not This Season?

Through the first 11 races this year here are your best average running positions leading up to the All Star Race this weekend. Keep in mind that this is the average place they ran during the races not where they finished.

1. Matt Kenseth  6th
2. Jimmie Johnson  6th
3. Clint Bowyer  11th    
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.  12th
5. Jeff Gordon  13th
6. Kasey Kahne  13th
7. Kyle Busch  13th
8. Kevin Harvick  13th
9. Martin Truex Jr.  13th
10. Carl Edwards  14th

That's 5 Chevy's, 4 Toyota's, and 1 Ford in the Top 10...

My point in posting this is that although the JGR Toyota's have been getting a lot of attention don't fall asleep on the Hendrick cars. They are consistently running better on average than any other team and have done all but secure the wins (other than Johnson) which I think they are very close to. Looks to me like they have been doing a lot of points racing, this weekend there are no points, just  up for grabs! Just my $.02, will wait to see the odds before picking a race winner.

Good info bud  Little surprised kenseth is #1 with even with the dnfs hes had. 

So what does average running position tell us GTB?

 

good info.  but i don't think jr. or gordon have been running better then kahne or kyle this year...  bowyer has quietly become the best short track racer on the circuit over the past 2 years.. bol this weekend buddy

I look through many stats and recent race history when considering my race winner picks as I'm sure most of you do. This one really stood out to me as it helps me create a "big" picture of who the real players are week in and week out so far this year even if they don't finish well due to many different reasons such as the end of the race wrecks, bad calls in the pits, and fuel mileage strategy. This stat just focuses on how well the car actually ran during most of the race. Just going off of where a driver finishes can sometimes be misleading.

Another reason for posting this was because with the well deserved attention that the Gibbs cars have been getting I figured we would see the downside to that with the books giving really low odds on them. Such as Busch at +350 for the NSCS race which is insanely low, especially for someone who has wrecked out 4 of his last 7 All Star races, finishing top 5 only twice... Some may find value in the Hendrick or Waltrip cars as they have been right there but not finished up front at the checkers... Yet... Also, you have to figure if Hamlin would of raced all 11 races he would be in there as well, knocking out Edwards and any fords for that matter.

Take what you want out of it, it's just one of many stat's to consider when handicapping races. Out of the opening lines the only value I saw where Kayne +875 and Hamlin +925. After dimes increasing the odds after qualifying last race and posting opening odds lower than most other books this week I am sitting back watching cautiously how this plays out. Something weird going on there...