Amp Energy 500 Driver Rankings - Talladega Superspeedway

Busch has led 280 laps over the past 7 plate races, far more than anyone else. He won at both Daytona and Talladega in 2008, and will be tough to beat Sunday despite his overall performance during the final two-thirds of 2009.

Stewart is almost always in contention for the win at the end of the plate events. He has 2 wins and 3 top 10's over the past 4 plate races, including a dominating performance at Daytona in July where he led 86 laps and won. Overall, he has a win and a mind blowing six second place finishes at Talladega.

Hamlin isn't just a great short track racer. He scored a top 5 at Talladega in the spring of 2008, and is coming off a 3rd place finish at Daytona where he led 63 laps, giving him 91 laps led over the past two plate events.

Even in the pin-ball world of restrictor plate racing, Busch has 8 top 10's over his last 10 plate starts, three more than any other driver. He also has 5 top 5's, also more than any other driver during that stretch. He has never won a plate race, but is widely considered one of the top 5 restrictor plate drivers in the garage. He is a great class B choice this weekend.

Ragan actually has the best average finish of any driver over the past 5 restrictor plate races. He was 3rd at Talladega last fall, and 12th in the spring, along the way scoring finishes of 5th and 6th at Daytona. This is the best opportunity this season to use Ragan, even though there are better class B choices.

Gordon has the most plate wins of any active driver, including 6 at Talladega. He also has over 800 laps led and more experience than anyone. He hasn't had much success over the past five plate races (his average finish over that stretch is 29.5), but that means nothing this weekend.

There are much better places to use Johnson than an unpredictable track like Talladega. He won at Talladega in 2006 and had second place finishes in both races in 2007. Still, there are better options, and he has only 1 top 10 in his last 3 Talladega starts.

Since his win in the Daytona 500 last year, it seems like Newman is almost always around at the end of plate races (whether it is in the Cup Series or the Nationwide Series). Newman had a shot to win at Talladega in the spring before he finished 3rd, and has 3 top 10's in his last 4 starts there (a blown engine prohibited a good finish in the other event).

Trivia question: Of all drivers that have raced the last 4 events at Talladega, who has the best average finish? You probably only answered Mears because the heading indicated this would be about him. Over that stretch, Mears has two top 10's.

Earnhardt has 5 wins at Talladega and finished 2nd in the spring. However, his luck has been terrible this season and I'm not sure how to rank him based on his recent performance.

Vickers has 2 top 5's and 3 top 10's in his past 5 starts at Talladega, including a win in 2006. When he finishes the race without incident, he typically runs very well on the plate tracks.

Burton has finishes of 12th, 4th, and 10th at Talladega over his past 3 starts. He was also 16th at Daytona in July, but is in the lower tier of class A options.