TheHotLap Driver Ratings

[First to Last]

Well, I had an idea to raise more flamebait in this forum. It came from F1 rejects driver rankings in their forums. To put it simply, we are going to create our own driver ranking. To do this, each of us will judge a given driver in 5 categories which will be given later with points scores from 0.0 to 10.0 (in 0.5-steps), opinions can be based on what the driver has done in all 3 of NASCAR's top series. Then after a distinct period of time (1 or 2 days, depending of the activity in this thread), we'll have a points average for each driver, which will be the unoffical Ranking.

Here are the five categories:

Raw Pace = To put it simple; how fast is the driver? Can he drive fast laps, can he overtake and how good is he at qualifying?

Personal Reliability = Can he keep the car on the track and bring it home? Can he add constant finishes or not? And how good is he as a team player?

Adaptability = Can he adapt to a different team or car and still remain as competitive as that team's former driver as well as his previous form. Also can he punch above his weight in weak equipment.

Entertainment Value = Ever so important in this day and age. If a driver raises emotions, good or bad, here are the points for it. Is his driving style and his interviews entertaining or not?

Personal Sympathy = Basically whether you like the driver or not and how much you enjoy it when things go right or wrong for him.

I hope, it's easily understandable, if there are questions, then feel free to ask. And, please, try to be objective, you've got Personal Sympathy for gushing about Drivers you like. Furthermore, a small (or long) reason for your given points would be extremely nice.

We'll start with the drivers from the 2010 Cup season sorted by team numbers, then probably move on to the Nationwide and Truck drivers.

Which means our first driver will be:

JAMIE MCMURRAY

To add an example I'll give my opions as well.

Raw Pace - 6.5
Has usually been in the midfield throughout his career with the occasional strong front running performence but not consistent enough to ever be a championship contender.

Personal Reliabilty - 8.0
Doesn't crash too often and usually brings the car home, appears to be a decent team player too.

Adpatability - 7.0
Has maintained his own form in all his team switches though his pace in the #26 was no where compared with when Kurt Busch ran in the car and wasn't that much better than at Ganassi as you might expect.

Entertainment Value - 5.5
Only at the start of his career has he really set the track on fire, since then he's dropped back to the midfield on a reguler basis, his personality hasn't really brought any excitement off track either.

Personal Sympathy - 7.0
The only time he's been in a consitent top team was his Roush stint where he was argubly the last in the team's pecking order, its possible he would have been more sucessful had he been given more attention. On the other hand I wouldn't be too upset if he was out of a ride. 

[MichaelCMTX]

Sounds like fun, but if we don't add a category for Versatility/Adaptability, where should it be addressed?  After all, drivers like Stewart, Kyle Busch and Todd Bodine can get into just about anything with wheels and make it run better than whoever was driving it previously, but others are so particular with their preferences that it takes a parade of crew chiefs and engineers before they find a winning combination-- often too late for the Sponsor's taste.

[First to Last]

Whoops thats a good idea, edited the first post to add the adaptabilty catorgorie. 

[longshot]

I for one, cannot wait till we hit 18 and 75.

I guess I'll be the guinea pig here.

MCMURRAY

Raw Pace - 6.4. Agree he's mostly been a midpacker, but he's really come alive the last couple of years on restrictor plates. I'd like to see it translate onto the rest of the tracks as well.

Reliability - 7.2. Very good at keeping the car in one piece and not being overly aggressive. Also, only one career DNQ in all of the Top 3 series, which is pretty impressive considering where he started out. I'd place him as a less crash-prone, more consistent Michael Waltrip.

Adaptability - 5. The jury is still out, as I'd put him a lot lower last week. He didn't do so hot in a car that had won the championship two years prior. However, he was clikcing with the 1 all through speedweeks, so maybe he's found the right combo.

Entertainment value - 5.3. The two interviews he has give from his first and most recent win were amazing. You could tell he was jacked up and we were seeing his true emotions. Other than that, he's been pretty mellow.

Personal Sympathy - 6. It really went up last week and over the offseason. I had heard some less than pleasent things about his attitude when he was leaving Ganassi. However, the fact that someone with an attitude like Ganassi would bring him back into the fold with open arms means that those reports were either exaggerated or untrue.  Also, he started out from some very humble beginnings his first year in the Trucks and made his rides somewhat competitive.

[Captain Slow]

JAMIE MCMURRAY

Raw Pace - 7.0 I think he has the ability.  His equipment at Roush was utter candy; getting Jack's fifth car is hardly better than driving the 96 or 21 in my mind.  He has shown in Nationwide and earlier in his Cup career that he's far from a bad driver.  He has great ability on restrictor plates, and has shown a lot of potential on road courses, which really means a lot to me as far as talent goes.

Reliability - 8.0 He's consistently midpack.  That's reliable.

Adaptability - 6.0 He never really adapted to the junk Roush was giving him, though he did manage a few good runs.  He doesn't strike me as a very versatile driver; he can consistently do restrictor plate and not much else.  His road course form has improved greatly, but he's not getting the finishes.

Entertainment value - 6.0 He's about average, on and off the track, I suppose.

Personal Sympathy - 9.0 I really like to see him do well.  He's one of my favorite drivers.

[Dirt13]

Raw Pace = 5.0 He's quick, but so is everyone in nascar. He doesnt do much to seperate himself here.

Personal Reliability = 6.5 Rarely makes mistakes of his own doing

Adaptability = 6.0 While he was in Roush's 5th car, its still a roush car.

Entertainment Value = 6.5 I call him Jaimeh

Personal Sympathy = 8.0 I do like him because he seems to be a genuinely good dude

[Labonte71Fan]

JAMIE MCMURRAY

Raw Pace - 7
Never really a threat for the pole, but isn't a Jeff Burton qualifier either. Average.

Personal Reliabilty - 8.5
Rarely causes problems on the race track. Very good at bringing home cars in the top 15-20 on a consistent basis.

Adpatability - 8
Hasn't had an ideal situation in the garage area during his career, but he does have 3 wins in the past 2.5 years. Not bad considering he has been driving B-list equipment his whole cup career.

Entertainment Value - 8
His Interview in victory lane on Sunday bumped this up a full point alone. However, I'll always remember his comments in Phoenix Fall 2006 about Stewart, and the episodes when he was on Nascar drivers 360 in 2005.

Personal Sympathy - 8.5
I like Jamie. He is one of the good guys in my book. In fact, I don't know how anybody cant like Jamie. Always happy to see him do well.

[ShakeAndBake58]

Raw Pace: 6- He's pretty much a mid-pack guy expect at the plate races.

Reliability: 8- Not a guy prone to tearing up equipment too often.

Adaptability: 6.5 - Did decent in his first run at Ganassi, never quite got over the hump at Roush, and the jury's still out on EGR, even with the 500 win.

Entertainment Value: 7- This would be lower if it wasn't for his 500 interview and his first win interview.

Personal Sympathy: 8.5- Overall, he seems to be a very likeable guy that it's hard not to cheer for.

Overall Grade: 7.2

[First to Last]

Here are the scores for Jamie McMaurray

Raw Pace
Jamie McMurray (6.3167)

Personal Reliability
Jamie McMurray (7.7000)

Adaptability
Jamie McMurray (6.4167)

Entertainment Value
Jamie McMurray (5.2167)

Personal Sympathy
Jamie McMurray (6.3830)

Overall
Jamie McMurray (6.40662)

Time for the driver of the blue duece its:

KURT BUSCH

Raw Pace - 8.5
Strong qualifier as well as a strong racer, when the car is up to it you can't count him out at the front. He was very impressive last year keeping within reach of the championship battle until the closing stages.

Personal Reliability - 6
An arrogant douche earlier in his career and not much of a team player. He has grown up somewhat since moving to Penske.

Adaptability - 7
His results have definately been weaker as a whole since moving to Penske and its taken him four seasons to have a consistently strong year with them.

Entertainment Value - 8.5
Incredibly entertaining earlier in his career thanks to all the trouble he got himself into but as he has matured he's gotten a bit less interesting as his brother has now almost completely stolen his thunder. 

Personal Sympathy - 6.5
I enjoy it when he's doing well but thats more down to seeing a team other than Hendrick/Gibbs/Roush up front so I'm not that fusses when things don't go right for him.

[Captain Slow]

KURT BUSCH
Raw Pace - 8
He's fast-ish.

Personal Reliability - 6.5
Kind of inconsistent-ish, not a team player in my mind...abusive to his crew chiefs it seems.

Adaptability - 8
He's gotten the most out of the Penske cars.

Entertainment Value - 6.5
Average to me.  A jerk pretending to be a good guy off track...blah.  On track, he's sort of exciting-ish.

Personal Sympathy - 2.5
At least he's gotten better.  I still hate him.

[Labonte71Fan]

KURT BUSCH

Raw Pace - 9
One of the fastest guys out there, especially impressive considering he is in a Dodge. Strong qualifier. Even though surprisingly he hasn't had a pole since 2007.

Personal Reliability - 7
Not the most consistent driver out there, but isn't inconsistent either. He will need to turn this up a bit if he wants to Challenge the 48 for the title this year.

Adaptability - 8
He did finish 4th in points last year. IMO one of the more underrated guys. Adapted to Penske pretty well. Isn't in victory lane every other week it seems like his brother, but he did have 21 top 10's last year. Very strong. Even in his "off" years he has had 10+ top 5's.

Entertainment Value - 8
Gives some good interviews. Isn't a major douche like Shrublet though.

Personal Sympathy - 7
I think he is OK. I don't hate him like his brother, but I am happy for him when he wins.

[ShakeAndBake58]

Raw Pace: 8.5- He's fairly quick in qualifying and in races.

Personal Reliability: 7- Not the most inconsistent driver, but still is rougher on equipment than he should be.

Adaptability: 7- His first couple of years at Penske really drop this grade down.

Entertainment Value: 3- Used to be a whiny prick, now he's just a really boring prick.

Personal Sympathy: 4- I like him more than Howdy-Doody, but that doesn't say much.

[Dirt13]

Pace - 8. The boy is quick

Reliability 6.5 - the boy finds trouble where trouble doesn't need to be found

Adaptability - 8. The boy won a 'ship with Roush, and is in a contender in a dodge, which we all know is the runt of the series

Entertainment value - 7.5. The boy always makes things interesting

Sympathy - 3. Screw him.

[longshot]

Pace - 8. He's always been fast, going back to his early days.

Reliability - 6. He creates some of his own problems by being overly aggressive.

Adaptability - 7.5 He's not easily to work with no doubt, but he's been able to take a couple of cars that were just "meh" and make them championship contendors, and even win one.

Entertainment - 9. He's a lot of fun to watch,

Sympathy - 7. Yeah, I must be crazy, but I really am a big fan of his. I wasn't when he was with Roush, but even though that DUI story in Phoenix ended up being fishy, he really grew up after that and doesn't go stirrup trouble as much anymore. That and Jimmy Spencer has retired. He also does have a good story, he took over for Chris Trickle following his shooting, and stocked groceries in Nevada before he got called up to Roush, so he's not just some rich kid that got lucky. Maybe it's because I like the Blue Deuce.

[First to Last]

Raw Pace
Kurt Busch (8.3333)
Jamie McMurray (6.3167)

Personal Reliability
Jamie McMurray (7.7000)
Kurt Busch (6.5000)

Adaptability
Kurt Busch (7.5833)
Jamie McMurray (6.4167)

Entertainment Value
Kurt Busch (7.0833)
Jamie McMurray (5.2167)

Personal Sympathy
Jamie McMurray (6.3830)
Kurt Busch (5.0000)

Overall
Jamie McMurray (6.40662)
Kurt Busch (6.12334)

Bet you weren't expecting Kurt to be below Jamie in overall rankings 

Next up is potentially the next Morgan Shepherd or James Hylton, its

MARK MARTIN

Raw Pace - 8.0
Was always a better qualifier than racer, even last year he scored a bunch of poles and is still fast at the age of 51.

Personal Reliabilty - 8.0
Crashes are rare but their are more reliable drivers out there.

Adaptablity - 9.0
As a veteran you would expect him to be able to adapt to anything and he does, almost won his first race with Ginn and was immediately a reguler front runner with Hendrick unlike a certain teammate of his 

Entertainment Value - 5.5
The #5 car argubly should be Brad Keselowski's but Mark's endless delay of his retirement has forced him to jump ship to Penske. His retirement saga drags down his score alot.

Personal Sympathy - 4.5
I speak for many people on this board that I'm just waiting for him to retire, while it would be good to see him finally win the Daytona 500 and the championship, only the former is realistic at this late stage in his career.