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With no NASCAR Cup Series race last weekend, we thought it might be fun to have a different set of power rankings this week.
I am taking the 25 drivers that NASCAR added to its 50 greatest drivers list from its 50th anniversary season to now have a 75 greatest drivers list for the 75th anniversary season.
The most difficult thing is where do you put current drivers? Are you projecting where they might finish or base it on the now? I tried to think a little bit of both.
Here’s my list of how I would rank the 25 drivers added (not including the 50 who already were on the original greatest drivers list):
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[NASCAR midseason awards: Best driver, top rookie, biggest upset and more]
1. Jimmie Johnson: There shouldn’t be much argument on this one. He has seven Cup titles and ranks sixth all-time in wins at 83. That’s four more titles and 20 wins more than anyone else on this list.
2. Kyle Busch: He has two Cup titles and ranks ninth all-time with 63 victories. Throw in his victories in other series and that gives him an edge over the guy next on this list.
3. Tony Stewart: Stewart has 49 career wins (11 fewer than the driver who follows him on this list), but he has three Cup titles and also is the only driver to ever complete all 1,100 miles of the Indy-Charlotte double. He is in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
4. Kevin Harvick: For full disclosure, he isn’t this high just because he joins the FOX broadcast booth starting next year. He ranks 10th in all-time wins with 60. He also won the 2014 Cup title (and two Xfinity titles).
5. Mark Martin: There are nine drivers below Martin on this list who have won a Cup title. But he has 40 Cup wins and had a career that spanned from 1981-2013. His five wins at age 50 at Hendrick show just how good for how long Martin really was. He is in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. … And was on the original 50-driver list, not the new list of 25 drivers but Bob had a brain lapse and included him (see 21a as to who he accidentally left off).
6. Joey Logano: Logano has 32 career Cup wins and two titles … and he’s still only 33 years old. The only reason he’s below Martin on this list is because he hasn’t shown that he can perform well throughout a 30-year period (just 16 years so far when it comes to Logano).
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7. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin ranks 15th all-time with 49 wins. He wants to get 60 (which currently would tie him for 10th with Harvick as long as Harvick doesn’t win another race). The only thing missing? Everyone knows what that is — a championship.
8. Kyle Larson: Many view Larson as a generational talent. Yes, he has “only” 21 Cup wins but driving for Hendrick Motorsports, it’s not inconceivable that he will double that before he’s done.
9. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth won 39 Cup races and the 2003 Cup title. He did it quietly so that’s about all there is to say. He is in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
10. Kurt Busch: Busch won 34 Cup races and the 2004 Cup title. He won every year except for three during his 21 full-time seasons.
Kurt Busch wins 2017 Daytona 500
After finishing runner-up a number of times in his career at the Great American Race, Kurt Busch seals the deal with a last lap pass on Kyle Larson.
11. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski has won 35 Cup races and the 2012 Cup title. Whether now as a co-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing can he consistently win races will determine his true legacy.
12. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex won his 33rd Cup race earlier this month at Sonoma. He also won the 2017 Cup title plus two Xfinity titles.
13. Carl Edwards: Edwards won 28 Cup races and came close to winning a Cup title before abruptly retiring prior to the 2017 season. He also won an Xfinity title.
14. Chase Elliott: Elliott has won 18 races and the 2020 title. He likely will be a contender for the championship for at least another decade. He also won an Xfinity title.
Elliott reflects on his NASCAR title
Chase Elliott talks about winning the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship.
15. Bobby Labonte: Labonte won 21 Cup races and the 2000 Cup title as well as an Xfinity title earlier in his career. He is in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
16. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt won 26 races, including two Daytona 500s. He also won back-to-back titles in the Xfinity Series. He is in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
17. Jeff Burton: Burton earned 21 Cup wins — with 17 of those victories coming over a five-year span. He finished top-10 in Cup points over eight seasons.
18. Greg Biffle: Biffle has 19 Cup wins and also won a title in each of the trucks and the Xfinity series. He finished top-10 in Cup points in six different seasons.
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19. Ryan Newman: Newman won 18 Cup races but what he really was known for was winning poles. He earned 51 poles in his career.
20. Larry Phillips: The Midwest short-track ace won five national weekly series championships and more races than anyone could count.
21. Kasey Kahne: Kahne won 18 Cup races in his career. In a statistic that few likely remember, he has made six truck starts in his career and won five of them.
21a: Sterling Marlin: OK, Bob had a brain lapse and when writing down the drivers, he included Mark Martin (who was on the original 50 greatest driver list) instead of Marlin. He would put Marlin here as Marlin had 10 Cup wins with two of them in the Daytona 500.
22. Mike Stefanik: Stefanik didn’t just win seven NASCAR modified championships, he also won two NASCAR East Series titles.
23. Randy LaJoie: LaJoie won back-to-back Xfinity titles in 1996-97 and 15 races in the series in his career.
24. Ron Hornaday: Hornaday won four truck series titles and 51 races in the series.
25. Sam Ard: Ard was a pioneer in the Xfinity Series, finishing second in the series in its inaugural season in 1982 and then winning back-to-back titles before having his career cut short because of injury.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass, and sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass.
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