Guess Who? Driver Rating Stat Says Jimmie Johnson Is The Smart Pick AGAIN

I suppose if you wanted to be different, you could pick Kyle Busch or Kasey Kahne. Maybe you could even go with darkhorse Joey Logano.

But the bottom line is, for yet ANOTHER Chase race (the fourth week in a row), Jimmie Johnson is the best pick at Charlotte.

Don't blame us. That's just what NASCAR's Driver Rating formula says. Like him or not, the smart pick is JJ based on past performance.

The full lineup:

Bank of America 500 Pre-Race
For point-paying races in current and past four years, at this track.
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Saturday, October 16, 2010

Driver Rating
Formula combining the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish. Maximum: 150 points per race.
Number of Races: 11

Rank	Car	 Driver	   Avg Finish	High	AVG DRIVER RATING
1	48	Jimmie Johnson	11.5	139.1	115.3
2	18	Kyle Busch	15.0	139.4	104.9
3	9	Kasey Kahne	9.7	143.6	100.4
4	20	Joey Logano	9.0	106.0	100.2
5	5	Mark Martin	14.2	114.0	91.1
6	24	Jeff Gordon	18.7	128.2	89.1
6	17	Matt Kenseth	18.0	122.3	89.1
8	31	Jeff Burton	13.1	127.7	88.4
9	83	Brian Vickers	21.6	121.6	88.0
10	2	Kurt Busch	21.6	147.8	87.6
11	16	Greg Biffle	18.2	116.5	85.5
12	14	Tony Stewart	17.5	115.4	84.5
13	99	Carl Edwards	13.2	104.0	84.0
14	11	Denny Hamlin	18.5	102.1	81.5
15	39	Ryan Newman	18.6	103.1	81.3
16	33	Clint Bowyer	17.7	124.7	79.6
17	00	David Reutimann	16.3	119.7	77.5
18	88	D Earnhardt Jr.	23.5	117.5	77.4
19	1	Jamie McMurray	20.1	118.5	75.9
20	12	Brad Keselowski	16.0	80.3	73.2
21	71	Bobby Labonte	15.4	98.6	72.7
22	56	M Truex Jr.	19.5	95.6	71.0
23	6	David Ragan	23.9	99.8	69.1
24	83	Casey Mears	20.4	110.8	68.5
25	12	David Stremme	21.3	80.1	67.1
26	29	Kevin Harvick	22.3	92.5	67.1
27	19	Elliott Sadler	26.2	110.2	65.9
28	36	Scott Riggs	24.8	117.2	65.7
29	46	JJ Yeley	22.7	103.6	64.1
30	98	Paul Menard	23.9	95.3	60.5
31	43	Reed Sorenson	21.6	86.0	60.0
32	77	Sam Hornish Jr.	21.6	82.6	59.3
33	42	Juan Montoya	30.0	106.2	58.6
34	78	Regan Smith	20.3	64.9	58.6
35	47	Marcos Ambrose	28.0	64.6	57.3
36	66	Jeff Green	22.0	96.3	57.1
37	43	AJ Allmendinger	25.4	78.2	55.7
38	66	Dave Blaney	23.9	86.4	55.6
39	66	Kevin Lepage	16.5	56.1	55.1
40	82	Scott Speed	25.3	69.2	54.8
41	37	David Gilliland	29.5	84.9	54.4
42	7	Robby Gordon	27.2	72.5	53.2
43	87	Joe Nemechek	25.7	99.9	53.1
44	38	Travis Kvapil	26.7	77.5	53.1
45	55	Michael Waltrip	29.7	97.5	51.1
46	21	Bill Elliott	27.4	68.0	49.2
47	36	Johnny Sauter	29.4	79.0	48.8
48	08	Terry Labonte	32.3	60.6	47.1
49	34	Tony Raines	28.5	97.0	47.0
50	71	Mike Bliss	31.8	63.5	44.8
51	64	Todd Bodine	29.5	50.9	39.1
52	10	Mike Wallace	30.0	49.4	37.3
53	55	M McDowell	37.0	35.0	33.3
54	34	Kevin Conway	35.0	32.4	32.4
55	34	John Andretti	39.0	34.0	31.5
56	10	P Carpentier	37.0	29.9	29.9
57	45	Chad McCumbee	35.0	29.4	29.4
58	13	Max Papis	41.5	27.8	27.2