SB Nation's August NASCAR Twitter Rankings

This month's NASCAR Twitter Rankings were like Indianapolis for Juan Pablo Montoya: He was oh-so-close, but came up short.

Montoya nearly knocked off Danica Patrick for the No. 1 spot in the monthly Twitter rankings, which we calculate based on who gained the most followers from the previous month (July 8-August 12).

It's kind of like a Twitter buzz index for NASCAR.

Other big gainers this month included Denny Hamlin, who made headlines after he said NASCAR fined him for his tweets.

Kasey Kahne's search for a new team and Elliott Sadler's terrifying wreck at Pocono also helped those drivers attract followers this month.

Among the surprises: Brad Keselowski went from 26th last month to 15th; Trevor Bayne rose from 37th to 26th.

Falling out of the top 35 this month were Brendan Gaughan and Steve Wallace, replaced by Bayne and Juan Pablo Montoya's wife Connie Freydell.

Here's the criteria to be eligible for this list: Any current driver or team owner, their wives or significant others, crew chiefs, spotters, engineers and other family members. At this time, media and public relations accounts (including tracks, sponsors, teams and drivers who don't tweet for themselves) are not eligible.

 

The August NASCAR Twitter Rankings Top 35:

1 (1 last month). Danica Patrick (@danicapatrick): 20,874

2 (2). Juan Pablo Montoya (@jpmontoya): 20,832

3 (4). Narain Karthikeyan (@narainracing): 3,314

4 (9). Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin): 3,222

5 (7). Kasey Kahne (@kaseykahne): 3,043

6 (12). Elliott Sadler (@elliott_sadler): 2,943

7 (8). Kyle Busch  (@kylebusch): 2,776

8 (3). Nelson Piquet Jr. (@nelsonpiquet): 2,705

9 (6). Kevin Harvick (@kevinharvick): 2,511

10 (10). Ricky Carmichael (@rickycarmichael): 2,486

11 (14). Jamie McMurray (@jamiemcmurray): 2476

12 (13). Michael Waltrip (@mw55): 1,725

13 (5). DeLana Harvick (@delanaharvick): 1,720

14 (11). Martin Truex Jr. (@martintruexjr56): 1,676

15 (26). Brad Keselowski (@keselowski): 1,536

16 (22). Greg Biffle (@gbiffle): 1,438

17 (19). Kenny Wallace (@kenny_wallace): 1,216

18 (15). Scott Speed (@scottspeed): 1,213

19 (18). Samantha Sarcinella (@samsarcinella): 1,181

20 (20). Brian Vickers (@brianlvickers): 1,095

21 (21). Bobby Labonte (@bobby_labonte): 1,030

22 (16). Max Papis (@maxpapis): 964

23 (23). Krissie Newman (@krissienewman): 956

24 (24). AJ Allmendinger (@ajdinger): 856

25 (28). Ron Hornaday (@ronhornaday): 835

26 (37). Trevor Bayne (@tbayne99): 739

27 (17). David Reutimann (@davidreutimann): 711

28 (25). Colin Braun (@colinbraun): 694

29 (31). Aric Almirola (@aric_almirola): 665

30 (30). Justin Allgaier (@j_allgaier12): 654

31 (57). Connie Freydell (@cfreydell): 601

32 (34). Brett Griffin (@19spotter): 589

33 (29). Amanda Speed (@amanda_speed): 583

34 (27). Robby Gordon (@robbygordon): 565

35 (32). David Ragan (@david_ragan): 528

Honorable mention (others who gained more than 200 followers this month):

• Ryan Truex (@rtruex00): 476
• Andy Graves (@andyjgraves): 446
• Brendan Gaughan (@brendan62): 385
• Steve Wallace (@stevewallace66): 358
• Regan Smith (@regan_smith_): 339
• Brian Ickler (@brianickler): 336
• Sherry Pollex (@sherrypollex): 333
• Landon Cassill (@landoncassill): 324
• Michael McDowell (@mc_driver): 310
• Josh Wise (@josh_wise): 290
• Steve Arpin (@stevearpin): 272
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (@stenhousejr): 264
• Joe Nemechek (@frontrowjoe87): 256
• Kelly Bires (@kellybires): 255
• Jennifer Jo Cobb (@jenjocobb): 254
• Brian Scott (@bscottracing): 252
• Matt DiBenedetto (@mattdracing): 242
• T.J. Majors (@tjmajors): 232
• JJ Yeley (@jjyeley1): 226
• Lynne Allmendinger (@drlynnechiro): 223
• Jordan Fish (@jordan_fish): 202
• Travis Kvapil (@traviskvapil): 201
• Ashley Allgaier (@ashleyallgaier): 201