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Though Stewart-Haas Racing is the surprise team of 2009, Penske Racing has quietly become one of the most improved teams this season.
Kurt Busch, in particular, has had a major comeback season after failing to make the 2008 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and finishing the season 18th in points.
But the Penske improvement doesn’t end there. Teammate Sam Hornish Jr., in his second full season, has started adapting to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing and has shown a strong statistical jump over last season.
Below are the top 10 “most improved” drivers since 2008 in terms of Driver Rating.
Most Improved – Driver Rating Driver 2008 2009 Difference Kurt Busch 73.8 101.0 27.2 Sam Hornish Jr. 49.6 66.4 16.8 Juan Pablo Montoya 68.0 84.1 16.1 David Reutimann 66.7 79.6 12.9 Tony Stewart 93.2 106.0 12.8 Kasey Kahne 81.1 87.9 6.8 Brian Vickers 77.2 83.6 6.4 Ryan Newman 75.5 81.7 6.2 Jeff Gordon 95.8 101.7 5.9 Reed Sorenson 53.2 58.8 5.6
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Three teams have two drivers on the above list: Penske, Richard Petty Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing. Not surprisingly, all three teams also have representatives currently in the top 12 – and Chase contention.
Busch ranks in the top five in practically every key Loop Data category this season. He has a Driver Rating of 101.0 (fourth-best), an Average Running Position of 10.0 (third), 309 Fastest Laps Run (fourth) and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 78.6% (third).
Busch’s statistics over the first 19 races this year are a vast improvement over 2008. In fact, they mirror those of 2005 and 2007, two seasons in which Busch made the Chase.
Kurt Busch Through 19 Races (2005-09)
Avg. Year Rk Finish ARP FLR LT15% Led DR 2005 5 15.7 14.4 295 64.5 337 93.9 2006 14 18.5 14.9 120 60.8 132 88.8 2007 14 18.0 12.3 183 73.5 361 94.4 2008 18 19.9 20.3 60 34.7 85 73.8 2009 4 12.5 10.0 309 78.6 354 101.0
ARP: Average Running Position; FLR: Fastest Laps Run; LT15%: Percentage of Laps in the Top 15; DR: Driver Rating
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Hornish enjoys a similar statistical jump. Here are his stats through 19 races this season, compared to last.
Sam Hornish Jr. Through 19 Races (2005-09)
Avg. Year Rk Finish ARP FLR LT15% Led DR 2008 33 29.5 29.2 39 9.1 2 51.9 2009 29 23.8 22.5 60 24.4 3 66.4
