by Ron Thornton  |  About The Author   |  Discuss

Race consistent enough long enough, and you can get your name up in the standings. However, run up front enough long enough and it gets you noticed by the fans who just might want to see what you are all about. Here is a list of drivers in a few series of note that you might have already become familiar with, or soon will be, based on their number of wins, Top Fives, and those races in which they were relevant (a Top Ten or high among the lap leaders).

ARCA
Former Formula One driver Scott Speed has a name race fans should be able to remember easily. The 25-year old continued to buff up his stock car resume with a win last week at Kentucky. You might still be forgiven for mistaking Ricky Stenhouse Jr for that old wrestler Ricky Steamboat, but not for much longer. The 20-year old from Mississippi has won a pair behind the wheel of a Roush Fenway ride and has been relevant in all but a couple of ARCA's eleven events.  The 12th race on the schedule goes at the Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan on Saturday.

1. Scott Speed (2-6-10)
2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr (2-6-8)
3. Justin Allgaier (2-7-7)
4. Frank Kimmel (0-6-7)
5. Matt Carter (1-3-6)
6. Michael Annett (1-3-4)
7. Ken Schrader (0-2-3)
8. Matt Hawkins (1-2-3)
9. Patrick Sheltra (0-1-5)
10. Dexter Bean (0-2-4)
11. Joey Logano (0-2-4)
12. Justin Lofton (1-1-2)
    
CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS
The top three here have combined to capture more than half of the 13 races in the pickups to date, which probably explains their lofty status.  Unlike the previous circuit, the leaders of this pack are not exactly spring chickens. Ron Hornaday, who has dominated two of the last five races to claim victories, saw his odometer click over 50 a month ago. Johnny Benson, who just turned 45 a few weeks back, has won two of the past three. There is even some kid in the bunch who has also done well, but more on him later.  You will get to see these boys on the small track at Indianapolis on Friday night.

1. Ron Hornaday (3 - 6 - 9)
2. Johnny Benson (2 - 7 - 9)
3. Kyle Busch (2 - 4 - 8)
4. Matt Crafton (1 - 7 - 8)
5. Todd Bodine (1 - 6 - 7)
6. Erik Darnell (1 - 5 - 6)
7. Jack Sprague (0 - 3 - 5)
8. David Starr (0 - 4 - 6)
9. Mike Skinner (0 - 3 - 11)
10. Dennis Setzer (1 - 2 - 4)
11. Scott Speed (1 - 2 - 4)
12. Rick Crawford (0 - 4 - 7)

NATIONWIDE
If that is not convenient for you, maybe you can see Kyle Busch on Saturday. If they ran each of NASCAR's top three events on the same track every week, the 23-year old would probably lead them all, both on these charts and in the official standings. Clint Bowyer has been the standard of consistency this year, while Tony Stewart has been a story himself this year in the few events he has ran, and won. Again, Cup guys lead the way, so the fact that Brad Keselowski is on here is a credit to him. As for 18-year old Joey Logano, the only reason he isn't higher as due to the fact he had to wait until his last birthday to run, and some think he has done rather well over those five races. He'll continue to serve his brief apprenticeship for Joe Gibbs this Saturday before heading up to Cup next season.

1. Kyle Busch (5 - 10 - 14)
2. Clint Bowyer (1 - 8 - 18)
3. Carl Edwards (2 - 9 - 12)
4. Denny Hamlin (3 - 7 - 9)
5. Tony Stewart (5 - 5 - 8)
6. Brad Keselowski (1 - 8 - 13)
7. Kevin Harvick (0 - 6 - 7)
8. David Reutimann (0 - 7 - 11)
9. David Stremme (0 - 4 - 11)
10. Joey Logano (1 - 3 - 5)
11. Scott Wimmer (1 - 2 - 8)
12. David Ragan (0 - 4 - 13)

SPRINT CUP
Did I mention earlier how some names start to become familiar?  If they were to put the new face on the new game right now, based strictly on what has been done on the track, that prickly cactus from Las Vegas would be the one. Junior has the fans, Gordon has the titles, Johnson has the last two, but Busch has been the story thus far in 2008. That would be especially true should he win the Brickyard 400 on Sunday.  NASCAR Ironman Ricky Rudd and former Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick are the only past winners of that race who have not been or later became NASCAR champs.

1. Kyle Busch (7 - 12 - 14)
2. Carl Edwards (3 - 7 - 13)
3. Jimmie Johnson (1 - 5 - 9)
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr (1 - 7 - 12)
5. Denny Hamlin (1 - 5 - 10)
6. Kasey Kahne (2 - 3 - 9)
7. Jeff Gordon (0 - 7 - 9)
8. Greg Biffle (0 - 6 - 9)
9. Clint Bowyer (1 - 4 - 9)
10. Tony Stewart (0 - 7 - 12)
11. Matt Kenseth (0 - 4 - 13)
12. Jeff Burton (1 - 4 - 10)
            
INDY CAR
If they are not coming from Indy to race in NASCAR, they could be heading back to that series after failing to cut the mustard. The big prize among these open wheelers remains the Indianapolis 500, one of four races Scott Dixon has won this season. Yet, more fans could tell you about the man with the fancy foot work, Helio Castroneves, who has raced well this season yet has not claimed a victory since Dancing With the Stars. While most might not be house hold names just yet, those leading this list are becoming quite familiar. Of course, Danica Patrick has a great gimmick, great looks, and a win. Yet, this week's showcased verbal cat fight with Milko Duno probably helped sell a bunch of tickets for this weekend's event in Edmonton. I guess it isn't all just about the driving.

1. Scott Dixon (4 - 10 - 10)
2. Helio Castroneves (0 - 10 - 11)
3. Dan Wheldon (2 - 8 - 8)
4. Tony Kanaan (1 - 8 - 10)
5. Ryan Briscoe (2 - 3 - 7)
6. Marco Andretti (0 - 4 - 6)
7. Danica Patrick (1 - 2 - 8)
8. Will Power (1 - 2 - 4)
9. Hideki Mutoh (0 - 1 - 7)
10. Ryan Hunter-Reay (1 - 1 - 6)
11. Graham Rahal (1 - 1 - 3)
12. Darren Manning (0 - 1 - 5)

You can contact Ron at thornton@speedwaymedia.com

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