Analysis: Five drivers who need to step up their 2016 short track game

While some fans and drivers — such as Carl Edwards, who won two of the three short track events to propel him to the top of the standings — might miss it, there are other teams that have a lot of work to do in the next four months.

Starting in 2009, Joe Gibbs Racing teams have won 21 of the 48 Cup races. And as solid as JGR has run everywhere this season, it’s not surprising Edwards (427) and Kyle Busch (430) amassed the most laps led at Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond. Even though Edwards won at Bristol, tire issues proved costly for the company and certainly affected the overall driver performance. 

The top-five drivers who earned the most points are not too surprising. Edwards topped the list with 125 followed by Kurt Busch (99), Kevin Harvick (97), Joey Logano (96) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. — whose 94 points were lifted considerably by his second-place finish at Bristol and a 39-point reward. However, for a driver that’s won at all three tracks it’s curious that he posted just one top five result and never led a lap. 

Certainly, Earnhardt, who averaged a 19th-place starting spot on short tracks in 2016 (and 18.3 overall), could benefit from a better qualifying effort. But here are five drivers that really need to step up their short track game before the tour returns to these tracks. 

1) Denny Hamlin

Hamlin posted just one top-10 finish during the short track swing — at his home track of Richmond International Raceway. RIR is also where he led his only lap. We’re talking about a driver who has earned eight of his 27 Cup wins on short tracks. After the first round, Hamlin didn’t rank in the top 20 drivers when it came to scoring points (59) at Martinsville, Bristol or Richmond. 

2) Matt Kenseth

Kenseth did make the top 20 in points earned on the first three short tracks this season but by just three-points over rookie Ryan Blaney. No doubt it’s been a tough year all the way around for Kenseth. Sunday’s seventh-place finish at Richmond was just his second top 10 since Phoenix — despite leading laps on every track since then. Yes, Kenseth and Harvick were the only two drivers to lead laps on all three venues — Martinsville, Bristol and Richmond — and he added 189 circuits to JGR’s 1047 of a possible 1,400 laps led. But average finish of 19.3 at short tracks is certainly uncharacteristic for Kenseth. 

3) Greg Biffle

Biffle earned the most points (85) at Martinsville, Bristol and Richmond without leading a lap or posting a top-10 finish. Biffle expected to finish better than 14th on Sunday — particularly after participating in the Goodyear tire test at Richmond one month earlier. And while he ran in the top 10 through portions of the race, he couldn’t match his 12th-place runs at both Martinsville and Bristol. Similar to Kenseth, Biffle has endured bad luck this season — including an engine failure at Fontana which has made it difficult to battle back into the top 20 in points. However, if Biffle battles back throughout the summer months, fine-tuning his effort at Bristol and Richmond could be the difference in making the Chase or not. 

4) Martin Truex Jr.

Truex is still searching for the consistency he  enjoyed in 2015. Although he’s completed every lap this season and he’s currently 10th in the standings, only one of his four top-10 finishes came on a short track. Truex finished ninth Sunday at Richmond — but didn’t lead a lap on the 0.75-track or at Martinsville or Bristol. His 82 points earned at the three tracks ranks 12th among Sprint Cup competitors. Of course, Truex was bit twice by tire issues at Bristol — and the team is still adapting from the switch to Toyota. But there’s room for improvement when it comes to Truex’s 2016 average finish of 13.6 on short tracks. 

5) Clint Bowyer

Bowyer has earned most of his top 10 finishes at Martinsville, Richmond and Dover. In 21 starts at Bristol, nearly half of Bowyer’s finishes (10) have been in the top 10 — including his only top-10 finish of 2016 (eighth) this year. Certainly, Bowyer’s average finish of 27th is not indicative of his career average (15.4), but given his penchant for short track racing one would believe his performance will pick up in the second half of the season.