Racermetrics race-database.com


Weighted Season Scores by Year

by Sean Wrona


As discussed in my previous column a few weeks ago, my Racermetrics project for most of this summer has been inventing a single season summary statistic for measuring performance with winning percentage, consistency (based on my percent beat statistic), and dominance (based on my average percent led statistic) all given equal weights to determine each driver's ability at a moment in time. Drivers' season scores are weighted four times for the current season, two times for the season before and after, and one time for the seasons two years before and two years after; for drivers who did not have a complete five year period I used the same weights but with the missing years removed. This provides a snapshot of drivers' performance and career relevance for each given year. In this column I provide the top five drivers for Formula One, NASCAR, and modern-era IndyCar racing for every season up to and including this one (completely up to date through last weekend's races). One can view this as which drivers contributed the most to the field in a given year, and indeed, in one of my future upcoming columns, I will use the sum of driver season scores across given races to determine which races had the deepest and shallowest fields in history.

I fully acknowledge there are many biases in these data. Since they are purely stat-driven, one can similarly argue this is essentially a measure of which drivers had the best teams at a given time since there is no correction for equipment strength. There have been certain drivers who I have considered in the past and consider today very overrated who appear quite highly in these lists solely as a result of having the fastest cars. Similarly, my decision to calculate season scores for each driver for each year regardless of the number of starts did create some fluky situations with drivers with high performance in very few starts being overrated by these data, but for the most part, taking weighted averages corrects for that problem. However, there are still a few unusual cases that clearly aren't realistic snapshots of a driver's performance in time, such as Dale Earnhardt appearing in the top five for 2001 as a result of a good 2000 followed by a single Daytona 500 where he led a pretty good percentage of the race and got a good finish in spite of his death. That in addition to a season with unusual parity placed him in the top five when one might call that a stretch. Similarly, James Hinchcliffe won the flukish rain-shortened IndyCar race at Barber in one of his only five starts before his season-ending injury, which caused him to have an absurdly unrealistic high score for this season placing him in this year's top five; however, he may still fall out when 2016 and 2017 data are also considered. Paul Goldsmith, a part-time NASCAR driver from the pioneering years of NASCAR, ranked in the top two three consecutive years from 1956-58 despite having only nine and two starts in 1956 and 1958 respectively. However, since he won all three years and won six of his 36 starts in the period, I think there is some justification for his high placement on the lists. The reason I didn't remove drivers with too few starts was simple: I wanted to include drivers with few starts in the early F1 and NASCAR seasons when many of the top drivers didn't run every race. I thought it was interesting to have NASCAR lists where Dan Gurney, A.J. Foyt, and Parnelli Jones featured highly and these drivers didn't run many NASCAR races a year. I realize this created some other messes (particularly the Earnhardt and Hinchcliffe situations) but I decided I'd rather include them than set an artificial threshold for the minimum number of starts. This also doesn't include a lot of other factors that are important: versatility (being competitive on many different types of circuits), being personally responsible for the improvement of a team (by bringing great setup knowledge to a team or so on), how races were won, how each driver obtained the lead on track, and so on. However, mainly the issue is that it does not take equipment strength into account at all.

Regardless, there is much validity to this when you simply recognize it as a statistical snapshot of each driver in each moment of time (year). Drivers who are too inconsistent won't feature highly (Junior Johnson never made any of the top five NASCAR lists; of course, the early '60s were STACKED with talent, so it makes sense that the other drivers who were just as dominant and a lot more consistent made the list and he didn't), while other drivers who are consistent over a long period of time but never really dominated won't feature highly either (Ricky Rudd never appeared in the top five for any NASCAR season, Terry Labonte only did so once, and Bill Rexford, Alan Kulwicki, and Bobby Labonte despite their championships did not appear as top five drivers on the list ever, although if you make an equipment correction for Kulwicki, there's certainly a case to be made). There have been plenty of champions who were never regarded as the best driver at the time, and that is what these results make abundantly clear. If you ask the drivers which driver they most feared in a given season, I would assume that the #1 drivers for each season for each series on this list would come closer than the list of champions would. When a single season can have 15-30 races, that's not necessarily the long run. Things do even out in the end, but a single season isn't nearly a large enough sample to reflect a driver's reputation at a moment in time, but a five-year rolling average will come much closer to doing so. Very few of the weaker champions will ever top these lists.

As everyone would likely expect, Stirling Moss indeed easily appear to be the best non-champion Formula One. Regardless of who actually won the championships those years, he was the driver who was feared and I think most people would agree with that. Alan Jones is a little ignored on greatest drivers lists and this suggests that may be a mistake, especially since he brought Williams into prominence. Since Formula One always has rewarded winning sufficiently, there isn't much to talk about here since basically all the legends hit #1 while any of the less legendary champions did not, but Stirling Moss being the only non-champion to top the list and doing so four years in a row is no big surprise. On the NASCAR list, there are a few outliers such as Johnny Mantz leading in 1950 solely due to his dominant win in the inaugural Southern 500, but I'm okay with that since that race was so much longer than any of the others on that year's schedule as it was the first superspeedway race in NASCAR history. I already mentioned the surprise of Goldsmith leading back to back years, but considering he did win 6 out of 36 races in that period, he really was one of the dominant forces, and in 1958, even though he only started two races, he led one of them at flag-to-flag and it was the Daytona Beach/Road Course race, which was held as one of the most prestigious races of the time (before it was ultimately replaced by the Daytona 500). Later, Fireball Roberts and Fred Lorenzen, who skipped most races outside the superspeedways, also were the dominant drivers in spite of never competing for a championship (I believe anyone who really thinks Mark Martin, who competed for championships, should be considered the best driver to have never won the title over those two is wrong, and Junior Johnson, and apparently Fonty Flock and Paul Goldsmith, whom I overlooked, have strong cases too). The list is most interesting for NASCAR because NASCAR's points system does a particularly horrible job of measuring actual performance, while I think this does an extraordinary job. You can easily see the dynasties in NASCAR history one right after the other (Petty-Yarborough-Waltrip-Earnhardt-Gordon-Johnson) with *very* rare interludes likely indicating that most seasons when they didn't win the title somebody else got lucky. While the chase has made the actual finishing order of the championship a crapshoot, the NASCAR data shows that you can still measure performance out of chaos, and I think it does a great job. IndyCar is a bit more of a mess as some drivers like Al Unser, Jr. had much stronger cars some years than others meaning there were few obvious dynasties that continued on and on, especially because many dominant drivers went straight to Formula 1 (and it looks like F1 made the right choices...even though Andretti and Montoya didn't win the 1992 and 2000 titles, they were still the dominant drivers those years by far). I talked more about NASCAR here this time because I simply think F1 and IndyCar have usually always had superior points system which measure performance so there shouldn't be much surprise here. The champions are going to be the dominant drivers AND the point racers, but I really do like this system since I could theoretically apply it to any series for which I was able to get lap leader data.

I excluded all Indy 500 drivers from 1950-1960 from the Formula One list. In that period, the Indy 500 counted as a World Championship race but it was sanctioned by AAA and later USAC, so it wasn't a true Formula One race. I also required that a driver's weighted season score be based on more than one season so that single-season outliers would not appear on the list. I didn't want any scores to be based on only one season's results. However, I made two exceptions. Alain Prost had a perfect 15 season in 1993 winning the championship in his final season after taking a one-year sabbatical. Since he won the title that season, I thought he needed to be included. Similarly, Juan Pablo Montoya won the 2000 Indy 500 in his only IRL start as a full-time CART driver before moving to Formula One. Since he was an Indy 500 winner and appeared on the CART list for 2000, I felt it would be silly not to include him as well. However, those were the only two exceptions I made to this general rule. Now on to the season top five lists, which appear below.

Formula One

1950Juan Manuel Fangio - 13.7Nino Farina - 13.0Alberto Ascari - 8.1Luigi Fagioli - 7.3José Froilán González - 5.1
1951Juan Manuel Fangio - 14.3Alberto Ascari - 12.3Nino Farina - 11.7José Froilán González - 9.0Luigi Fagioli - 8.7
1952Alberto Ascari - 12.8Nino Farina - 10.2José Froilán González - 9.7Piero Taruffi - 8.6Mike Hawthorn - 6.7
1953Juan Manuel Fangio - 12.7Alberto Ascari - 11.8José Froilán González - 10.3Nino Farina - 10.1Mike Hawthorn - 8.6
1954Juan Manuel Fangio - 14.1José Froilán González - 9.6Nino Farina - 8.8Alberto Ascari - 7.9Mike Hawthorn - 7.6
1955Juan Manuel Fangio - 14.6Stirling Moss - 10.3Nino Farina - 7.3José Froilán González - 7.0Alberto Ascari - 5.3
1956Juan Manuel Fangio - 14.4Stirling Moss - 12.8Peter Collins - 7.3Mike Hawthorn - 5.2Tony Brooks - 4.0
1957Juan Manuel Fangio - 13.7Stirling Moss - 13.6Tony Brooks - 7.6Peter Collins - 7.6Mike Hawthorn - 6.8
1958Stirling Moss - 13.2Juan Manuel Fangio - 11.6Mike Hawthorn - 9.9Peter Collins - 9.6Tony Brooks - 8.8
1959Stirling Moss - 13.3Jack Brabham - 9.1Tony Brooks - 8.1Phil Hill - 7.4Bruce McLaren - 6.3
1960Stirling Moss - 13.8Jack Brabham - 9.5Phil Hill - 8.5Richie Ginther - 7.4Bruce McLaren - 7.0
1961Stirling Moss - 13.6Phil Hill - 8.8Wolfgang von Trips - 8.4Richie Ginther - 6.0Jim Clark - 5.9
1962Jim Clark - 10.1Graham Hill - 9.5Dan Gurney - 6.3Phil Hill - 4.8Bruce McLaren - 4.7
1963Jim Clark - 12.8Graham Hill - 11.3John Surtees - 7.3Dan Gurney - 5.8Richie Ginther - 4.4
1964Jim Clark - 13.3Graham Hill - 11.6John Surtees - 9.1Dan Gurney - 6.7Lorenzo Bandini - 5.1
1965Jim Clark - 13.0Graham Hill - 10.2Jackie Stewart - 8.0John Surtees - 7.6Jack Brabham - 5.6
1966Jim Clark - 12.2Jack Brabham - 8.7Jackie Stewart - 8.0John Surtees - 7.7Graham Hill - 6.9
1967Jim Clark - 12.9Denny Hulme - 8.9Jack Brabham - 8.1Jackie Stewart - 7.7Graham Hill - 7.2
1968Jim Clark - 13.7Jackie Stewart - 10.6Denny Hulme - 9.0Jacky Ickx - 8.7Graham Hill - 8.3
1969Jackie Stewart - 11.9Jacky Ickx - 9.7Denny Hulme - 7.8Jochen Rindt - 7.3Graham Hill - 7.2
1970Jackie Stewart - 12.2Jacky Ickx - 10.5Jochen Rindt - 10.3Clay Regazzoni - 7.7Emerson Fittipaldi - 7.4
1971Jackie Stewart - 13.5Jacky Ickx - 8.8Emerson Fittipaldi - 7.7François Cevert - 5.4Ronnie Peterson - 5.4
1972Jackie Stewart - 13.9Emerson Fittipaldi - 10.8Jacky Ickx - 7.8Ronnie Peterson - 6.5Denny Hulme - 6.1
1973Jackie Stewart - 14.7Emerson Fittipaldi - 11.7Ronnie Peterson - 9.0Jody Scheckter - 6.2Denny Hulme - 6.0
1974Emerson Fittipaldi - 10.8Niki Lauda - 8.9Ronnie Peterson - 8.4Jody Scheckter - 7.9Carlos Reutemann - 7.8
1975Niki Lauda - 12.4Jody Scheckter - 8.7James Hunt - 8.1Emerson Fittipaldi - 7.9Carlos Reutemann - 7.5
1976Niki Lauda - 13.5James Hunt - 9.8Jody Scheckter - 8.8Mario Andretti - 6.9Clay Regazzoni - 6.1
1977Niki Lauda - 11.9Jody Scheckter - 9.3Mario Andretti - 9.1James Hunt - 8.3Carlos Reutemann - 6.2
1978Niki Lauda - 9.1Mario Andretti - 8.5Carlos Reutemann - 7.5Jody Scheckter - 7.3Gilles Villeneuve - 6.9
1979Alan Jones - 10.2Jody Scheckter - 8.9Gilles Villeneuve - 8.7Jacques Laffite - 7.6Patrick Depailler - 7.3
1980Alan Jones - 12.4Nelson Piquet - 9.2Jacques Laffite - 7.5Carlos Reutemann - 7.2Gilles Villeneuve - 6.7
1981Alan Jones - 13.0Nelson Piquet - 11.4Alain Prost - 9.9Carlos Reutemann - 7.8René Arnoux - 7.1
1982Alain Prost - 11.4Nelson Piquet - 11.3Didier Pironi - 9.6René Arnoux - 8.9Niki Lauda - 8.6
1983Alain Prost - 13.1Nelson Piquet - 11.4René Arnoux - 9.1Keke Rosberg - 7.1Niki Lauda - 6.8
1984Alain Prost - 13.9Nelson Piquet - 10.7Niki Lauda - 9.2Keke Rosberg - 7.2René Arnoux - 6.3
1985Alain Prost - 14.3Nelson Piquet - 10.5Nigel Mansell - 9.6Ayrton Senna - 9.3Niki Lauda - 8.1
1986Alain Prost - 14.3Nelson Piquet - 11.5Nigel Mansell - 11.0Ayrton Senna - 10.8Keke Rosberg - 6.7
1987Alain Prost - 13.8Ayrton Senna - 12.5Nigel Mansell - 10.4Nelson Piquet - 10.2Gerhard Berger - 7.7
1988Alain Prost - 14.1Ayrton Senna - 13.5Gerhard Berger - 7.2Nigel Mansell - 6.8Nelson Piquet - 6.7
1989Ayrton Senna - 13.7Alain Prost - 13.0Nigel Mansell - 7.9Thierry Boutsen - 6.7Gerhard Berger - 6.7
1990Ayrton Senna - 13.6Alain Prost - 11.2Nigel Mansell - 9.1Riccardo Patrese - 6.9Gerhard Berger - 6.8
1991Ayrton Senna - 13.3Nigel Mansell - 11.9Riccardo Patrese - 8.8Alain Prost - 7.9Gerhard Berger - 6.5
1992Nigel Mansell - 13.4Ayrton Senna - 11.2Riccardo Patrese - 8.6Damon Hill - 7.0Gerhard Berger - 6.8
1993Alain Prost - 15.0Damon Hill - 11.1Ayrton Senna - 10.8Michael Schumacher - 9.0Riccardo Patrese - 6.0
1994Damon Hill - 13.1Michael Schumacher - 12.2Nigel Mansell - 8.0Ayrton Senna - 7.6David Coulthard - 7.0
1995Michael Schumacher - 13.2Damon Hill - 13.2David Coulthard - 7.1Jean Alesi - 5.9Gerhard Berger - 4.8
1996Michael Schumacher - 13.4Jacques Villeneuve - 12.4Damon Hill - 11.5David Coulthard - 6.3Jean Alesi - 5.7
1997Michael Schumacher - 13.8Jacques Villeneuve - 10.0David Coulthard - 7.9Mika Hakkinen - 7.5Gerhard Berger - 6.9
1998Michael Schumacher - 14.2Mika Hakkinen - 11.8David Coulthard - 9.4Jacques Villeneuve - 5.6Eddie Irvine - 5.2
1999Michael Schumacher - 14.3Mika Hakkinen - 13.2David Coulthard - 10.8Eddie Irvine - 6.9Heinz-Harald Frentzen - 5.9
2000Michael Schumacher - 14.4Mika Hakkinen - 13.7David Coulthard - 10.6Rubens Barrichello Barrichello - 7.6Ralf Schumacher - 4.4
2001Michael Schumacher - 14.7Mika Hakkinen - 12.0David Coulthard - 9.7Rubens Barrichello Barrichello - 9.0Juan Pablo Montoya - 7.7
2002Michael Schumacher - 14.9Rubens Barrichello - 11.1Juan Pablo Montoya - 8.1Ralf Schumacher - 8.0David Coulthard - 7.9
2003Michael Schumacher - 14.2Rubens Barrichello - 10.1Juan Pablo Montoya - 9.5Fernando Alonso - 8.4Ralf Schumacher - 8.4
2004Michael Schumacher - 13.4Fernando Alonso - 9.4Rubens Barrichello - 8.8Juan Pablo Montoya - 8.5Kimi Räikkönen - 7.4
2005Fernando Alonso - 12.5Michael Schumacher - 11.4Kimi Räikkönen - 10.1Juan Pablo Montoya - 8.7Giancarlo Fisichella - 5.8
2006Fernando Alonso - 13.5Michael Schumacher - 12.7Kimi Räikkönen - 9.4Felipe Massa - 8.7Giancarlo Fisichella - 5.8
2007Lewis Hamilton - 14.0Fernando Alonso - 12.5Kimi Räikkönen - 11.4Felipe Massa - 10.5Robert Kubica - 3.9
2008Lewis Hamilton - 13.0Kimi Räikkönen - 10.6Felipe Massa - 10.2Fernando Alonso - 9.9Sebastian Vettel - 7.1
2009Lewis Hamilton - 11.7Sebastian Vettel - 10.7Kimi Räikkönen - 9.9Jenson Button - 9.4Fernando Alonso - 7.9
2010Sebastian Vettel - 13.3Lewis Hamilton - 11.5Jenson Button - 10.9Fernando Alonso - 10.3Mark Webber - 10.3
2011Sebastian Vettel - 14.6Lewis Hamilton - 11.5Jenson Button - 11.0Fernando Alonso - 10.9Mark Webber - 9.8
2012Sebastian Vettel - 13.7Lewis Hamilton - 12.0Fernando Alonso - 11.6Mark Webber - 9.1Jenson Button - 8.8
2013Sebastian Vettel - 12.1Lewis Hamilton - 11.9Nico Rosberg - 9.6Fernando Alonso - 9.0Mark Webber - 7.9
2014Lewis Hamilton - 13.4Nico Rosberg - 12.7Sebastian Vettel - 8.6Daniel Ricciardo - 5.8Fernando Alonso - 5.8
2015Lewis Hamilton - 14.1Nico Rosberg - 14.1Sebastian Vettel - 8.7Daniel Ricciardo - 4.4Felipe Massa - 4.1

NASCAR Cup Series

1949Red Byron - 10.6Curtis Turner - 10.3Jack White - 9.3Fonty Flock - 8.3Bill Blair - 7.7
1950Johnny Mantz - 11.0Fonty Flock - 10.6Curtis Turner - 10.0Tim Flock - 9.8Harold Kite - 9.7
1951Fonty Flock - 11.4Tim Flock - 11.4Herb Thomas - 10.7Curtis Turner - 8.8Marshall Teague - 8.7
1952Herb Thomas - 13.2Tim Flock - 11.5Marshall Teague - 11.4Fonty Flock - 9.9Dick Rathman - 8.4
1953Herb Thomas - 13.7Lee Petty - 10.3Tim Flock - 9.9Buck Baker - 9.3Dick Rathman - 9.2
1954Herb Thomas - 12.6Lee Petty - 11.4Buck Baker - 10.9Tim Flock - 9.9Dick Rathman - 9.6
1955Buck Baker - 11.3Tim Flock - 11.2Lee Petty - 10.4Herb Thomas - 9.5Speedy Thompson - 8.5
1956Buck Baker - 12.3Paul Goldsmith - 11.0Tim Flock - 10.2Chuck Stevenson - 10.0Speedy Thompson - 9.1
1957Paul Goldsmith - 11.8Buck Baker - 11.6Fireball Roberts - 10.8Bob Welborn - 9.9Lee Petty - 9.2
1958Paul Goldsmith - 13.1Fireball Roberts - 12.6Bob Welborn - 10.4Lee Petty - 10.1Rex White - 10.0
1959Fireball Roberts - 11.8Lee Petty - 11.7Rex White - 11.5Jack Smith - 9.8Curtis Turner - 9.4
1960Fireball Roberts - 11.8Rex White - 11.5Lee Petty - 11.3Jack Smith - 10.6Glen Wood - 9.2
1961Fireball Roberts - 11.6Rex White - 10.8Joe Weatherly - 10.6Lee Petty - 10.3Fred Lorenzen - 9.8
1962Richard Petty - 11.3Fireball Roberts - 11.0Fred Lorenzen - 10.9Joe Weatherly - 10.4Ned Jarrett - 10.3
1963Fred Lorenzen - 12.9Richard Petty - 12.8Ned Jarrett - 11.9Dan Gurney - 11.7Fireball Roberts - 10.4
1964Fred Lorenzen - 13.3Richard Petty - 13.3Dan Gurney - 12.9Ned Jarrett - 12.3David Pearson - 10.5
1965Dan Gurney - 13.9Richard Petty - 13.7Fred Lorenzen - 13.1David Pearson - 12.2Ned Jarrett - 11.8
1966Richard Petty - 13.7David Pearson - 13.6Dan Gurney - 13.4Fred Lorenzen - 12.7Dick Hutcherson - 11.1
1967Richard Petty - 14.2David Pearson - 13.2Fred Lorenzen - 11.9Parnelli Jones - 11.4Dick Hutcherson - 11.0
1968Richard Petty - 14.2David Pearson - 13.6Cale Yarborough - 11.6Dan Gurney - 9.8Bobby Allison - 9.4
1969Richard Petty - 14.4David Pearson - 12.7Bobby Isaac - 11.9Bobby Allison - 10.5Cale Yarborough - 10.5
1970Richard Petty - 14.7Bobby Isaac - 12.9Bobby Allison - 11.3David Pearson - 11.2Donnie Allison - 10.1
1971Richard Petty - 14.8Bobby Allison - 12.5A.J. Foyt - 11.2Bobby Isaac - 11.0David Pearson - 11.0
1972Richard Petty - 14.8David Pearson - 13.0Bobby Allison - 12.4A.J. Foyt - 10.5Buddy Baker - 9.8
1973Richard Petty - 14.6David Pearson - 14.1Bobby Allison - 10.7Cale Yarborough - 10.0Buddy Baker - 9.5
1974David Pearson - 14.6Richard Petty - 14.4Cale Yarborough - 12.4Bobby Allison - 9.8Buddy Baker - 8.5
1975Richard Petty - 14.0David Pearson - 13.8Cale Yarborough - 12.6Buddy Baker - 8.7Bobby Allison - 8.4
1976Cale Yarborough - 13.6David Pearson - 13.4Richard Petty - 12.2Benny Parsons - 8.3Darrell Waltrip - 7.3
1977Cale Yarborough - 14.0David Pearson - 11.8Richard Petty - 11.5Darrell Waltrip - 10.7Benny Parsons - 10.2
1978Cale Yarborough - 14.1Darrell Waltrip - 12.7David Pearson - 10.8Benny Parsons - 10.0Bobby Allison - 9.3
1979Darrell Waltrip - 13.9Cale Yarborough - 12.9Bobby Allison - 11.1Richard Petty - 9.6Benny Parsons - 9.2
1980Darrell Waltrip - 13.6Cale Yarborough - 12.1Bobby Allison - 11.8Benny Parsons - 8.5Dale Earnhardt - 8.3
1981Darrell Waltrip - 14.2Bobby Allison - 12.8Cale Yarborough - 10.9Neil Bonnett - 8.7Richard Petty - 7.9
1982Darrell Waltrip - 14.2Bobby Allison - 13.1Cale Yarborough - 10.9Neil Bonnett - 7.5Richard Petty - 6.9
1983Darrell Waltrip - 14.2Bobby Allison - 12.3Cale Yarborough - 11.2Neil Bonnett - 7.5Richard Petty - 7.0
1984Darrell Waltrip - 13.2Cale Yarborough - 10.9Bobby Allison - 9.2Bill Elliott - 9.0Dale Earnhardt - 8.7
1985Darrell Waltrip - 11.3Bill Elliott - 11.1Dale Earnhardt - 11.0Cale Yarborough - 8.2Harry Gant - 8.0
1986Dale Earnhardt - 12.8Bill Elliott - 11.2Tim Richmond - 9.9Darrell Waltrip - 9.6Geoff Bodine - 8.0
1987Dale Earnhardt - 13.6Bill Elliott - 12.2Tim Richmond - 11.3Rusty Wallace - 8.9Darrell Waltrip - 8.3
1988Dale Earnhardt - 13.3Bill Elliott - 11.7Rusty Wallace - 11.6Darrell Waltrip - 8.2Davey Allison - 7.0
1989Dale Earnhardt - 13.3Rusty Wallace - 11.8Bill Elliott - 9.7Darrell Waltrip - 8.4Davey Allison - 7.3
1990Dale Earnhardt - 12.8Rusty Wallace - 10.1Bill Elliott - 8.8Mark Martin - 8.4Davey Allison - 7.9
1991Dale Earnhardt - 11.8Davey Allison - 10.1Rusty Wallace - 9.2Mark Martin - 9.0Harry Gant - 7.9
1992Davey Allison - 10.8Dale Earnhardt - 10.6Rusty Wallace - 9.5Mark Martin - 9.4Ernie Irvan - 9.1
1993Dale Earnhardt - 12.2Rusty Wallace - 11.5Mark Martin - 10.6Ernie Irvan - 9.7Davey Allison - 9.6
1994Dale Earnhardt - 12.1Rusty Wallace - 11.9Ernie Irvan - 10.1Mark Martin - 10.1Jeff Gordon - 8.0
1995Jeff Gordon - 11.7Dale Earnhardt - 11.3Mark Martin - 10.6Rusty Wallace - 10.4Terry Labonte - 8.1
1996Jeff Gordon - 13.5Mark Martin - 10.2Dale Jarrett - 9.9Rusty Wallace - 9.2Dale Earnhardt - 9.1
1997Jeff Gordon - 14.2Mark Martin - 11.8Dale Jarrett - 11.7Rusty Wallace - 7.6Jeff Burton - 7.5
1998Jeff Gordon - 13.9Mark Martin - 12.0Dale Jarrett - 11.2Jeff Burton - 9.2Rusty Wallace - 8.0
1999Jeff Gordon - 13.1Dale Jarrett - 10.7Tony Stewart - 10.4Jeff Burton - 10.1Mark Martin - 9.9
2000Jeff Gordon - 11.4Tony Stewart - 10.7Jeff Burton - 9.2Dale Jarrett - 9.1Rusty Wallace - 8.8
2001Jeff Gordon - 11.3Tony Stewart - 9.8Dale Jarrett - 8.0Dale Earnhardt - 7.7Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - 7.5
2002Jeff Gordon - 10.5Tony Stewart - 9.5Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - 8.5Jimmie Johnson - 8.1Matt Kenseth - 6.8
2003Jeff Gordon - 10.8Jimmie Johnson - 9.5Tony Stewart - 9.2Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - 8.6Ryan Newman - 8.5
2004Jimmie Johnson - 11.1Jeff Gordon - 10.5Tony Stewart - 9.9Kurt Busch - 8.8Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - 8.3
2005Tony Stewart - 11.0Jimmie Johnson - 10.7Jeff Gordon - 10.0Kurt Busch - 8.3Greg Biffle - 8.0
2006Jimmie Johnson - 11.4Tony Stewart - 10.6Jeff Gordon - 9.3Matt Kenseth - 8.5Greg Biffle - 7.2
2007Jimmie Johnson - 12.2Tony Stewart - 9.9Jeff Gordon - 9.5Kyle Busch - 8.4Matt Kenseth - 8.1
2008Jimmie Johnson - 12.7Kyle Busch - 10.5Tony Stewart - 8.7Carl Edwards - 8.6Denny Hamlin - 8.5
2009Jimmie Johnson - 12.4Kyle Busch - 10.4Denny Hamlin - 9.7Tony Stewart - 9.1Jeff Gordon - 7.9
2010Jimmie Johnson - 11.8Denny Hamlin - 10.5Kyle Busch - 10.1Tony Stewart - 8.9Jeff Gordon - 7.6
2011Jimmie Johnson - 11.2Kyle Busch - 10.1Tony Stewart - 9.1Denny Hamlin - 9.0Matt Kenseth - 8.7
2012Jimmie Johnson - 11.8Matt Kenseth - 9.6Kyle Busch - 9.5Denny Hamlin - 8.9Brad Keselowski - 8.3
2013Jimmie Johnson - 11.8Matt Kenseth - 10.5Kyle Busch - 9.8Kevin Harvick - 9.2Brad Keselowski - 8.6
2014Jimmie Johnson - 11.2Kevin Harvick - 11.1Brad Keselowski - 9.9Joey Logano - 9.3Matt Kenseth - 9.1
2015Kevin Harvick - 12.3Jimmie Johnson - 11.0Joey Logano - 10.9Kyle Busch - 10.7Matt Kenseth - 9.9

Champ Car

1979Rick Mears - 13.7Bobby Unser - 13.6Johnny Rutherford - 11.9Gordon Johncock - 8.7Al Unser - 8.3
1980Rick Mears - 13.1Bobby Unser - 12.5Johnny Rutherford - 11.2Mario Andretti - 9.4Tom Sneva - 8.8
1981Rick Mears - 13.3Bobby Unser - 10.1Tom Sneva - 9.9Mario Andretti - 8.9Johnny Rutherford - 7.9
1982Rick Mears - 12.5Bobby Rahal - 12.1Tom Sneva - 10.3Mario Andretti - 9.5Gordon Johncock - 7.3
1983Bobby Rahal - 11.7Mario Andretti - 11.1Rick Mears - 10.7Tom Sneva - 9.8Teo Fabi - 9.0
1984Bobby Rahal - 12.5Mario Andretti - 12.2Rick Mears - 9.9Danny Sullivan - 9.7Tom Sneva - 8.9
1985Bobby Rahal - 13.0Mario Andretti - 12.1Danny Sullivan - 9.4Al Unser, Jr. - 8.6Rick Mears - 8.6
1986Bobby Rahal - 13.1Mario Andretti - 10.9Danny Sullivan - 9.1Michael Andretti - 8.8Al Unser, Jr. - 8.2
1987Bobby Rahal - 11.9Michael Andretti - 10.2Mario Andretti - 10.2Emerson Fittipaldi - 9.5Rick Mears - 8.3
1988Emerson Fittipaldi - 11.0Al Unser, Jr. - 10.5Rick Mears - 10.4Danny Sullivan - 10.3Bobby Rahal - 9.3
1989Emerson Fittipaldi - 12.0Rick Mears - 11.7Michael Andretti - 11.4Al Unser, Jr. - 11.3Danny Sullivan - 9.5
1990Al Unser, Jr. - 12.7Michael Andretti - 12.7Emerson Fittipaldi - 10.9Rick Mears - 9.9Danny Sullivan - 8.7
1991Michael Andretti - 13.9Al Unser, Jr. - 11.2Emerson Fittipaldi - 10.5Bobby Rahal - 8.8Rick Mears - 8.3
1992Michael Andretti - 14.0Emerson Fittipaldi - 11.2Al Unser, Jr. - 10.2Bobby Rahal - 9.0Paul Tracy - 6.4
1993Emerson Fittipaldi - 11.3Nigel Mansell - 10.7Al Unser, Jr. - 9.8Paul Tracy - 9.3Bobby Rahal - 6.4
1994Al Unser, Jr. - 11.6Michael Andretti - 10.6Paul Tracy - 9.7Emerson Fittipaldi - 9.1Jacques Villeneuve - 8.7
1995Jacques Villeneuve - 11.3Al Unser, Jr. - 10.7Michael Andretti - 9.9Paul Tracy - 8.3Gil de Ferran - 6.7
1996Alex Zanardi - 12.7Michael Andretti - 9.9Jimmy Vasser - 8.1Al Unser, Jr. - 7.4Gil de Ferran - 6.9
1997Alex Zanardi - 14.0Jimmy Vasser - 8.6Michael Andretti - 8.4Greg Moore - 6.9Paul Tracy - 6.8
1998Alex Zanardi - 14.4Jimmy Vasser - 8.5Dario Franchitti - 8.2Michael Andretti - 8.1Greg Moore - 7.4
1999Juan Pablo Montoya - 13.0Adrián Fernández - 8.1Dario Franchitti - 8.0Michael Andretti - 7.6Greg Moore - 7.1
2000Juan Pablo Montoya - 12.0Gil de Ferran - 8.9Hélio Castroneves - 8.2Michael Andretti - 7.8Kenny Bräck - 7.4
2001Gil de Ferran - 10.6Hélio Castroneves - 10.3Kenny Bräck - 9.3Cristiano da Matta - 8.6Michael Andretti - 7.2
2002Cristiano da Matta - 11.4Bruno Junqueira - 8.7Kenny Bräck - 7.9Paul Tracy - 7.8Michael Andretti - 6.7
2003Sébastien Bourdais - 12.1Bruno Junqueira - 10.7Paul Tracy - 10.4Patrick Carpentier - 7.4Michel Jourdain, Jr. - 5.6
2004Sébastien Bourdais - 13.9Bruno Junqueira - 11.3Paul Tracy - 10.3Patrick Carpentier - 8.0Justin Wilson - 5.1
2005Sébastien Bourdais - 14.5Bruno Junqueira - 10.4Paul Tracy - 9.1Justin Wilson - 8.2A.J. Allmendinger - 6.8
2006Sébastien Bourdais - 15.0A.J. Allmendinger - 9.4Justin Wilson - 8.8Bruno Junqueira - 7.1Paul Tracy - 6.1
2007Sébastien Bourdais - 15.0Justin Wilson - 9.0Will Power - 6.3Paul Tracy - 6.1Bruno Junqueira - 5.4

IndyCar

1996Arie Luyendyk - 11.1Buddy Lazier - 10.3Tony Stewart - 8.9Buzz Calkins - 8.7Scott Sharp - 7.7
1997Richie Hearn - 10.3Tony Stewart - 9.6Arie Luyendyk - 9.2Scott Sharp - 8.3Buddy Lazier - 7.7
1998Tony Stewart - 9.4Kenny Bräck - 9.0Scott Sharp - 8.9Arie Luyendyk - 8.1Eddie Cheever - 7.1
1999Kenny Bräck - 9.4Scott Sharp - 8.8Scott Goodyear - 7.9Eddie Cheever - 7.9Greg Ray - 7.5
2000Juan Pablo Montoya - 15.0Buddy Lazier - 9.4Scott Sharp - 8.2Eddie Cheever - 7.8Greg Ray - 7.8
2001Hélio Castroneves - 12.7Sam Hornish, Jr. - 11.2Buddy Lazier - 8.9Gil de Ferran - 8.4Scott Sharp - 7.3
2002Hélio Castroneves - 12.3Sam Hornish, Jr. - 11.6Gil de Ferran - 11.0Tony Kanaan - 7.1Tomas Scheckter - 6.6
2003Gil de Ferran - 11.9Hélio Castroneves - 11.3Sam Hornish, Jr. - 11.1Tony Kanaan - 9.7Scott Dixon - 8.4
2004Tony Kanaan - 11.0Hélio Castroneves - 10.9Sam Hornish, Jr. - 9.8Dan Wheldon - 9.7Adrián Fernández - 8.7
2005Dan Wheldon - 12.3Tony Kanaan - 11.1Hélio Castroneves - 10.2Sam Hornish, Jr. - 10.1Dario Franchitti - 8.4
2006Dan Wheldon - 12.5Hélio Castroneves - 11.4Sam Hornish, Jr. - 11.0Tony Kanaan - 10.4Scott Dixon - 9.9
2007Scott Dixon - 12.8Hélio Castroneves - 10.8Dario Franchitti - 10.7Dan Wheldon - 10.5Tony Kanaan - 10.2
2008Scott Dixon - 14.1Hélio Castroneves - 11.5Will Power - 9.4Tony Kanaan - 8.6Ryan Briscoe - 8.5
2009Dario Franchitti - 14.7Scott Dixon - 13.7Will Power - 12.2Ryan Briscoe - 10.0Hélio Castroneves - 9.9
2010Dario Franchitti - 13.7Will Power - 13.1Scott Dixon - 12.3Hélio Castroneves - 9.3Ryan Briscoe - 8.9
2011Will Power - 13.5Dario Franchitti - 12.1Scott Dixon - 11.8Hélio Castroneves - 7.3Ryan Hunter-Reay - 6.9
2012Will Power - 12.9Scott Dixon - 11.6Hélio Castroneves - 9.1Ryan Hunter-Reay - 9.1Dario Franchitti - 8.9
2013Will Power - 12.0Scott Dixon - 11.6Hélio Castroneves - 8.8Ryan Hunter-Reay - 8.7Mike Conway - 7.1
2014Will Power - 11.9Scott Dixon - 10.7Hélio Castroneves - 9.1Juan Pablo Montoya - 8.7Ryan Hunter-Reay - 8.6
2015Will Power - 11.0Scott Dixon - 10.7Juan Pablo Montoya - 10.3James Hinchcliffe - 8.4Sébastien Bourdais - 8.3


Sean Wrona is the Managing Editor of racermetrics.com, the Webmaster of race-database.com, the winner of the 2010 Ultimate Typing Championship at the SXSW Interactive Conference in Austin, and the ratings compiler and statistician for the Mensa Scrabble-by-Mail SIG. He earned a master's in applied statistics from Cornell University in 2008 and previously digitized several seasons of NBA box scores on basketball-reference.com. You may contact him at sean@racermetrics.com.