Vote now: Who should be the Monster Energy Series championship favorite?
The halfway point of the regular season was recently eclipsed and we're now fast approaching the halfway point of the entire season in a couple weeks.
The understanding of stage racing and playoff points is now behind us and it's time to start thinking about which driver will get into position to hoist the first championship under the Monster Energy Series banner.
A few drivers have stood out so far in the 2017 season, including Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Kevin Harvick.
Larson's been the most consistent driver in 2017 with one win and the best average finish (8.4) among all drivers. He’s also scored a ton of stage points (175) and been in the top-10 for 26 of a possible 28 stages.
The only driver ahead of Larson in the points standings, Martin Truex Jr. has been a beast at scoring stage wins. He leads all drivers with eight, which is double Kyle Busch’s total in second.
Truex has posted two wins and is the only other driver than Larson with an average finish (9.1) better than 10th.
There are only two other drivers who join Truex as multiple winners in 2017: Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson.
Keselowski leads the series in top-five (8) and top-10 (10) finishes, has two wins and 12 playoff points, while currently sitting fifth in the points standings.
Johnson, the seven-time and defending champion, leads the Monster Energy Series with three wins and has always been a dominant driver in the playoffs.
The last two drivers who we added to the championship discussion have yet to score their first victory of the season. That shouldn’t exclude Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch from the discussion.
Both are champions under the playoff elimination format and have climbed to top-five positions in the points standings.
Harvick’s currently riding a streak of seven top-10 finishes in the past eight races and has finished in the top-five in five of the seven.
Busch arguably had a race-winning car in the past five races but hasn’t been able to make the right adjustments or have the right luck late to score a victory.
There’s still a lot of racing to go, but we want to know who you think should be the championship favorite at this point of the Monster Energy Series season.
Vote below.
