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Drivers that gained/lost most positions in standings from 2014 to 2015

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series CampingWorld.com 500 - Practice

Ryan Newman (left) lost the most places in the standings from 2014 to 2015, while Martin Truex Jr. (right) gained the most spots from one season to the next.

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If you go by how drivers finished in each of the first two seasons under the new Chase for the Sprint Cup format, you’d find some interesting surprises.

Here’s how drivers finished in both 2014 and 2015 and how many positions they gained or lost between each season.

Results are based on a driver being a full-time competitor in the Sprint Cup Series for each of the last two seasons (ruling out drivers like Sam Hornish Jr. and Trevor Bayne, who did not compete full time in the Cup Series in 2014).

MOST POSITIONS GAINED (2014 finish vs. 2015 finish and number of spots gained):


  1. The biggest gainer from 2014 to 2015, by far, was Martin Truex Jr., who finished 20 places higher in the standings in 2015 (4th) than he did in 2014 (24th). After failing to make the Chase in 2014, Truex not only made it in 2015, but also went on to enjoy a career-best single-season finish and performance.

  1. Newly crowned Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch jumped the second largest number of spots (nine) in the standings from 2014 (10th) to 2015 (1st, including missing 11 races due to injury).

  1. Paul Menard 21 – 14 = +7 positions

  1. Jamie McMurray 18 – 13 = +5

  1. David Ragan 32 – 27 = +5

  1. Carl Edwards 9 – 5 = +4

  1. Kurt Busch 12 – 8 (missed 3 races due to suspension) = +4

  1. Clint Bowyer 19 – 16 = +3

  1. Danica Patrick 28 – 24 = +4

  1. Jeff Gordon 6 – 3 = +3

  1. Casey Mears 26 – 23 = +3

  1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 27 (missed 1 race due to DNQ) – 25 = +2

  1. Jimmie Johnson 11 – 10 = +1

MOST POSITIONS LOST (2014 finish vs. 2015 finish and number of spots lost):


  1. Ryan Newman 2 – 11 = -9 places

  1. AJ Allmendinger 13 – 22 = -9

  1. Matt Kenseth 7 – 15 (missed 2 races because of suspension) = -8

  1. Denny Hamlin 3 (missed 1 race because of injury) – 9 = -6

  1. Greg Biffle 14 – 20 = -6

  1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8 – 12 = -4

  1. Kasey Kahne 15 – 18 = -3

  1. Tony Stewart 25 (missed 3 races due to Kevin Ward Jr. tragedy) – 28 = -3

  1. Joey Logano 4 – 6 = -2

  1. Brad Keselowski 5 – 7 = -2

  1. Kyle Larson 17 – 19 (missed one race due to injury) = -2

  1. David Gilliland 30 – 32 = -2

  1. Kevin Harvick 1 – 2 = -1

  1. Aric Almirola 16 – 17 = -1

  1. Austin Dillon 20 – 21 = -1

  1. Justin Allgaier 29 -- 30 = -1

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