Welcome to From the Marbles' 2013 driver reviews. Here, we're going to critique, praise and bloviate about the top 30 drivers in the 2013 NASCAR season.
Did you find that you were well trained for the rarefied air of the Chase levels, Joey?
Congratulations on the promotion to the NASCAR playoffs. I know it may not have seemed like such a big deal because there have been CEO-level expectations since you first started full-time. Hell, they existed when you started part-time. Sweeping floors, we imagine. Though you haven't worked at Hendrick (yet), so maybe it's different in other departments.
That promotion also came a year after a transfer, which we can say fairly comfortably was a catalyst for your success. We're going to also go ahead and view it like one of those trades that benefits both teams. No regrets, right?
You excelled at intermediate tracks this year, which is a good building block given the dominance of 1-2 mile tracks on the Cup schedule. That win at Michigan proved to be handy, and you could have had the win at Fontana too, but we all know what happened there.
It looked like you were going to continue that theme in the Chase too. But no, your car went boom.
Your new surroundings brought some more feistiness, and that feistiness had some bite because of your success. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if your rivalries with an old teammate and the man you effectively replaced in your old department. Spice is good. And it can go well with sliced bread.
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Previous Reviews: No. 10 Kurt Busch, No. 11 Ryan Newman, No. 12 Kasey Kahne, No. 13 Carl Edwards, No. 14, Brad Keselowski, No. 15 Jamie McMurray, No. 16 Martin Truex Jr., No. 17 Paul Menard, No. 18 Aric Almirola, No. 19 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 20, Jeff Burton, No. 21 Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 22 Marcos Ambrose, No. 23 Denny Hamlin, No. 24 Casey Mears, No. 25 Mark Martin, No. 26 David Gilliland, No. 27 Danica Patrick, No. 28 David Ragan, No. 29 Tony Stewart, No. 30 Dave Blaney
