Who’s trending up/ trending down in 2017

Jimmie Johnson – In 2016 Jimmie Johnson won the championship, but in 2017 I think he’ll be trending up. I’m not saying he’ll repeat, I’m saying I think he’ll have a better season. 2016 really wasn’t a great year for him, other than getting hot at the end. He had a career low 16 top tens, tied a career low for top fives (11), and had his second worst average finish for a season (14.0). In 2017 I think he’ll be better in all of those statistical categories and have a better body of work for the season.

Joey Logano – In 2017 I think Joey Logano will be trending even. When you perform at the level he did in 2016 it’s hard to do better. Logano is in his prime and I expect him to have another stellar season. Look for him to once again be in serious title contention.

Kyle Busch – Kyle Busch will also be trending even in 2017. He’ll have another great year and be a factor for the championship. Look for him to be fast out of the gate. He’s a smart driver and has proven to be a quick adapter to rule changes in the past.

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Matt Kenseth – In 2017 I think Matt Kenseth will be trending up slightly. Let’s not forget he had a lot of bad luck in the first third of 2016 that weighed him down and skewed many of his season long stats. I don’t think that level of bad luck will strike him again in 2017.

Denny Hamlin – Denny Hamlin didn’t seem that good in 2016 but somehow he set career high in many statistics. Because of his success level I think he’ll be trending slightly down in 2017. Last year he had a career high 22 top tens, tied a career high 27 top fifteens, had career high 31 top twenties and a career high 11.8 average finish.

Kurt Busch – In the first half of 2016 Kurt Busch was a prolific top ten machine, in the second half of the season he never had back to back top tens. In 2017 I think we’ll see a mix between the two. Performance wise for the season I think we’ll likely see him trending down slightly.