The top 10 NASCAR drivers of 2009

AUTOSPORT's Charles Bradley ranks the top 10 drivers from this year's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Charles Bradley Dec 3, 2009, 4:59 PM

1. Jimmie Johnson

Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet

Cup starts: 36
Poles: 5
Wins: 7
Championship position: 1st

Now has a very strong argument to be considered the best NASCAR driver of all time. When the Chase begins, he kicks into a higher gear than the opposition seem able to select. On this form, he appears unstoppable. Would you bet against a fifth straight title next year?

2. Mark Martin

Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet

Cup starts: 36
Poles: 7
Wins: 5
Championship position: 2nd

Most people take it easy when they get to 50, but this old-timer just gets better with age. Five wins and seven poles were simply staggering, and all the more praiseworthy when you consider it was his first year at Hendrick with its often-dysfunctional #5 car.

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Author Charles Bradley

Charles Bradley is Motorsport.com’s Global Editor in Chief. After spending five years in the aerospace industry in his native North Wales, while working weekends as a freelance writer at racetracks around the UK, Charles joined the staff of Motoring News in the heart of London. He transferred to the nascent Autosport.com team in 2000 before transitioning to the magazine, becoming its Editor between 2011 and 2014. Charles then upped sticks to work in America, as Motorsport.com’s Editor in Chief, where he created the multi-national and multi-lingual editorial team that quickly became the world’s most-read motorsport website. He was instrumental in delivering three of the biggest Global F1 Fan Surveys in sports history and is also a multiple award-winning scriptwriter. Charles is an overseas member of the Guild of Motoring Writers. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife Helen – and a cat that’s named after Serbia’s top football club.