The Frontstretch: Frontstretch Sprint Cup Power Rankings : Top 15 Free Agents For 2009 by Mike Neff -- Wednesday July 23, 2008

Jeremy’s not in the Top 15?! His record has to be better than probably 13 of those other drivers, not to mention how fan friendly he is, plus the wonderful commercials he’s done for sponsors in the past! Then again, I don’t recognize anyones’ name that did the voting, so I shouldn’t let their opinions bother me… :)

Well, you got one and two right but it gets silly after that. Jeremy Mayfield and Casey Mears are 3 and 4 easily. Mayfield’s accomplishments would rank second on that list behind Newman. Mayfield has as many career wins as 3 through 15 combined and that’s with Schrader’s 4 that happened 17+ years ago.

Heck, take Newman out and Mafield has more wins and chase appearances in the last 10 years than the other 39 drivers listed combined.

What was said about Mayfield above is mostly pretty accurate. However, he’s been a bit of a problem child for the organizations for which he’s driven. I’m betting that’s the reason why he isn’t higher on the list. He doesn’t play well with others, and people don’t like working with him.

I like Casey Mears…I think everyone does…but as far as success goes in Cup, he really hasn’t done much except make mediocre equipment mediocre, and make great equipment mediocre. I don’t know if he just hasn’t had the stability, or right people around him, or whatever…but the results aren’t spectactular.

I’m not sold on Blaney to the extent that the voters are, but beyond that I don’t have much issue with the order.

Truex isn’t a free agent, but even if he was he shouldn’t be higher on the list than Mayfield. Jeremy should be in the top 2 of that list based on his accomplishments, his fan friendly attitude and his work ethic.

I think Jeremy should be up there as well. He has proven that he knows how to get the job done. When you put him with the right people and equipment that is up to par, he can drive the wheels off that car.

Steve wrote: “Heck, take Newman out and Mafield has more wins and chase appearances in the last 10 years than the other 39 drivers listed combined.” Not true. Ward Burton has 4 wins in the last ten years, Benson has one, Truex one, Mears one, Steve Park has two and Ricky Craven has two. That’s 11 (unless I missed one somewhere). Mayfield has 4 in the last ten years (one of his wins was in April 1998) driving for Penske and Enernham in top notch equipment. Yeah, he’s a good driver, but if you’re going to shoot your mouth off like Mayfield did, you better be Kyle Busch good.

OK, you’re right but let’s take into account that Ward Burton and Craven have retired and aren’t looking for full-time rides and Park is a long way from being recovered enough to run in Cup. Skinner is 15th on the list and he has said many times that he is happy in the Truck series and doesn’t want a full-time cup ride. Ruetimann is not a free agent. The list is a joke. Do you really think Kenny Wallace, Mike Skinner or Boris Said have a better chance at landing a quality ride than Casey Mears? The top four should be Newman, Truex (whose FA status is ?), Mayfield and Mears and it’s not even close.

I agree that Mayfield is a talented driver. The fact that he’s 16th on the list probably has to do with his dustup with Evernham and is not a reflection of his talent, although his 18 DNQ’s last year in the Bill Davis #36 car didn’t help his case. I can see that you’re a fan of his and I respect that. My point is that you can’t burn any bridges in NASCAR, it’s a very small community.

*I’m not a big fan of Mayfield. He should think about ARCA. *I’m surpised that Matt Crafton did not place on the list. As much as like Tony Raines, I would put Crafton on the list before Raines. *What about Donny Lia from New York, his Mansfield win was pretty impressive.