The NASCAR Twitter Rankings are back after a five-month break, and though not much has changed in the top few spots (aside from the addition of Travis Pastrana), there are some notable moves:
NASCAR Twitter Rankings: Danica Patrick Leads Summer 2011 Edition
• Danica Patrick is still American auto racing’s No. 1 Twitter personality. Though she’s not at Justin Bieber levels (11.7 million followers) yet, no other race car driver in the United States can challenge Danica’s Twitter following.
• Jeff Gordon made a big leap – up five spots – though he was still a somewhat new account in the previous rankings (March). The way he’s picking up followers, he may pass Kevin Harvick within the next six months.
• Kyle Busch now has more followers than his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin. The latter driver doesn’t tweet as often since being fined $50,000 by NASCAR for Twitter comments in July 2010.
• Jimmie Johnson had just started tweeting when the previous rankings were published and has now become one of NASCAR’s top Twitterers, along with Brad Keselowski. That’s propelled him to the No. 10 spot, and he’ll soon pass the JGR tandem of Busch and Hamlin.
• The post-Daytona 500 bubble burst for Trevor Bayne. After picking up 40,000 new followers in the month after his season-opening victory, he’s gained just 14,000 new followers in the five months since.
• Twitter pioneer DeLana Harvick remained the top non-driver on the list. She posted a significant pickup in followers (17,000) since the last rankings.
• Keselowski nearly doubled his follower count since the last rankings, thanks to his constant interaction with fans on Twitter.
• Matt Kenseth has gained 8,000 followers in two weeks since re-joining Twitter. He’ll be in the top 35 by the time the next ratings are unveiled.
** A quick refresher on how we come up with these rankings: Drivers/team owners/spotters/wives are ranked by the number of total Twitter followers. Those not eligible for the rankings include media, public relations representatives, sponsors and drivers who don’t tweet for themselves. **
The Summer 2011 NASCAR Twitter Rankings Top 35:
1 (1 in previous ranking). Danica Patrick (@danicapatrick): 402,940
2 (2). Juan Pablo Montoya (@jpmontoya): 369,763
3 (NR). Travis Pastrana (@travispastrana): 205,507
4 (3). Nelson Piquet Jr. (@nelsonpiquet): 175,075
5 (4). Kevin Harvick (@kevinharvick): 100,108
6 (11). Jeff Gordon (@jeffgordonweb): 81,485
7 (5). Kasey Kahne (@kaseykahne): 79,765
8 (8). Kyle Busch (@kylebusch): 76,594
9 (7). Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin): 72,172
10 (26). Jimmie Johnson (@jimmiejohnson): 70,197
11 (6). Michael Waltrip (@mw55): 68,954
12 (14). Ricky Carmichael (@rickycarmichael): 60,451
13 (9). Trevor Bayne (@tbayne21): 58,607
14 (13). DeLana Harvick (@delanaharvick): 57,685
15 (10). Elliott Sadler (@elliott_sadler): 54,167
16 (12). Kenny Wallace (@kenny_wallace): 52,103
17 (15). Bobby Labonte (@bobby_labonte): 34,219
18 (16). Martin Truex Jr. (@martintruexjr56): 34,183
19 (22). Brad Keselowski (@keselowski): 33,247
20 (18). Brian Vickers (@brianlvickers): 32,02521 (17). Scott Speed (@scottspeed): 28,093
22 (21). Greg Biffle (@gbiffle): 26,348
23 (24). Samantha Busch (@samantha_busch): 24,231
24 (19). Max Papis (@maxpapis): 23,331
25 (20). Robby Gordon (@robbygordon): 22,448
26 (28). Joey Logano (@jlogano): 22,271
27 (23). AJ Allmendinger (@ajdinger): 21,383
28 (25). Krissie Newman (@krissienewman): 19,067
29 (27). David Ragan (@david_ragan): 17,222
30 (NR). Richard Childress (@rchildress3): 16,171
31. (NR). Austin Dillon (@austindillon3): 14,373
32 (29). Justin Allgaier (@j_allgaier): 14,096
33 (42). Kurt Busch (@kurtbusch22): 12,739
34 (32). Aric Almirola (@aric_almirola): 12,631
35 (NR). Ingrid Vandebosch (@ivandebosch): 12,458
Honorable mention (other NASCAR-related accounts with more than 5,000 followers):
Regan Smith (12,406); Amanda Speed (10,749); Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (10,559); Michael McDowell (10,353); Steve Wallace (10,319); Connie Montoya (9,785); Ron Hornaday (9,717); T.J. Majors (9,645); David Reutimann (8,822); Landon Cassill (8,596); Matt Kenseth (8,551); Ryan Truex (8,285); Joe Nemechek (8,091); Jennifer Jo Cobb (8,033); Kelly Bires (7,751); Brett Griffin (7,245); Travis Kvapil (6,930); Brendan Gaughan (6,840); JJ Yeley (6,551); Brian Scott (6,222); Sherry Pollex (6,008); Ashley Allgaier (5,681); David Gilliland (5,677); Matt Crafton (5,227).
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