On the Right Track
A NASCAR BLOG BY Jeff Gluck
December Twitter rankings
For a while now, the thought was that as soon as Danica Patrick entered NASCAR, she’d immediately take over the top spot in the NASCAR Twitter Rankings.
Not so fast, said Juan Pablo Montoya.
Montoya had an incredible rise over the last month, more than doubling his followers to 92,257 – a gain of well over 55,000 from November.
Asked how in the world he had gotten all the way up to 78,000 followers as of the banquet in Las Vegas, Montoya shook his head.
“No, it’s over 80,000 now,” he said, clearly well aware of the rise. “It’s been gaining 1,000 a day.”
Who would have thought? It helps that Montoya has followers from two languages (“He’s bi,” Michael Waltrip tweeted, then later added, “lingual”), but 55,000 in a month is still remarkable.
Here’s how the rest of the NASCAR world stacks up with Montoya and Patrick for the month of December, based on the number of followers for each account.
Drivers, team owners, spotters and selected crew members such as crew chiefs and engineers are eligible for the Top 35 list. Public relations representatives, drivers’ wives/girlfriends and media members are not.
A side note: Drivers who have accounts but have someone else tweet for them were not included (Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sam Hornish Jr., Robby Gordon).
As of Dec. 9, here are the current NASCAR Twitter rankings:
1. Juan Pablo Montoya (Jpmontoya): 92,257 – Unthinkable rise in followers, more than 55,000 in a single month.
2. Danica Patrick (DanicaPatrick): 59,192 – Crossover appeal for NASCAR’s newest driver puts her at No. 2
3. Kevin Harvick (Kevinharvick): 20,974 – Still holding off Twitter-savvy Michael Waltrip – barely
4. Michael Waltrip (Mw55): 20,617 – So close, but team owner/part-time driver can’t quite catch Harvick
5. Kenny Wallace (Kenny_Wallace): 16,589 – One quirk: “Kenny Wallace” puts people’s names in quotes, even relatives.
6. Elliott Sadler (Elliott_sadler): 14,517 – Is there such thing as TWH (Tweeting While Hunting)?
7. Kasey Kahne (Kaseykahne): 14,033 – Doesn’t tweet all that often, but passed DeLana Harvick this month.
8. DeLana Harvick (DeLanaHarvick): 13,880 – Now a two-time championship team owner
9. Bobby Labonte (Bobby_labonte): 11,496 – Driver of the No. 71 wondered aloud what he should change his picture to instead of a No. 96 car; settled on a photo of himself in a cycling uniform
10. Denny Hamlin (Dennyhamlin): 8,975 – Hamlin jumps Max Papis and Ricky Carmichael to crack the top 10 – not bad for a guy who has still only been tweeting for two months
11. Ricky Carmichael (Rickycarmichael): 8,231 – Switching from @DeLanaHarvick’s team to a new Turner Motorsports won’t impact his popularity
12. Max Papis (Maxpapis): 7,309 – Papis kept followers informed of his travels to native Italy, where he wants to see NASCAR broadcasts aired
13. Brian Vickers (Brianvickers83): 5,768 – Made the top 12 in the Chase, but fell out of the top 12 in Twitter rankings thanks to Danica’s arrival
14. Joey Logano (jlogano): 5,559 – Rookie of the Year still hasn’t tweeted since August. He’s not very into it, he said recently
15. Steve Wallace (Stevewallace66): 3,508 – Was active for a while, but hasn’t been heard from on Twitter since Nov. 3
16. T.J. Majors (tjmajors): 2,757 – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is NASCAR’s most popular driver, and his guy Majors is the most popular spotter, according to the rankings
17. Brett Griffin (19spotter): 2,575 – Entertaining spotter for Sadler can’t quite catch Majors. May need his driver to help start a campaign for more followers
18. Michael McDowell (Mc_Driver): 2,513 – First driver in NASCAR history to attend a “tweet-up” (gathering with people from Twitter) – did so at Homestead, meeting with fans and signing autographs
19. Max Siegel (Max_siegel): 2,210 – Head of Revolution Racing (diversity program) has been promoting his upcoming book release
20. Kelly Bires (Kellybires): 2,297 – New teammate of Danica Patrick leapfrogged David Ragan this month and could rise even higher
21. David Ragan (david_ragan): 2,231 – Cracks 2,000 followers this month but hasn’t been particularly active
22. Mike Calinoff (MikeCalinoff): 2,186 – Matt Kenseth’s spotter and head of a marketing company nearly quadrupled his followers and gained a whopping seven positions on this list
23. Justin Allgaier (J_Allgaier12): 1,846 – Nationwide Rookie of the Year shot up two spots; wife @ashleyallgaier not eligible for this list but has nearly 1,000 followers herself
24. Brad Coleman (bradccoleman): 1,829 – Driver recently tweeted “I wish I was a Jonas brother”
25. Colin Braun (Colinbraun): 1,754 – Major gain for Braun, who almost doubled his followers in a month and moved up three spots.
26. Landon Cassill (Landoncassill): 1,555 – Hearty group of fans keeps Cassill’s name alive on Twitter
27. Aric Almirola (Aric_almirola): 1,321 – Recently announced his engagement via Twitter; also passed Joe Nemechek in the rankings this month
28. Joe Nemechek (FrontRowJoe87): 1,262 – Also active with Facebook
29. Marc Davis (Nascarmdavis): 873 – Recently ran in the Camping World Truck Series race at Homestead
30. Rocky Ryan (Rocky_Ryan): 705 – Jeff Burton’s spotter got his positions back from Regan Smith and Keith Rodden, who had passed him last month
31. Regan Smith (Regan_Smith_): 690 – Still low on the list for a Sprint Cup driver, but that could change soon
32. Keith Rodden (KMRodden): 607 – Engineer for Kahne’s team recently tweeted that he “played with the Ford today” in prep for offseason manufacturer switch
33. Chris Lambert (3widemiddle): 352 – Brian Vickers’ spotter isn’t shy with his opinions
34. Jeffrey Earnhardt (SlickEarnhardt): 340 – Doesn’t post often, but this member of the Earnhardt family is still gaining followers
35. T.J. Bell (Racingwithtj): 219 – Tweet-less account of Kyle Busch bumped from list eligibility, meaning truck series driver Bell remains in the top 35
Jeff Gluck
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Jeff Gluck has covered NASCAR since 2004. He has worked for NASCAR Scene as an associate editor since 2007.
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