The top four drivers remain unchanged, but there's a new face at No. 5 on our list of the most-followed NASCAR drivers.
With the new partnership between NASCAR and Twitter underway as of last weekend's Pocono race, it seemed like a good time to bring back the NASCAR Twitter Rankings.
Since the last Twitter rankings list in August, the top four drivers haven't changed. Danica Patrick still leads the way with more than 600,000 followers (she's picked up 200,000 since the last time), which has helped maintain a decent margin over Juan Pablo Montoya.
All four of the top drivers on the list had a significant fan base before they entered NASCAR. Thanks to his famous Daytona 500 tweet, Brad Keselowski is now the No. 1 NASCAR-only driver on the list (in fifth). In August, Keselowski was 19th.
To avoid confusion, this list is now drivers only. To be eligible, a driver must have entered at least one NASCAR-sanctioned event in 2012.
Here are the 35 most-followed NASCAR drivers as of June 11 (with a sample tweet included):
1. Danica Patrick: 603,200
Went to the farmers market and bought goat meat......any suggestions?
— Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick) May 16, 2012
2. Juan Pablo Montoya: 555,230
can't wait to go home after a tough and long day in the office. I hate just riding.
— Juan Pablo Montoya (@jpmontoya) June 3, 2012
3. Travis Pastrana: 407,942
Tomorrow night at 8PM I’m having a fan dinner at @ProhibitionCLT in Charlotte! First 100 fans get in the door & a free dinner!
— Travis Pastrana (@TravisPastrana) May 23, 2012
4. Nelson Piquet Jr.: 304,618
Lots of awesome fans here for the tweet up - thanks @bigdalsky you rock! #NASCAR #Fansfirst
— Nelson Piquet Jr. (@NelsonPiquet) June 10, 2012
5. Brad Keselowski: 267,181
I like to think of twitter as a conversation, not a request hotline or advertising tool. The best feeds don't require sorting thru gimmicks.
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) June 12, 2012
6. Jimmie Johnson: 240,668
Thanks for the great fireworks show @poconoraceway. Can you now please come and put my daughter back to sleep.
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) June 10, 2012
7. Kevin Harvick: 221,382
5 days at 1 track = too many..0 =number of things that went right for us...1/2 the field speeding in same zone=problem
— Kevin Harvick (@KevinHarvick) June 10, 2012
8. Jeff Gordon: 215,671
I'm embarrassed we finished 19th with a car that good! Whenever we catch a break and put ourselves in position we'll b in victory circle.
— Jeff Gordon (@JeffGordonWeb) June 10, 2012
9. Kasey Kahne: 188,663
What an awesome night. Can't ask for anything more then that. Thanks to everyone involved. HMS is the best! And so r the fans
— Kasey Kahne (@kaseykahne) May 28, 2012
10. Kyle Busch: 187,853
I hate to c @DickBerggren retire. He is 1 of few that I've always enjoyed 2 talk 2 and listen 2 w grt stories! Hope he visits us still
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) June 2, 2012
11. Michael Waltrip: 162,943
100,000 awesome @nascar fans showed up today to watch a great race in pocono, PA. That's more than anywhere in America. Maybe world. Ty
— Michael Waltrip (@mw55) June 10, 2012
12. Denny Hamlin: 150,062
I need to buy a chick fila franchise and open on sundays.
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) June 5, 2012
13. Trevor Bayne: 127,303
The days that feel the most difficult to spend time with God, are the days that will be our most difficult if we don't! #stopandpray
— Trevor Bayne (@Tbayne21) June 6, 2012
14. Kenny Wallace: 105,772
I am doing something right now that made me Popular on twitter,It's called "Talking to my Fans" Because I like to make people Happy:)
— Kenny Wallace (@Kenny_Wallace) June 9, 2012
15. Elliott Sadler: 100,897
Busy day... Butt kicked in gym, chiropractor, batting cage,hair cut, DX puts undefeated record on line tonight.... #Holla
— Elliott Sadler (@Elliott_Sadler) June 5, 2012
16. Matt Kenseth: 100,473
Man @55MarkMartin you sure were in a hurry! We're you afraid of missing your afternoon nap? Btw are you running pocono? #stilltheman
— Matt Kenseth (@mattkenseth) June 2, 2012
17. Ryan Newman: 100,361
On our way out to the #PitCrewChallenge.With @NewmanKrissie behind the wheel how can the #39 team lose!
— Ryan Newman (@RyanNewman39) May 17, 2012
18. Jamie McMurray: 97,670
I think @poconoracway did a great job on the repave. It took millions of dollars in asphalt but I finally like the place.
— jamie mcmurray (@jamiemcmurray) April 26, 2012
19. Martin Truex Jr.: 83,839
Holy crap people relax.All i said was the 24 hit me when i went spinning down the track i had no control.Never said it was anyones fault
— Martin Truex Jr. (@MartinTruexJr56) May 6, 2012
20. Mark Martin: 79,423
I killed those weights this morning but then the elliptical KILLED me lol. I hate that thing. Tell me about ur W/O plan for today.
— Mark Martin (@55MarkMartin) June 11, 2012
21. Joey Logano: 79,165
So this still feels like a dream especially because vanilla ice was in victory lane with us haha
— Joey Logano (@joeylogano) June 10, 2012
22. Greg Biffle: 77,937
Feel bad for @Elliott_Sadler that sucks to get wrecked leading
— Greg Biffle (@gbiffle) May 12, 2012
23. Bobby Labonte: 63,890
Thanks to fans for voting for me tonite for all star race. Our team really appreciated that. We learned for next week. Thanks again.
— Bobby Labonte (@Bobby_Labonte) May 20, 2012
24. AJ Allmendinger: 62,943
Never really thought the year could go this bad. Worst nightmare come true. I wont give up tho. Wont go down without a fight
— AJ Allmendinger (@AJDinger) June 10, 2012
25. Brian Vickers: 57,930
Thanks for the messages. It would have been fun to run Pocono in the 51 w/ Finch, but Im in Europe for LeMans including mandatory tech days
— Brian Vickers (@BrianLVickers) June 5, 2012
26. Jeff Burton: 54,465
Thanks for all of the nice support through a tough time. For the few that send ugly messages,I really don't care what u think!
— Jeff Burton (@RCR31JeffBurton) May 28, 2012
27. Robby Gordon: 49,832
Sonoma I will be back RT @mariolejandro: @RobbyGordon When will you return to @NASCAR ?
— Robby Gordon (@RobbyGordon) May 21, 2012
28. Austin Dillon: 46,857
Congrats @Rchildress3 tonight on the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. You are the man PopPop
— Austin Dillon (@austindillon3) May 4, 2012
29. David Ragan: 43,529
If anyone is a John Wayne fan one of his best movies is on. Rio Bravo. Sorry to make @JacquelynButler sit through it. #classic
— David Ragan (@DavidRagan) June 2, 2012
30. Regan Smith: 41,835
Came to see a movie with Meg and we both got carded… first time that’s happened to me in a long time #mustbeher
— Regan Smith (@Regan_Smith_) June 9, 2012
31. Hermie Sadler: 40,807
Headed to the Lone Star State today for some truck racing at TMS.Site of my wonderful Sauter clip.God Bless America.
— Hermie Sadler (@HermieSadler) June 6, 2012
32. Scott Speed: 40,344
I almost pissed my pants when @walr2772 accidentally sent me this text!!!lockerz.com/s/214406775
— Scott Speed (@scottspeed) June 4, 2012
33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: 39,831
Well heck that was a driver error today on my part. We will take this weekend off & go get um at Michigan #justpartofthegame #ranoutoftalent
— Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (@StenhouseJr) June 2, 2012
34. Clint Bowyer: 39,588
The damn dog woke me up bout an hour ago and can't go back to sleep...SHIT!!! This I @55MarkMartin kinda time!
— Clint Bowyer (@ClintBowyer) June 11, 2012
35. Kurt Busch: 35,678
Great to see my bro @KyleBusch take the pole. Proud of you
— Kurt Busch (@KurtBusch) May 18, 2012
Other drivers with more than 20,000 followers:
Aric Almirola (30,510), Justin Allgaier (28,143), David Reutimann (26,348), Ron Hornaday (25,605), Michael McDowell (24,178), Landon Cassill (21,559).