....), its' time to begin a new season, and thus, after tons of research, guesswork, shots at the dartboard(and at the Idiots bar.... 
..........), here are the first set of driver rankings for the 2007 IRL IndyCar Series season.Q: How did I come up with the rankings?
A: By drinking copious amounts of iced tea whilst working on this......
.....and by the following.....taking into account the following factors(listed below).........~~2006 Points standings
~~Wins and Poles
~~Laps completed
~~Laps Led
~~Overall Finishes
~~2006 Earnings
~~any and all driver/team changes
~~Top-10 finishes
~~2006 Driver Rankings
Thus, the driver rankings.....................
Sam Hornish, Jr., Team Penske(4 wins, 4 poles, led 655 laps in 2006). In last year's initial rankings, I noted that for Hornish to win his third series championship, he would have to improve his road course efforts, and slay the collective demons that the Brickyard's thrown at him......in both cases, mission accomplished. In what was one of the most competitive seasons in the modern era of NA motorsports, the Defiance, Ohio native rose to the fore and gave team owner Roger Penske his 14th open-wheel title. Even though rumors persist that this could well be Hornish's last open-wheel season(he has expresses interest in NASCAR...... 
), he is the early favorite to win the series championship. 
Dan Wheldon, Target/Ganassi Racing(2 wins, 2 poles, led 761 laps in 2006). Oh, for want of a point. After winning the 2005 series championship for Andretti-Green Racing, the man Speed's Robin Miller called "the cheeky little b------" moved to Target/Ganassi Racing and nearly won a second straight title, losing on a tiebreaker. Judging by his performance in 2006, expect a solid 2007 campaign. 
Helio Castroneves, Team Penske(4 wins, 5 poles, finished 3rd in points in 2006). If Michael Andretti is the answer to the question, "Who's the best driver in the modern-era never to have won the Indy 500?", Spiderman's the answer to the question, "Who's the best IndyCar Series driver never to have won a series title?" In all seriousness, though, Castroneves did everything possible in 2006....and came up just short. With wins at St. Pete, Motegi, Texas and Michigan, he showed just how dominating a driver he can be; question is, can he repeat and possibly win a series title in 2007?4th} Scott Dixon, Target/Ganassi Racing(2 wins, 2 poles, completed 2504 of 2510 laps in 2006). One of the most consistant drivers in the series, Dixon set a near-perfect record for laps completed in 2006(99.761%; by comparison, the previous record-holder in the modern-era, Rick mears, completed 99.57% of the laps in the 1979 CART season). While the Kiwi is a solid contender for the series championship, with the addition of Mid-Ohio and Belle Isle to the schedule, Dixon, who's dominated at Watkins Glen the past 2 yrs., could have an inside path to the title.
5th} Tony Kanaan, Andretti-Green Racing(1 win; led 148 laps in 2006). In 2006, Marlboro-Team Penske and Target/Ganassi Racing won 12 of 14 races; Andretti-Green Racing won the remaining two. Kanaan's win at the Milwaukee Mile ended, for a brief moment, the twin juggernauts' streak. If preseason testing was any indication, expect AGR's lead driver to make his way to the front of the pack in 2007, showing that 2006 was but a mere drop and that the "red cars" dominance was but a temporary occurance.
6th} Vitor Meira, Aguri-Panther Racing(led 83 laps, finished 5th in points). 2006 proved to be an interesting year for the Brazilian. True, he didn't win a race(...who didn't? .......) but he finished the season higher in the points than any other driver outside of positions 1-4. With solid performances at the Glen(challenging Dixon late for the win), Richmond, Michigan and Infineon, he exceeded everyone's expectations. Those expectations are higher, with the additions of Aguri Suzuki as team co-owner and a teammate in Kosuke Matsuura. If any of the first five should falter Meira could very well contend for a title.
7th} Marco Andretti, Andretti-Green Racing(1 win, 2006 rookie of the year). When AGR announced that little 'ole Marco was going to race for them in 2006, a lot of us(myself included.....
) were very skeptical; two broken half-shafts didn't help him. But for about 200 or so feet, Marco would've broken the Andretti Curse at the Brickyard, and from that point on he began to show why he is indeed a rising talent on the AOWR scene, finally breaking through and winning on the challenging road course at Infineon(...even if Bryan Herta helped him with a late caution..... 
). He might still be young, but make no mistake....given the right circumstances, he could be a title contender. 8th} Dario Franchitti, Andretti-Green Racing(8th in points in 2006, runner-up at Infineon in 2006). One of the series' elder statesman, Franchitti came off a so-so 2006 campaign(three top-5 finishes), ended prematurely by a concussion prior to the 2006 season finale. But Nashville, Tennessee's "adopted son" still has the talents to challenge for wins in 2007, even with the dual pressures of having both a rising young talent and a new teammate to deal with. And speaking of new teammates.........
9th} Danica Patrick, Andretti-Green Racing(9th in points in 2006, 2 top-5 finishes in 2006). Although there wasn't much for her to celebrate in 2006, there were a few........8 top-10 finishes(including 2nd 4th's, Milwaukee and Nashville) and completing 2299 out of 2510 laps in competition. Like 2006, Patrick could, given the circumstances, surprise a lot of people this year......the difference, though, is that she now runs with one of the series' three top teams, a confidence booster that could very well propel her into victory lane this year.
10th} Scott Sharp, Rahal-Letterman Racing(12th in point, 8 top-10 finishes). Like Patrick, 2006 was admittedly not a good season for Scott Sharp. After struggling with then-Aguri/Fernandez Racing, Sharp moves to a team looking to reestablish themselves in the series. As with the past few drivers, if any of the front-runners should falter, he could challenge for series honors.
Best of the rest...............unlike last year, when the talent pool was wide at the top but pretty shallow, this year there are a couple of drivers who could very well surprise(and give the people listed above some headaches over the course of the year......
). Those drivers are....~~Tomas Scheckter, Vision Racing
~~Buddy Rice, Dreyer & Reinbold
~~Sarah Fisher, Dreyer & Reinbold
~~Jeff Simmons, Rahal-Letterman Racing
