S
stridsberry
Guest
The top three spots in the ratings have gone unchanged this week, as Dale Jr., regardless of what anybody says, is almost certainly the hottest driver on the circuit. Among those recovering from slow starts are Bill Elliott, Terry Labonte, and Jamie McMurray; potentially on the way down the pecking order are Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd, and Ryan Newman.
1. (1) DALE EARNHARDT JR. 165.8
Maybe Junior should change the engine before every race. (And I do mean JUNIOR changing the engine.) He seems to run best when he has to come from the rear.
2. (2) MATT KENSETH 151.4
I don’t begrudge his crew one bad pit stop, since they have so many good ones. It’s just a shame that it had to happen so late in the race.
3. (3) JEFF GORDON 143.3
Something you don’t usually see: Gordon having a bad car the race after winning.
4. (5) KURT BUSCH 128.3
He got to the front at the right time, and snapped the different winners streak. It kind of figures, because he was the last driver to win before the streak started.
5. (6) BOBBY LABONTE 124.5
Consecutive 2nd-place finishes have him right back up into the top-10 in points. Now he’s got to try and stay there again.
6. (4) JIMMIE JOHNSON 118.6
That’s now three times this year that Jimmie has crashed within 1.5 laps of the finish. And don’t get me started on him wanting Ricky to GIVE him the spot.
7. (10) STERLING MARLIN 112.7
Last this year was when Sterling started to fade slightly. This year, it has marked a “coming alive.”
8. (9) RICKY CRAVEN 111.9
He still had a shot at the top-10, even after spinning, but an incident with Kenseth bent up the front end and sent back to 15th – which was still good, points-wise.
9. (12) MICHAEL WALTRIP 111.5
Just when you think he’s on his way out of the top-10, he comes up with a strong run to solidify his place there.
10. (8) ELLIOTT SADLER 110.3
He qualified great, but went backwards almost from the drop of the green flag. He was fortunate to maintain his point position.
11. (7) KEVIN HARVICK 109.5
The car seemed to be handling good the 2nd half of the race – just not good enough to make up two laps.
12. (14) RUSTY WALLACE 106.1
He’s getting closer. And I personally think that he’ll be in Victory Lane at one of the Richmond races this year. That’s my prediction, and I’m sticking to it.
13. (11) TONY STEWART 100.5
A blown engine is a setback no matter who you are. At least he’s going to Richmond – even though his make’s race isn’t until September, this year.
14. (21) TERRY LABONTE 100
Four straight top-16 finishes have him into the top-20 in points. Now to see if he can stay there this year.
15. (25) BILL ELLIOTT 98.1
It’s too bad for Bill that quarterly grades are done after nine races, and not ten – I’d say his stock is a good deal higher now.
16. (17) MARK MARTIN 96.1
A classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time – even if it was by only about six inches, it ended up being about 38 points.
17. (16) JEFF BURTON 94.3
A flat tire caused a great start to unravel, and end up off the lead lap, and then barely holding on the top-20. And he still gained three spots in points!
18. (13) RYAN NEWMAN 92.5
He hasn’t finished a race since winning at Texas. At least he shouldn’t have to worry about being charged provisionals.
19. (19) ROBBY GORDON 92
Nothing really special here. He spun once, which is about par for the course, and finished one lap down.
20. (20) GREG BIFFLE 90.9
Another decent run keeps him as the highest rookie in points – barely.
21. (26) JAMIE McMURRAY 89.6
He had the car to beat on long runs. So they go and close the race with a 13 lap short run! 5th is still nothing to sneeze at, though.
22. (24) WARD BURTON 89.4
He lost two spots in the point standings…yet gained two spots in my ratings. Go figure.
23. (15) DALE JARRETT 88.32
You know things have gotten bad when DJ wrecks the car ALL BY HIMSELF. Is there a crew chief in the house?
24. (23) KENNY WALLACE 88.27
A typical Kenny Wallace day – a consistent drive, missed all the wrecks, and finished in the middle of the field.
25. (22) JOE NEMECHEK 88.2
He’s still in the top-20 in points. Unfortunately, he’s now the lowest ranked Hendrick driver.
26. (18) RICKY RUDD 88
Considering that he was one of the first drivers to go a lap down, 24th place isn’t all that bad.
27. (28) DAVE BLANEY 86.9
Finally showed some signs of life – and a willingness to gamble, too, if it had come down to that.
28. (32) JOHN ANDRETTI 84.7
It’s about time that a PE car ran good – he was in the top-10 most of the day, and it was John’s best finish since Bristol in March 2001.
29. (29) JEFF GREEN 81.3
Yet another decidedly unspectacular day for (currently) the lowest Chevrolet driver with a primary sponsor. (Raines doesn’t count.)
30. (27) JIMMY SPENCER 77.3
Boy, was that a bad adjustment on that pit stop! And it didn’t get any better from there.
T31. (31) STEVE PARK 74
Not good for Steve. Not good at all. And he’s had 42 races to put an end to that kind of stuff – or 10.5 times as many as Craven did.
T31. (34) JERRY NADEAU 74
In most races, spinning out twice will put you around 30th. But I guess the Luck Gods decided to cut Jerry a little slack this time.
33. (30) JOHNNY BENSON 69.8
Now I’m frrrreeeeeeeeeeee…free-fallin’…free fallin’, now I’m free fallin’…
34. (33) KEN SCHRADER 68.4
Than goodness for Kenny that they’re going to another short track – that gives a low-buck team the best chance of contending.
35. (37) TODD BODINE 65
I didn’t see him on TV or hear him talked about once all race. Which means that he stayed out of the many spins and crashes.
36. (36) KYLE PETTY 63.8
Not too bad an effort, considering how the season started at the fast (read: unrestricted) tracks. He’s still got time to turn it around.
37. (35) JEREMY MAYFIELD 62.5
When your teammate is running strong and finishing 4th…and you’re uncompetitive before crashing…it doesn’t do your job security a whole lot of good.
38. (40) MIKE SKINNER 57
A somewhat bright spot to the season: Mike now has three top-20 finishes in 10 races, after posting a whopping five in 36 races last year.
39. (38) CASEY MEARS 56.2
He was the last finisher among those who did not crash or blow up. Good thing he’s a rookie – he’s got a better chance of getting away with that.
40. (41) TONY RAINES 53.5
The team got a one-race sponsorship. Darned if they didn’t have to run out of gas and lose a chance at a season’s-best finish.
41. (39) “ONE-WHACK JACK” 53.3
Jack has done nothing to shed that lovely nickname that Mike Joy christened him with at Rockingham. Contrarily, he’s making it stick.
42. (42) LARRY FOYT 32.1
They painted the car purple this time, evidently hoping that would be a sufficient disguise to avoid being hit. It didn’t work.
43. (43) DERRIKE COPE 18
Wouldn’t it be nice if Friendly’s could provide enough funds for an engine that lasted more than nine laps!
1. (1) DALE EARNHARDT JR. 165.8
Maybe Junior should change the engine before every race. (And I do mean JUNIOR changing the engine.) He seems to run best when he has to come from the rear.
2. (2) MATT KENSETH 151.4
I don’t begrudge his crew one bad pit stop, since they have so many good ones. It’s just a shame that it had to happen so late in the race.
3. (3) JEFF GORDON 143.3
Something you don’t usually see: Gordon having a bad car the race after winning.
4. (5) KURT BUSCH 128.3
He got to the front at the right time, and snapped the different winners streak. It kind of figures, because he was the last driver to win before the streak started.
5. (6) BOBBY LABONTE 124.5
Consecutive 2nd-place finishes have him right back up into the top-10 in points. Now he’s got to try and stay there again.
6. (4) JIMMIE JOHNSON 118.6
That’s now three times this year that Jimmie has crashed within 1.5 laps of the finish. And don’t get me started on him wanting Ricky to GIVE him the spot.
7. (10) STERLING MARLIN 112.7
Last this year was when Sterling started to fade slightly. This year, it has marked a “coming alive.”
8. (9) RICKY CRAVEN 111.9
He still had a shot at the top-10, even after spinning, but an incident with Kenseth bent up the front end and sent back to 15th – which was still good, points-wise.
9. (12) MICHAEL WALTRIP 111.5
Just when you think he’s on his way out of the top-10, he comes up with a strong run to solidify his place there.
10. (8) ELLIOTT SADLER 110.3
He qualified great, but went backwards almost from the drop of the green flag. He was fortunate to maintain his point position.
11. (7) KEVIN HARVICK 109.5
The car seemed to be handling good the 2nd half of the race – just not good enough to make up two laps.
12. (14) RUSTY WALLACE 106.1
He’s getting closer. And I personally think that he’ll be in Victory Lane at one of the Richmond races this year. That’s my prediction, and I’m sticking to it.
13. (11) TONY STEWART 100.5
A blown engine is a setback no matter who you are. At least he’s going to Richmond – even though his make’s race isn’t until September, this year.
14. (21) TERRY LABONTE 100
Four straight top-16 finishes have him into the top-20 in points. Now to see if he can stay there this year.
15. (25) BILL ELLIOTT 98.1
It’s too bad for Bill that quarterly grades are done after nine races, and not ten – I’d say his stock is a good deal higher now.
16. (17) MARK MARTIN 96.1
A classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time – even if it was by only about six inches, it ended up being about 38 points.
17. (16) JEFF BURTON 94.3
A flat tire caused a great start to unravel, and end up off the lead lap, and then barely holding on the top-20. And he still gained three spots in points!
18. (13) RYAN NEWMAN 92.5
He hasn’t finished a race since winning at Texas. At least he shouldn’t have to worry about being charged provisionals.
19. (19) ROBBY GORDON 92
Nothing really special here. He spun once, which is about par for the course, and finished one lap down.
20. (20) GREG BIFFLE 90.9
Another decent run keeps him as the highest rookie in points – barely.
21. (26) JAMIE McMURRAY 89.6
He had the car to beat on long runs. So they go and close the race with a 13 lap short run! 5th is still nothing to sneeze at, though.
22. (24) WARD BURTON 89.4
He lost two spots in the point standings…yet gained two spots in my ratings. Go figure.
23. (15) DALE JARRETT 88.32
You know things have gotten bad when DJ wrecks the car ALL BY HIMSELF. Is there a crew chief in the house?
24. (23) KENNY WALLACE 88.27
A typical Kenny Wallace day – a consistent drive, missed all the wrecks, and finished in the middle of the field.
25. (22) JOE NEMECHEK 88.2
He’s still in the top-20 in points. Unfortunately, he’s now the lowest ranked Hendrick driver.
26. (18) RICKY RUDD 88
Considering that he was one of the first drivers to go a lap down, 24th place isn’t all that bad.
27. (28) DAVE BLANEY 86.9
Finally showed some signs of life – and a willingness to gamble, too, if it had come down to that.
28. (32) JOHN ANDRETTI 84.7
It’s about time that a PE car ran good – he was in the top-10 most of the day, and it was John’s best finish since Bristol in March 2001.
29. (29) JEFF GREEN 81.3
Yet another decidedly unspectacular day for (currently) the lowest Chevrolet driver with a primary sponsor. (Raines doesn’t count.)
30. (27) JIMMY SPENCER 77.3
Boy, was that a bad adjustment on that pit stop! And it didn’t get any better from there.
T31. (31) STEVE PARK 74
Not good for Steve. Not good at all. And he’s had 42 races to put an end to that kind of stuff – or 10.5 times as many as Craven did.
T31. (34) JERRY NADEAU 74
In most races, spinning out twice will put you around 30th. But I guess the Luck Gods decided to cut Jerry a little slack this time.
33. (30) JOHNNY BENSON 69.8
Now I’m frrrreeeeeeeeeeee…free-fallin’…free fallin’, now I’m free fallin’…
34. (33) KEN SCHRADER 68.4
Than goodness for Kenny that they’re going to another short track – that gives a low-buck team the best chance of contending.
35. (37) TODD BODINE 65
I didn’t see him on TV or hear him talked about once all race. Which means that he stayed out of the many spins and crashes.
36. (36) KYLE PETTY 63.8
Not too bad an effort, considering how the season started at the fast (read: unrestricted) tracks. He’s still got time to turn it around.
37. (35) JEREMY MAYFIELD 62.5
When your teammate is running strong and finishing 4th…and you’re uncompetitive before crashing…it doesn’t do your job security a whole lot of good.
38. (40) MIKE SKINNER 57
A somewhat bright spot to the season: Mike now has three top-20 finishes in 10 races, after posting a whopping five in 36 races last year.
39. (38) CASEY MEARS 56.2
He was the last finisher among those who did not crash or blow up. Good thing he’s a rookie – he’s got a better chance of getting away with that.
40. (41) TONY RAINES 53.5
The team got a one-race sponsorship. Darned if they didn’t have to run out of gas and lose a chance at a season’s-best finish.
41. (39) “ONE-WHACK JACK” 53.3
Jack has done nothing to shed that lovely nickname that Mike Joy christened him with at Rockingham. Contrarily, he’s making it stick.
42. (42) LARRY FOYT 32.1
They painted the car purple this time, evidently hoping that would be a sufficient disguise to avoid being hit. It didn’t work.
43. (43) DERRIKE COPE 18
Wouldn’t it be nice if Friendly’s could provide enough funds for an engine that lasted more than nine laps!
But I would have liked It better If It were backwards!!