S
stridsberry
Guest
As the ¾ mark of the season goes by, Ryan Newman has opened up a commanding lead in the ratings, setting a new high score in the process. Drivers making the biggest gains after NHIS II were Johnny Benson and Kurt Busch; taking the worst tumbles (besides Bobby Hamilton) were Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon.
1. (1) RYAN NEWMAN 141.5
It’s about time this man got a points-counting win. A major congratulation goes out to the entire Alltel team.
2. (3) TONY STEWART 133.7
Gets vengeance on the track from last July, and would have had a shot at winning if the thing had gone the distance.
3. (6) MARK MARTIN 130.9
The flat tire cost him a shot at a top-10 finish, but it didn’t prevent him from taking the points lead.
4. (4) JIMMIE JOHNSON 125.7
Why Jimmie Johnson is behind Ryan Newman in the ROTY race: While they have an equal amount of top 10s, Newman has 13 top-5’s, to Johnson’s five.
5. (2) JEFF GORDON 124.6
Besides the two wins, Gordon has just one other top-10 finish (6th at Indy) in the last nine races. This team still hasn’t fully returned to form yet.
6. (9) DALE JARRETT 116.5
Bounces back from another frustrating short-tracker to inch closer to the top-10 in points.
7. (5) BILL ELLIOTT 115.6
Bill has just one top-15 (that’s right, top-15) finish since the back-to-back wins. They’ve got to snap out of it quick to stay in the championship hunt.
8. (7) STERLING MARLIN 115.5
Some will say it’s about time that Sterling lost the points lead. Upon glancing at his 3rd-quarter statistics, I may be forced to agree.
9. (10) MATT KENSETH 112.9
An unspectacular race that still dug up a good result. And his teammate took the points lead, which helps make everything okay.
10. (11) RICKY RUDD 110.9
Apparently this year, there’s only room for one Yates car in the top-10 in points. And based on the last couple months, it may not be “Ricky’s”.
11. (8) RUSTY WALLACE 108.8
Rusty’s first-half consistency has disappeared. In the past eight races, he has just two top-10 finishes – both 2nd-place results.
12. (18) KURT BUSCH 107
“I just used up my one bump.” Who says you only get one bump per race? NASCAR doesn’t mind, so long as it isn’t on one their “marketing” drivers.
13. (13) DALE EARNHARDT JR. 105.3
(Insert your witty comment here, because I have writer’s block and can’t think of anything for Dale.)
14. (15) JEFF BURTON 103.7
Jeff’s body men must have complained to Jeff about how he was making them do actual work on Monday mornings.
15. (16) MICHAEL WALTRIP 102.3
This was Michael’s best finish since the win at Daytona. And any thoughts I had of him finishing in the top-10 in points have gone out the window.
16. (14) JEFF GREEN 101.2
Loudon sure wasn’t as kind to you this time around, wasn’t it?
17. (12) KEVIN HARVICK 101.1
What’s happened now? Have they chosen to revert to their early-season form again?
18. (17) ROBBY GORDON 99.1
Did Robby really run (almost) the entire race on the same left-side tires? That’s a sure sign that the tires are rock hard.
19. (20) RICKY CRAVEN 97.4
A very strong day culminated in Ricky’s first top-10 finish in over three months, and this despite a left-front tire going down over the final few laps.
20. (19) BOBBY LABONTE 96.9
Top-5 finish! Overall, it was a stupendous day for the Pontiacs.
21. (23) DAVE BLANEY 83.3
Ricky Craven apparently felt Dave cost him a shot at the top-5 by not letting the lead lap cars race it out for position. You decide if that’s a legitimate beef.
22. (22) WARD BURTON 82.8
That must have been a major slide, to screw up the car enough to finish 18 laps in arrears. And it’s not as if he can blame it on the track or wall.
23. (21) KYLE PETTY 81.1
Was it a racing deal? Did Rusty overdrive it? Did Kyle pinch him down? To that I say, WHO CARES? It’s over now, and you can’t change it.
24. (25) JEREMY MAYFIELD 79.8
Jeremy, you nearly beat out you teammate for a 2nd straight race. Do you think he minds?
25. (24) KEN SCHRADER 79.5
Lucky 13, for Kenny’s best result of the season! But you’re now in the only Pontiac to not score any manufacturers’ points this season.
26. (34) JOHNNY BENSON 77.6
And Johnny had a shot at winning, before getting his best finish of the season! A great day for the MBV/MB2 teams.
27. (27) JOHN ANDRETTI 76.3
I’d have to say you’re incident started almost exactly like Kyle’s but you were at least able to keep it off the wall and finish on the lead lap.
28. (28) JIMMY SPENCER 73.2
There are currently 6 drivers ahead of Jimmy in points who have fewer top-10 finishes. Boy, does it suck to miss two races.
29. (30) TODD BODINE 67.3
Quite the early exit, there. Then again, Travis is diverting attention from this team towards the 66 now, so maybe that’s it.
30. (31) ELLIOTT SADLER 64.7
Elliott, you haven’t finished better than 19th since the first time around at New Hampshire. So tell me, just how much are you looking forward to next year now?
31. (32) CASEY ATWOOD 63.9
Go back to the Busch series if you have to, Casey. You’ll be better off there than in that rusty jalopy of a Cup car.
32. (29) TERRY LABONTE 62.8
Terry hasn’t given me anything to write about as of late, which has made my job a lot harder. You’ve gotta help me out, man.
33. (26) BOBBY HAMILTON 59.9
I wonder if Bobby is now regretting his decision to leave Andy Petree, since Jerry Jones is now out of the picture, and there hasn’t been anything else opening up.
34. (33) STEVE PARK 58.7
The good runs are in there somewhere, but they’ve only been coming in flashes. Time to make them more consistent (and I don’t mean wrecks).
35. (35) MIKE SKINNER 52.9
Arrrgh! Such a promising weekend, up in smoke so early! That’s the way it’s been all year.
36. (36) BRETT BODINE 52.1
So much for any momentum from Richmond. It’s back to the same old thing.
37. (37) JERRY NADEAU 51.4
Hmmm…eight races since joining this team for good, and not a single top-20 finish. You know, maybe it wasn’t all Buckshot’s fault.
38. (38) JOE NEMECHEK 50.3
Joe may end up without a WC ride next year, if he can’t manage to pick up his performance. Then again, that’s hard to do on an “ugly stepson” team.
39. (40) MIKE WALLACE 46.4
Johnny’s pretty mad at you Wallace’s right now. I would advise you to not sit next to him at the driver’s meeting.
40. (NR) KENNY WALLACE 37.5
Welcome to the ratings, Kenny. I believe this is your season’s debut. And you should stay on here for a while.
1. (1) RYAN NEWMAN 141.5
It’s about time this man got a points-counting win. A major congratulation goes out to the entire Alltel team.
2. (3) TONY STEWART 133.7
Gets vengeance on the track from last July, and would have had a shot at winning if the thing had gone the distance.
3. (6) MARK MARTIN 130.9
The flat tire cost him a shot at a top-10 finish, but it didn’t prevent him from taking the points lead.
4. (4) JIMMIE JOHNSON 125.7
Why Jimmie Johnson is behind Ryan Newman in the ROTY race: While they have an equal amount of top 10s, Newman has 13 top-5’s, to Johnson’s five.
5. (2) JEFF GORDON 124.6
Besides the two wins, Gordon has just one other top-10 finish (6th at Indy) in the last nine races. This team still hasn’t fully returned to form yet.
6. (9) DALE JARRETT 116.5
Bounces back from another frustrating short-tracker to inch closer to the top-10 in points.
7. (5) BILL ELLIOTT 115.6
Bill has just one top-15 (that’s right, top-15) finish since the back-to-back wins. They’ve got to snap out of it quick to stay in the championship hunt.
8. (7) STERLING MARLIN 115.5
Some will say it’s about time that Sterling lost the points lead. Upon glancing at his 3rd-quarter statistics, I may be forced to agree.
9. (10) MATT KENSETH 112.9
An unspectacular race that still dug up a good result. And his teammate took the points lead, which helps make everything okay.
10. (11) RICKY RUDD 110.9
Apparently this year, there’s only room for one Yates car in the top-10 in points. And based on the last couple months, it may not be “Ricky’s”.
11. (8) RUSTY WALLACE 108.8
Rusty’s first-half consistency has disappeared. In the past eight races, he has just two top-10 finishes – both 2nd-place results.
12. (18) KURT BUSCH 107
“I just used up my one bump.” Who says you only get one bump per race? NASCAR doesn’t mind, so long as it isn’t on one their “marketing” drivers.
13. (13) DALE EARNHARDT JR. 105.3
(Insert your witty comment here, because I have writer’s block and can’t think of anything for Dale.)
14. (15) JEFF BURTON 103.7
Jeff’s body men must have complained to Jeff about how he was making them do actual work on Monday mornings.
15. (16) MICHAEL WALTRIP 102.3
This was Michael’s best finish since the win at Daytona. And any thoughts I had of him finishing in the top-10 in points have gone out the window.
16. (14) JEFF GREEN 101.2
Loudon sure wasn’t as kind to you this time around, wasn’t it?
17. (12) KEVIN HARVICK 101.1
What’s happened now? Have they chosen to revert to their early-season form again?
18. (17) ROBBY GORDON 99.1
Did Robby really run (almost) the entire race on the same left-side tires? That’s a sure sign that the tires are rock hard.
19. (20) RICKY CRAVEN 97.4
A very strong day culminated in Ricky’s first top-10 finish in over three months, and this despite a left-front tire going down over the final few laps.
20. (19) BOBBY LABONTE 96.9
Top-5 finish! Overall, it was a stupendous day for the Pontiacs.
21. (23) DAVE BLANEY 83.3
Ricky Craven apparently felt Dave cost him a shot at the top-5 by not letting the lead lap cars race it out for position. You decide if that’s a legitimate beef.
22. (22) WARD BURTON 82.8
That must have been a major slide, to screw up the car enough to finish 18 laps in arrears. And it’s not as if he can blame it on the track or wall.
23. (21) KYLE PETTY 81.1
Was it a racing deal? Did Rusty overdrive it? Did Kyle pinch him down? To that I say, WHO CARES? It’s over now, and you can’t change it.
24. (25) JEREMY MAYFIELD 79.8
Jeremy, you nearly beat out you teammate for a 2nd straight race. Do you think he minds?
25. (24) KEN SCHRADER 79.5
Lucky 13, for Kenny’s best result of the season! But you’re now in the only Pontiac to not score any manufacturers’ points this season.
26. (34) JOHNNY BENSON 77.6
And Johnny had a shot at winning, before getting his best finish of the season! A great day for the MBV/MB2 teams.
27. (27) JOHN ANDRETTI 76.3
I’d have to say you’re incident started almost exactly like Kyle’s but you were at least able to keep it off the wall and finish on the lead lap.
28. (28) JIMMY SPENCER 73.2
There are currently 6 drivers ahead of Jimmy in points who have fewer top-10 finishes. Boy, does it suck to miss two races.
29. (30) TODD BODINE 67.3
Quite the early exit, there. Then again, Travis is diverting attention from this team towards the 66 now, so maybe that’s it.
30. (31) ELLIOTT SADLER 64.7
Elliott, you haven’t finished better than 19th since the first time around at New Hampshire. So tell me, just how much are you looking forward to next year now?
31. (32) CASEY ATWOOD 63.9
Go back to the Busch series if you have to, Casey. You’ll be better off there than in that rusty jalopy of a Cup car.
32. (29) TERRY LABONTE 62.8
Terry hasn’t given me anything to write about as of late, which has made my job a lot harder. You’ve gotta help me out, man.
33. (26) BOBBY HAMILTON 59.9
I wonder if Bobby is now regretting his decision to leave Andy Petree, since Jerry Jones is now out of the picture, and there hasn’t been anything else opening up.
34. (33) STEVE PARK 58.7
The good runs are in there somewhere, but they’ve only been coming in flashes. Time to make them more consistent (and I don’t mean wrecks).
35. (35) MIKE SKINNER 52.9
Arrrgh! Such a promising weekend, up in smoke so early! That’s the way it’s been all year.
36. (36) BRETT BODINE 52.1
So much for any momentum from Richmond. It’s back to the same old thing.
37. (37) JERRY NADEAU 51.4
Hmmm…eight races since joining this team for good, and not a single top-20 finish. You know, maybe it wasn’t all Buckshot’s fault.
38. (38) JOE NEMECHEK 50.3
Joe may end up without a WC ride next year, if he can’t manage to pick up his performance. Then again, that’s hard to do on an “ugly stepson” team.
39. (40) MIKE WALLACE 46.4
Johnny’s pretty mad at you Wallace’s right now. I would advise you to not sit next to him at the driver’s meeting.
40. (NR) KENNY WALLACE 37.5
Welcome to the ratings, Kenny. I believe this is your season’s debut. And you should stay on here for a while.
