S
stridsberry
Guest
In the final regular week of the ratings for the 2002 season (next up: Final Driver Grades), Kurt Busch gets his chance to shine, taking over the lead from Stewart. Drivers who made the charge to try and finish near the top included Dave Blaney and Matt Kenseth; those winding down the season on a sour note include the Ganassi Trio and Bill Elliott.
1. (3) KURT BUSCH 151.2
He’s now one of the select few to have moment in the sun on the ratings chart – and none too soon. While I agree that Kyle Petty has made a great comeback, Kurt gets my vote for Most Improved.
2. (1) TONY STEWART 147.8
He’s going to the best track possible (for him) to try and clinch a championship. Then again, with some the crazy things that have happened this season…
3. (2) RYAN NEWMAN 134.7
4th to 7th in points in one race. And he can just as easily make that all up in one race. Don’t you just love close points races?
4. (4) DALE EARNHARDT JR. 131
People talk about what a disappointing season Dale has had, but did you notice that he’s bettered his top-5 and top-10 totals from last year?
5. (8) DALE JARRETT 126.7
Dale’s 2nd-half charge marches on, and it looks like he’ll get bragging rights in the Yates camp also.
6. (7) MARK MARTIN 125.6
I’d love to see Mark win the championship, but it looks like the only way that will happen is for Tony to DNF early at Homestead – and maybe have the point penalty rescinded.
7. (11) MATT KENSETH 122
Matt’s the perfect case for changes to the point system. And while I believe that the circuit win-leader should be higher than 8th in points, I don’t believe that a driver with ten 30th-or-worse finishes should be a championship contender.
8. (5) JEFF GORDON 121
Why does Jeff drop three spots in the ratings after finishing 3rd, you ask? Simple – because his Kansas win is no longer triple-weighted.
9. (9) RUSTY WALLACE 119.2
If Rusty had been having a so-so season, he may not be as desperate for a win. But to finish 2nd four times…man, does that gnaw at you.
10. (12) JEFF BURTON 114.9
Jeff’s made a better late-season run than people have given him credit for, considering he was 16th in points at the midway point.
11. (10) JIMMIE JOHNSON 111.2
Both of these rookies have cooled off in these last few events – qualifying notwithstanding. Maybe this long stretch of racing is finally getting to them.
12. (6) MARLIN/McMURRAY/BLISS 110.9
Jamie’s luck sure didn’t travel with him to the desert, eh? And with that, this tandem fell 5 spots in the owner points.
13. (13) BOBBY LABONTE 105
He was having another solid run, poised to gain a spot or two in the points…and then the motor give up. At least there’s Homestead to look forward to.
14. (15) RICKY RUDD 103.4
I read that it may be a good thing if Ricky misses out the top-10 in points, bacuase “Can you imagine Ricky, Robert, and Fatback at the same table with knives?” Too funny!
15. (14) MICHAEL WALTRIP 101.3
Michael appears to have 14th in points pretty well sewn up, with a half-decent shot at catching (shows how far he’s fallen) Bill Elliott for 13th.
16. (18) JOHNNY BENSON 99.7
Johnny B. Good, Johnny be fast, Johnny want to flip car and spin it on grass. In the spur of the moment, it can be understood that they may have forgotten about tech inspection.
17. (22) DAVE BLANEY 92.9
I had thought that of the last two races, Homestead would be where Dave had the better run. But he sure spent a long time in the top-5 at Phoenix. Now if he could only finish there…
18. (16) JEFF GREEN 92.7
Jeff has almost clinched being the highest RCR driver in the final points, and I didn’t expect that. I (and most everyone) would have put money on Harvick for that.
19. (17) ROBBY GORDON 92.67
Robby must really not like Christmas, because he never gets any cards. Unfortunately, that’s his own darn fault.
20. (19) RICKY CRAVEN 90.1
That was, without a doubt, Ricky’s worst race weekend of the season. If not for Bobby’s troubles, he would have fallen out of the top-15 in points.
21. (21) WARD BURTON 89.3
Think Ward’s bunch is kicking themselves about the Martinsville springs? It’s (currently) costing them a share of the point fund.
22. (20) KEVIN HARVICK 86.3
A top-20 finish. Amazing. Only the third one since his summer bananza.
23. (25) STEVE PARK 85.3
Positive things to say about Steve’s season? Well, he’s ahead of three drivers in points who have run more races…
24. (27) JOHN ANDRETTI 81.1
In this amount of races last year, John had all of seven top-20s. This year, he has twelve. And you thought he hadn’t done squat.
25. (24) JEREMY MAYFIELD 78.7
I’m here to tell you that Jeremy actually has done a little better (to date) than Casey in the 19 – by 3.2 points per race, and one each of top-5s, top-10s, top-20s, and points positions, in fact. Of course, that’s only because I have nothing better to say about him.
26. (28) ELLIOTT SADLER 75.5
Bright spot #1 of Elliott’s final year with the Woods: he’s tripled his career high for top-10s in a season.
27. (26) KYLE PETTY 74.3
I had expected Kyle to do better in the 2nd half of the season than the first, but look at his average points per race. First half: 103.9; 2nd half: 91.8. That’s why he’s back here, pettyfan4life.
28. (23) BILL ELLIOTT 74.1
Want to know how far downhill Bill’s season has gone? It’s now mathematically impossible for him to finish in the top-10 in points. What a shame.
29. (32) MIKE SKINNER 67.3
With Casey’s demise, we’e now got a genuine race for “Lowest in points of those who have started every race. The current score: Schrader – 2872, Skinner – 2831.
30. (30) JIMMY SPENCER 64.1
I know Jimmy’s heart is in Winston Cup. Mine would be too. But I’m going to hop on the bandwagon that says he should run Busch full-time next year, and get to experience success more often.
31. (29) TERRY LABONTE 62.8
When the year was half-over, it looked like Terry was going to contend for the top-10 in points. But now it looks like he’ll finish right where he was last year – 23rd.
32. (33) KEN SCHRADER 60.6
Kenny’s only got one more shot to avoid going 0-for-top-10s in 2002. I’ll be pulling for you, Kenny, but I honestly don’t see it happening.
33. (36) KENNY WALLACE 59.7
Kenny finished exactly where he did last year at Phoenix. And BDR spent a lot less on all his right-front tires than DEI did.
34. (34) MIKE WALLACE 58.8
This is a first – a WC driver receiving a vote of confidence from AJ! However, I would only stay on if AJ makes good on his promise to pay more attention to his cup teams.
35. (31) JOE NEMECHEK 58.2
Now this is where we’ve come to expect the 25 to be – last among all the Hendrick cars. Are you absolutely positive you want to stay in this car, Joe?
36. (35) TODD BODINE 57.3
*No Comment. Is there ever when he doesn’t wreck anybody?*
37. (38) BOBBY HAMILTON/GREG BIFFLE 48.6
Bobby’s name has been through the Silly Season Blender several times this year, but nothing has materialized. He may have no choice but to return to the 55 – if he can.
38. (37) CASEY ATWOOD 45.4
Casey, you’ve got one last shot to prove that Mr. Evernham shouldn’t have farmed you out. And what better place than Homestead to get that shot?
39. (40) BRETT BODINE 42.9
Brett Bodine: If you’re slower than him in qualifying, than you better go get the transporter engine warmed up.
40. (39) JERRY NADEAU 41
Congrats on getting the new ride, Jerry! With the new Pontiac redesign, I expect at least a few top-5s out of you next season. But of course, you’ve always had a lot of bad luck…and we don’t know if the gremlins resided with Schrader or MB2 this past year…oh, forget it.
1. (3) KURT BUSCH 151.2
He’s now one of the select few to have moment in the sun on the ratings chart – and none too soon. While I agree that Kyle Petty has made a great comeback, Kurt gets my vote for Most Improved.
2. (1) TONY STEWART 147.8
He’s going to the best track possible (for him) to try and clinch a championship. Then again, with some the crazy things that have happened this season…
3. (2) RYAN NEWMAN 134.7
4th to 7th in points in one race. And he can just as easily make that all up in one race. Don’t you just love close points races?
4. (4) DALE EARNHARDT JR. 131
People talk about what a disappointing season Dale has had, but did you notice that he’s bettered his top-5 and top-10 totals from last year?
5. (8) DALE JARRETT 126.7
Dale’s 2nd-half charge marches on, and it looks like he’ll get bragging rights in the Yates camp also.
6. (7) MARK MARTIN 125.6
I’d love to see Mark win the championship, but it looks like the only way that will happen is for Tony to DNF early at Homestead – and maybe have the point penalty rescinded.
7. (11) MATT KENSETH 122
Matt’s the perfect case for changes to the point system. And while I believe that the circuit win-leader should be higher than 8th in points, I don’t believe that a driver with ten 30th-or-worse finishes should be a championship contender.
8. (5) JEFF GORDON 121
Why does Jeff drop three spots in the ratings after finishing 3rd, you ask? Simple – because his Kansas win is no longer triple-weighted.
9. (9) RUSTY WALLACE 119.2
If Rusty had been having a so-so season, he may not be as desperate for a win. But to finish 2nd four times…man, does that gnaw at you.
10. (12) JEFF BURTON 114.9
Jeff’s made a better late-season run than people have given him credit for, considering he was 16th in points at the midway point.
11. (10) JIMMIE JOHNSON 111.2
Both of these rookies have cooled off in these last few events – qualifying notwithstanding. Maybe this long stretch of racing is finally getting to them.
12. (6) MARLIN/McMURRAY/BLISS 110.9
Jamie’s luck sure didn’t travel with him to the desert, eh? And with that, this tandem fell 5 spots in the owner points.
13. (13) BOBBY LABONTE 105
He was having another solid run, poised to gain a spot or two in the points…and then the motor give up. At least there’s Homestead to look forward to.
14. (15) RICKY RUDD 103.4
I read that it may be a good thing if Ricky misses out the top-10 in points, bacuase “Can you imagine Ricky, Robert, and Fatback at the same table with knives?” Too funny!
15. (14) MICHAEL WALTRIP 101.3
Michael appears to have 14th in points pretty well sewn up, with a half-decent shot at catching (shows how far he’s fallen) Bill Elliott for 13th.
16. (18) JOHNNY BENSON 99.7
Johnny B. Good, Johnny be fast, Johnny want to flip car and spin it on grass. In the spur of the moment, it can be understood that they may have forgotten about tech inspection.
17. (22) DAVE BLANEY 92.9
I had thought that of the last two races, Homestead would be where Dave had the better run. But he sure spent a long time in the top-5 at Phoenix. Now if he could only finish there…
18. (16) JEFF GREEN 92.7
Jeff has almost clinched being the highest RCR driver in the final points, and I didn’t expect that. I (and most everyone) would have put money on Harvick for that.
19. (17) ROBBY GORDON 92.67
Robby must really not like Christmas, because he never gets any cards. Unfortunately, that’s his own darn fault.
20. (19) RICKY CRAVEN 90.1
That was, without a doubt, Ricky’s worst race weekend of the season. If not for Bobby’s troubles, he would have fallen out of the top-15 in points.
21. (21) WARD BURTON 89.3
Think Ward’s bunch is kicking themselves about the Martinsville springs? It’s (currently) costing them a share of the point fund.
22. (20) KEVIN HARVICK 86.3
A top-20 finish. Amazing. Only the third one since his summer bananza.
23. (25) STEVE PARK 85.3
Positive things to say about Steve’s season? Well, he’s ahead of three drivers in points who have run more races…
24. (27) JOHN ANDRETTI 81.1
In this amount of races last year, John had all of seven top-20s. This year, he has twelve. And you thought he hadn’t done squat.
25. (24) JEREMY MAYFIELD 78.7
I’m here to tell you that Jeremy actually has done a little better (to date) than Casey in the 19 – by 3.2 points per race, and one each of top-5s, top-10s, top-20s, and points positions, in fact. Of course, that’s only because I have nothing better to say about him.
26. (28) ELLIOTT SADLER 75.5
Bright spot #1 of Elliott’s final year with the Woods: he’s tripled his career high for top-10s in a season.
27. (26) KYLE PETTY 74.3
I had expected Kyle to do better in the 2nd half of the season than the first, but look at his average points per race. First half: 103.9; 2nd half: 91.8. That’s why he’s back here, pettyfan4life.
28. (23) BILL ELLIOTT 74.1
Want to know how far downhill Bill’s season has gone? It’s now mathematically impossible for him to finish in the top-10 in points. What a shame.
29. (32) MIKE SKINNER 67.3
With Casey’s demise, we’e now got a genuine race for “Lowest in points of those who have started every race. The current score: Schrader – 2872, Skinner – 2831.
30. (30) JIMMY SPENCER 64.1
I know Jimmy’s heart is in Winston Cup. Mine would be too. But I’m going to hop on the bandwagon that says he should run Busch full-time next year, and get to experience success more often.
31. (29) TERRY LABONTE 62.8
When the year was half-over, it looked like Terry was going to contend for the top-10 in points. But now it looks like he’ll finish right where he was last year – 23rd.
32. (33) KEN SCHRADER 60.6
Kenny’s only got one more shot to avoid going 0-for-top-10s in 2002. I’ll be pulling for you, Kenny, but I honestly don’t see it happening.
33. (36) KENNY WALLACE 59.7
Kenny finished exactly where he did last year at Phoenix. And BDR spent a lot less on all his right-front tires than DEI did.
34. (34) MIKE WALLACE 58.8
This is a first – a WC driver receiving a vote of confidence from AJ! However, I would only stay on if AJ makes good on his promise to pay more attention to his cup teams.
35. (31) JOE NEMECHEK 58.2
Now this is where we’ve come to expect the 25 to be – last among all the Hendrick cars. Are you absolutely positive you want to stay in this car, Joe?
36. (35) TODD BODINE 57.3
*No Comment. Is there ever when he doesn’t wreck anybody?*
37. (38) BOBBY HAMILTON/GREG BIFFLE 48.6
Bobby’s name has been through the Silly Season Blender several times this year, but nothing has materialized. He may have no choice but to return to the 55 – if he can.
38. (37) CASEY ATWOOD 45.4
Casey, you’ve got one last shot to prove that Mr. Evernham shouldn’t have farmed you out. And what better place than Homestead to get that shot?
39. (40) BRETT BODINE 42.9
Brett Bodine: If you’re slower than him in qualifying, than you better go get the transporter engine warmed up.
40. (39) JERRY NADEAU 41
Congrats on getting the new ride, Jerry! With the new Pontiac redesign, I expect at least a few top-5s out of you next season. But of course, you’ve always had a lot of bad luck…and we don’t know if the gremlins resided with Schrader or MB2 this past year…oh, forget it.
