S
stridsberry
Guest
There’s more shiftin’ and rattlin’ in the ratings this week, as Ryan Newman returns to the top slot on the strength of consecutive 2nd-place finishes. Besides Newman, those making the biggest gains were Jeff Green and Todd Bodine. Taking drastic hits in the ratings were Jeff Burton, Sterling Marlin, and Terry Labonte.
1. (6) RYAN NEWMAN 130.7
I’m as shocked as anyone that Ryan hasn’t yet managed to win a race this year. How can the tour leader in top-5 finishes not have any wins? It’s odd.
2. (1) JEFF GORDON 129.8
The fabric wasn’t quite as strong as it needed to be, and torn along with it was the DNF streak and a chance to take the points lead.
3. (2) TONY STEWART 126.8
So close…that transmission was so close to making it the entire race…but as they say, close only counts in horseshoes.
4. (7) JIMMIE JOHNSON 126.7
The poles are certainly a nice thing to have, but I’m sure JJ would rather have four wins and two poles, instead of vice versa.
5. (4) BILL ELLIOTT 125.3
Just a solid, unspectacular race. Bill really needs another hot streak to truly get back into championship contention.
6. (8) MARK MARTIN 124.6
Mark’s probably done the best of anyone at capitalizing on Sterling’s misfortunes this year. 9th at Infineon, 6th as Richmond…that’s a gain of 220 points.
7. (3) STERLING MARLIN 119.2
I can’t remember a champion ever having a last place finish during the season. And Sterling now has two. So what’s going to play out in regards to that?
8. (9) RUSTY WALLACE 116.8
52 points. That’s the difference between 2nd and 15th in a race. Darn tires…
9. (5) DALE JARRETT 115.8
A failed slide job by Mark translated into a real long night for DJ.
10. (13) MATT KENSETH 113.6
Ho hum, another win for Matt Kenseth…who would have thought I’d be saying THAT this year!
11. (12) RICKY RUDD 109
And the latest sub-plot on Doug Yate’s new movie 10 Things I Hate About Ricky…
12. (11) KEVIN HARVICK 108.6
About the only time I saw Kevin’s car all night was when he ran out of fuel with a few laps to go. That’s never a good thing.
13. (19) JEFF GREEN 106.4
This team continues to show the way at RCR, proving that they don’t need no stinkin’ crew change to get their act together, thank you very much.
14. (18) DALE EARNHARDT JR. 105.9
This was an exact opposite of most Dale’s races this year – hang around mid-pack for most of the night, than use good fuel mileage to get a strong finish.
15. (10) JEFF BURTON 103.6
I’m mildly surprised that Jeff chose to finish the race even though he couldn’t gain anything more. Is there a DNF streak that I don’t know about?
16. (14) MICHAEL WALTRIP 101.1
Getting wrecked when leading is nothing to be happy about. So what was with the goofiness at the end of the interview?
17. (17) ROBBY GORDON 99.7
So let me get this straight – he was black-flagged for having a fender/tire rub? Since when did NASCAR start black-flagging for that?
18. (15) KURT BUSCH 96.2
Kurt? Kurt was in the race? Where was he all night?
19. (16) BOBBY LABONTE 90.7
The chain reaction had Bobby’s $150,000+ engineering masterpiece looking like a $10-15,000 late model. Ah, Saturday night at a short track!
20. (20) RICKY CRAVEN 89
I bet Ricky won’t be buying any gifts for Dale Jr. anytime soon.
21. (21) KYLE PETTY 86.4
It’s not as if it’ll be a radical adjustment to look at Kyle’s car next year. The current GP scheme is similar to that of the Hot Wheels colors that adorned the body panels for so long.
22. (24) WARD BURTON 86.2
Hmmm…maybe Lady Luck HAS decide to cut ol’ Ward a little slack.
23. (23) DAVE BLANEY 85.1
Qualified great…ran so-so…used fuel mileage to match his best finish of the season. It’s a mediocre sandwich on hero bread?
24. (26) KEN SCHRADER 77.9
I dunno…maybe I was expecting a little too much after his recent strong finishes.
25. (29) JEREMY MAYFIELD 76.8
A top-10 finish for Jeremy? What used to be so common is now so rare. Maybe it’s the water.
26. (22) BOBBY HAMILTON 74.9
It’s the Johnny Benson story with a new actor! And different injuries! Damn!
27. (27) JOHN ANDRETTI 74.5
Nope, guess John isn’t good enough for Mr. Ganassi. Maybe he just doesn’t want a trio of old guys.
28. (28) JIMMY SPENCER 69.3
I wonder is Jimmy took offense to that last sentence. Nah, I bet his hearing aids weren’t turned up loud enough to comprehend.
29. (25) TERRY LABONTE 67.8
Ack, a great qualifying effort gone bad in about 15 laps. That fact that he was dropping like an anchor was bad enough.
30. (35) TODD BODINE 67.4
I didn’t think Todd was even on the lead lap on that final run, and then he goes and gets a top-5 finish. Doesn’t he wish this had been a full season for him self.
31. (30) ELLIOTT SADLER 64.4
I don’t think Elliott has anyone but himself or the track to blame for such an early wreck. And I bet Elliott will also deny any wrongdoing.
32. (32) CASEY ATWOOD 64.1
What a great run for Casey, finishing in the top-10 like that…wait you say he’s still not in the 19? Never mind.
33. (33) STEVE PARK 63.9
A rare solid run for Steven, in his first race without Paul as his crew chief. Can he follow up on it?
34. (31) JOHNNY BENSON 63
Allow he to introduce you to Robby Gordon’s latest self-made enemy…
35. (34) MIKE SKINNER 55.4
Mike actually ran in the top-5 for a while? I knew it was a strange night.
36. (37) BRETT BODINE 53.7
Who cares if it was because of pit sequences? I thought was cool to see a low-budget guy like Brett in 2nd.
37. (39) JERRY NADEAU 51.9
Who’s now the leading driver in the Silly Season rumors? Jerry could make a claim to that.
38. (38) JOE NEMECHEK 51.4
Hi Joe. Is Mr. Hendrick really being nice to you? What’s your opinion of people who say the 25 is an R&D car?
39. (36) HUT STRICKLIN 44.5
So long from the ratings, starting next week…
40. (40) MIKE WALLACE 44.1
If Mike had actually managed to make it on gas and finish in the top-5…would people still say that the Foyt car is junk, or just that Mike makes it better?
1. (6) RYAN NEWMAN 130.7
I’m as shocked as anyone that Ryan hasn’t yet managed to win a race this year. How can the tour leader in top-5 finishes not have any wins? It’s odd.
2. (1) JEFF GORDON 129.8
The fabric wasn’t quite as strong as it needed to be, and torn along with it was the DNF streak and a chance to take the points lead.
3. (2) TONY STEWART 126.8
So close…that transmission was so close to making it the entire race…but as they say, close only counts in horseshoes.
4. (7) JIMMIE JOHNSON 126.7
The poles are certainly a nice thing to have, but I’m sure JJ would rather have four wins and two poles, instead of vice versa.
5. (4) BILL ELLIOTT 125.3
Just a solid, unspectacular race. Bill really needs another hot streak to truly get back into championship contention.
6. (8) MARK MARTIN 124.6
Mark’s probably done the best of anyone at capitalizing on Sterling’s misfortunes this year. 9th at Infineon, 6th as Richmond…that’s a gain of 220 points.
7. (3) STERLING MARLIN 119.2
I can’t remember a champion ever having a last place finish during the season. And Sterling now has two. So what’s going to play out in regards to that?
8. (9) RUSTY WALLACE 116.8
52 points. That’s the difference between 2nd and 15th in a race. Darn tires…
9. (5) DALE JARRETT 115.8
A failed slide job by Mark translated into a real long night for DJ.
10. (13) MATT KENSETH 113.6
Ho hum, another win for Matt Kenseth…who would have thought I’d be saying THAT this year!
11. (12) RICKY RUDD 109
And the latest sub-plot on Doug Yate’s new movie 10 Things I Hate About Ricky…
12. (11) KEVIN HARVICK 108.6
About the only time I saw Kevin’s car all night was when he ran out of fuel with a few laps to go. That’s never a good thing.
13. (19) JEFF GREEN 106.4
This team continues to show the way at RCR, proving that they don’t need no stinkin’ crew change to get their act together, thank you very much.
14. (18) DALE EARNHARDT JR. 105.9
This was an exact opposite of most Dale’s races this year – hang around mid-pack for most of the night, than use good fuel mileage to get a strong finish.
15. (10) JEFF BURTON 103.6
I’m mildly surprised that Jeff chose to finish the race even though he couldn’t gain anything more. Is there a DNF streak that I don’t know about?
16. (14) MICHAEL WALTRIP 101.1
Getting wrecked when leading is nothing to be happy about. So what was with the goofiness at the end of the interview?
17. (17) ROBBY GORDON 99.7
So let me get this straight – he was black-flagged for having a fender/tire rub? Since when did NASCAR start black-flagging for that?
18. (15) KURT BUSCH 96.2
Kurt? Kurt was in the race? Where was he all night?
19. (16) BOBBY LABONTE 90.7
The chain reaction had Bobby’s $150,000+ engineering masterpiece looking like a $10-15,000 late model. Ah, Saturday night at a short track!
20. (20) RICKY CRAVEN 89
I bet Ricky won’t be buying any gifts for Dale Jr. anytime soon.
21. (21) KYLE PETTY 86.4
It’s not as if it’ll be a radical adjustment to look at Kyle’s car next year. The current GP scheme is similar to that of the Hot Wheels colors that adorned the body panels for so long.
22. (24) WARD BURTON 86.2
Hmmm…maybe Lady Luck HAS decide to cut ol’ Ward a little slack.
23. (23) DAVE BLANEY 85.1
Qualified great…ran so-so…used fuel mileage to match his best finish of the season. It’s a mediocre sandwich on hero bread?
24. (26) KEN SCHRADER 77.9
I dunno…maybe I was expecting a little too much after his recent strong finishes.
25. (29) JEREMY MAYFIELD 76.8
A top-10 finish for Jeremy? What used to be so common is now so rare. Maybe it’s the water.
26. (22) BOBBY HAMILTON 74.9
It’s the Johnny Benson story with a new actor! And different injuries! Damn!
27. (27) JOHN ANDRETTI 74.5
Nope, guess John isn’t good enough for Mr. Ganassi. Maybe he just doesn’t want a trio of old guys.
28. (28) JIMMY SPENCER 69.3
I wonder is Jimmy took offense to that last sentence. Nah, I bet his hearing aids weren’t turned up loud enough to comprehend.
29. (25) TERRY LABONTE 67.8
Ack, a great qualifying effort gone bad in about 15 laps. That fact that he was dropping like an anchor was bad enough.
30. (35) TODD BODINE 67.4
I didn’t think Todd was even on the lead lap on that final run, and then he goes and gets a top-5 finish. Doesn’t he wish this had been a full season for him self.
31. (30) ELLIOTT SADLER 64.4
I don’t think Elliott has anyone but himself or the track to blame for such an early wreck. And I bet Elliott will also deny any wrongdoing.
32. (32) CASEY ATWOOD 64.1
What a great run for Casey, finishing in the top-10 like that…wait you say he’s still not in the 19? Never mind.
33. (33) STEVE PARK 63.9
A rare solid run for Steven, in his first race without Paul as his crew chief. Can he follow up on it?
34. (31) JOHNNY BENSON 63
Allow he to introduce you to Robby Gordon’s latest self-made enemy…
35. (34) MIKE SKINNER 55.4
Mike actually ran in the top-5 for a while? I knew it was a strange night.
36. (37) BRETT BODINE 53.7
Who cares if it was because of pit sequences? I thought was cool to see a low-budget guy like Brett in 2nd.
37. (39) JERRY NADEAU 51.9
Who’s now the leading driver in the Silly Season rumors? Jerry could make a claim to that.
38. (38) JOE NEMECHEK 51.4
Hi Joe. Is Mr. Hendrick really being nice to you? What’s your opinion of people who say the 25 is an R&D car?
39. (36) HUT STRICKLIN 44.5
So long from the ratings, starting next week…
40. (40) MIKE WALLACE 44.1
If Mike had actually managed to make it on gas and finish in the top-5…would people still say that the Foyt car is junk, or just that Mike makes it better?
