S
stridsberry
Guest
For the 2nd week in a row, Tony Stewart holds on to the ratings lead, as the top 4 go unchanged. Drivers making big gains this week were Jeff Gordon and Johnny Benson; the only driver taking a major hit was Jimmie Johnson.
1. (1) TONY STEWART 144.5
This is the type of day that makes a champion – when you have a horrible car, but still manage to pull off a decent finish.
2. (2) RYAN NEWMAN 140.4
Never was able to recover from the long, long pit stop near the midpoint. What were they doing in there, roasting eggs on the brake rotor?
3. (3) KURT BUSCH 138.2
Team orders, shmeem orders. I doubt Kurt could have won the race anyway, because he sank like an anchor in the final few laps.
4. (4) DALE EARNHARDT JR. 130.9
When you pitting every 65 laps or so when the fuel window is about 90, you know the car is junk.
5. (11) JEFF GORDON 120.6
I just love seeing that kind of emotion from Jeff. Now that he’s single, and thus no longer a android, I’ve been able to tolerate him a little more.
6. (9) MARLIN/McMURRAY/BLISS 119.6
Didn’t quite live up to the qualifying effort, but it was still another solid performance. And it moved the team up to 3rd in owner points.
7. (8) MARK MARTIN 119
All I can say now is, if Mark comes up short in the championship, it better be by more than 25 points, so that people can’t blame it on the penalty. Of course, there’s always the court system…
8. (7) DALE JARRETT 117.3
Made a good charge from provisional land – no easy feat to pull off with so few cautions to tighten the field up.
9. (6) RUSTY WALLACE 116.5
Rusty’s frustrated. I can tell. Remember, Rusty, all good streaks must end eventually. It happened to Dale, to Ricky, to Mark, and it may just happen to you.
10. (5) JIMMIE JOHNSON 113.6
So much for a rookie winning the title. I bet Jimmie’s now much more concerned with maintaining his now-slim lead over Ryan in the REAL points.
11. (10) MATT KENSETH 112.6
The pit crew did their job. The setup didn’t. Stuff happens.
12. (14) JEFF BURTON 109
It was nice to see Jeff actually beat another Roush car for once, never mind finishing in the top-5.
13. (15) BOBBY LABONTE 108.4
Bobby sure has been making a late-season charge – he’s now only 48 points out of the top-15.
14. (13) MICHAEL WALTRIP 104.4
I’ve never seen Michael run particularly well in Rockingham, and Sunday was no exception to that.
15. (12) RICKY RUDD 101.3
Only two more races, now. Than Ricky can finally escape the soap opera for good and resume a more realistic, normal life.
16. (16) JEFF GREEN 97.6
Jeff was really impressive on the long runs, but he got bogged down in traffic, than lost 4 or 5 spots when he ran out of gas on the final lap.
17. (17) ROBBY GORDON 95.8
A very solid run for Robby, I must say. It sure was a lot better result than spinning out of the top-10 with 6 laps to go.
18. (22) JOHNNY BENSON 95.4
It better not be 226 more races before Johnny wins again, cause I just have to see what he wants to do to celebrate. A BIG congrats to Johnny and the MBV team.
19. (19) RICKY CRAVEN 90.6
Ricky just had a real quiet day, while managing to hang on to the back half of the top-10. Then the car had to get pushed back to the transporter, like several others.
20. (18) KEVIN HARVICK 89.5
There’s nothing to see here, folks. Hasn’t been anything to see since Bristol. So move along, move along.
21. (23) WARD BURTON 86.6
When Ward uttered that certain obscenity, it was the clearest, most well pronounciated word I’ve ever heard him say. All the clubs must have been on the north end of town when he was young.
22. (21) DAVE BLANEY 85.7
Another typical 2002-esque performance from Dave – 17th in the race, 19th in the points.
23. (20) BILL ELLIOTT 82.5
To quote a song by the Offspring, “What in the world happened to you?”
24. (25) JEREMY MAYFIELD 84.3
I’m mildly surprised to see that Jeremy is hanging on to 24th in points, considering that he has been invisible for most of the season.
25. (26) STEVE PARK 82.3
It looks like Steve is just a wee bit rusty at The Rock. Better luck next year, that’s all I can say.
26. (24) KYLE PETTY 79.7
A weekend that began with such promise concluded in 30th, three laps off the pace. But hey, it’s a heck of a lot better than wrecking out on the 1st lap like last year.
27. (27) JOHN ANDRETTI 79.4
John gave the sponsor’s car a god ride, staying in the top-15 for much of the 2nd half before the late stop set him back a bit.
28. (28) ELLIOTT SADLER 73.3
Correct me if I’m wrong, but this was Elliott’s best finish since a 10th, way back at the 1ST race at NHIS. Maybe the Fatback defection riled him up a bit.
29. (29) TERRY LABONTE 67.6
Another mediocre year is about to finally draw to a close. If I was Terry, and I didn’t make the top-20 in points next year, I might retire rather than keeping sinking into the also-rans.
30. (31) JIMMY SPENCER 66.7
Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. Looking for work in 2003! I guess the “I did a whole lot better than Leffler” argument didn’t quite wash with Chip.
31. (30) JOE NEMECHEK 65.6
Not a good race title defense, there, Joe. Lesson 1: Improve consistency. Lesson 2: Be on the lead lap for the final run.
32. (34) MIKE SKINNER 64.7
I would have to say that Mike put on the surprise performance of the weekend, seeing as the team had done squat until now. A very stout run, indeed.
33. (32) KEN SCHRADER 63
There was Kenny running 11th, which would have been his best performance of the season – and he runs out of gas with the white flag in site. At least the potential was there for a strong finish.
34. (33) MIKE WALLACE 59.8
He just had nowhere to go, and got taken out way too early as a result. What a shame.
35. (35) TODD BODINE 57.2
Todd had a very strong car, could have finished in the top-5. Unfortunately, the right front tire wasn’t quite up to the task.
36. (39) KENNY WALLACE 55.3
Kenny’s race followed a storyline similar to that of Tony – run horrible early, get better as the race goes on, stretch the fuel mileage, and get a top-15.
37. (36) CASEY ATWOOD 50.1
There’s only one reason I can think of for Ray keeping Casey around in the 91, and that’s because he was so stout at Phoenix and Homestead last year.
38. (37) BOBBY HAMILTON/GREG BIFFLE 49
It looks like Bobby’s going to miss out on the top-30 in driver points. Even with those races he missed, that doesn’t bode well for finding a ride in 2003.
39. (38) JERRY NADEAU 45.1
Ho hum…time to fill some space…I know, I’ll reprint Kenny Wallace’s classic quote from Phoenix last year – “Bottom line: we’re out here in the damned desert blowing tires.”
40. (40) BRETT BODINE 43.6
This has become sort of a weekly show in of itself: seeing if Brett can make the race on time.
1. (1) TONY STEWART 144.5
This is the type of day that makes a champion – when you have a horrible car, but still manage to pull off a decent finish.
2. (2) RYAN NEWMAN 140.4
Never was able to recover from the long, long pit stop near the midpoint. What were they doing in there, roasting eggs on the brake rotor?
3. (3) KURT BUSCH 138.2
Team orders, shmeem orders. I doubt Kurt could have won the race anyway, because he sank like an anchor in the final few laps.
4. (4) DALE EARNHARDT JR. 130.9
When you pitting every 65 laps or so when the fuel window is about 90, you know the car is junk.
5. (11) JEFF GORDON 120.6
I just love seeing that kind of emotion from Jeff. Now that he’s single, and thus no longer a android, I’ve been able to tolerate him a little more.
6. (9) MARLIN/McMURRAY/BLISS 119.6
Didn’t quite live up to the qualifying effort, but it was still another solid performance. And it moved the team up to 3rd in owner points.
7. (8) MARK MARTIN 119
All I can say now is, if Mark comes up short in the championship, it better be by more than 25 points, so that people can’t blame it on the penalty. Of course, there’s always the court system…
8. (7) DALE JARRETT 117.3
Made a good charge from provisional land – no easy feat to pull off with so few cautions to tighten the field up.
9. (6) RUSTY WALLACE 116.5
Rusty’s frustrated. I can tell. Remember, Rusty, all good streaks must end eventually. It happened to Dale, to Ricky, to Mark, and it may just happen to you.
10. (5) JIMMIE JOHNSON 113.6
So much for a rookie winning the title. I bet Jimmie’s now much more concerned with maintaining his now-slim lead over Ryan in the REAL points.
11. (10) MATT KENSETH 112.6
The pit crew did their job. The setup didn’t. Stuff happens.
12. (14) JEFF BURTON 109
It was nice to see Jeff actually beat another Roush car for once, never mind finishing in the top-5.
13. (15) BOBBY LABONTE 108.4
Bobby sure has been making a late-season charge – he’s now only 48 points out of the top-15.
14. (13) MICHAEL WALTRIP 104.4
I’ve never seen Michael run particularly well in Rockingham, and Sunday was no exception to that.
15. (12) RICKY RUDD 101.3
Only two more races, now. Than Ricky can finally escape the soap opera for good and resume a more realistic, normal life.
16. (16) JEFF GREEN 97.6
Jeff was really impressive on the long runs, but he got bogged down in traffic, than lost 4 or 5 spots when he ran out of gas on the final lap.
17. (17) ROBBY GORDON 95.8
A very solid run for Robby, I must say. It sure was a lot better result than spinning out of the top-10 with 6 laps to go.
18. (22) JOHNNY BENSON 95.4
It better not be 226 more races before Johnny wins again, cause I just have to see what he wants to do to celebrate. A BIG congrats to Johnny and the MBV team.
19. (19) RICKY CRAVEN 90.6
Ricky just had a real quiet day, while managing to hang on to the back half of the top-10. Then the car had to get pushed back to the transporter, like several others.
20. (18) KEVIN HARVICK 89.5
There’s nothing to see here, folks. Hasn’t been anything to see since Bristol. So move along, move along.
21. (23) WARD BURTON 86.6
When Ward uttered that certain obscenity, it was the clearest, most well pronounciated word I’ve ever heard him say. All the clubs must have been on the north end of town when he was young.
22. (21) DAVE BLANEY 85.7
Another typical 2002-esque performance from Dave – 17th in the race, 19th in the points.
23. (20) BILL ELLIOTT 82.5
To quote a song by the Offspring, “What in the world happened to you?”
24. (25) JEREMY MAYFIELD 84.3
I’m mildly surprised to see that Jeremy is hanging on to 24th in points, considering that he has been invisible for most of the season.
25. (26) STEVE PARK 82.3
It looks like Steve is just a wee bit rusty at The Rock. Better luck next year, that’s all I can say.
26. (24) KYLE PETTY 79.7
A weekend that began with such promise concluded in 30th, three laps off the pace. But hey, it’s a heck of a lot better than wrecking out on the 1st lap like last year.
27. (27) JOHN ANDRETTI 79.4
John gave the sponsor’s car a god ride, staying in the top-15 for much of the 2nd half before the late stop set him back a bit.
28. (28) ELLIOTT SADLER 73.3
Correct me if I’m wrong, but this was Elliott’s best finish since a 10th, way back at the 1ST race at NHIS. Maybe the Fatback defection riled him up a bit.
29. (29) TERRY LABONTE 67.6
Another mediocre year is about to finally draw to a close. If I was Terry, and I didn’t make the top-20 in points next year, I might retire rather than keeping sinking into the also-rans.
30. (31) JIMMY SPENCER 66.7
Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. Looking for work in 2003! I guess the “I did a whole lot better than Leffler” argument didn’t quite wash with Chip.
31. (30) JOE NEMECHEK 65.6
Not a good race title defense, there, Joe. Lesson 1: Improve consistency. Lesson 2: Be on the lead lap for the final run.
32. (34) MIKE SKINNER 64.7
I would have to say that Mike put on the surprise performance of the weekend, seeing as the team had done squat until now. A very stout run, indeed.
33. (32) KEN SCHRADER 63
There was Kenny running 11th, which would have been his best performance of the season – and he runs out of gas with the white flag in site. At least the potential was there for a strong finish.
34. (33) MIKE WALLACE 59.8
He just had nowhere to go, and got taken out way too early as a result. What a shame.
35. (35) TODD BODINE 57.2
Todd had a very strong car, could have finished in the top-5. Unfortunately, the right front tire wasn’t quite up to the task.
36. (39) KENNY WALLACE 55.3
Kenny’s race followed a storyline similar to that of Tony – run horrible early, get better as the race goes on, stretch the fuel mileage, and get a top-15.
37. (36) CASEY ATWOOD 50.1
There’s only one reason I can think of for Ray keeping Casey around in the 91, and that’s because he was so stout at Phoenix and Homestead last year.
38. (37) BOBBY HAMILTON/GREG BIFFLE 49
It looks like Bobby’s going to miss out on the top-30 in driver points. Even with those races he missed, that doesn’t bode well for finding a ride in 2003.
39. (38) JERRY NADEAU 45.1
Ho hum…time to fill some space…I know, I’ll reprint Kenny Wallace’s classic quote from Phoenix last year – “Bottom line: we’re out here in the damned desert blowing tires.”
40. (40) BRETT BODINE 43.6
This has become sort of a weekly show in of itself: seeing if Brett can make the race on time.
