S
stridsberry
Guest
Once again, it's power ratings time. Note that, since there were no power ratings after Chicago, the gains and falls have come over a 2-week span. With that in mind, drivers making big gains include Ryan Newman, Jeff Green, and Kevin Harvick. Those taking a big fall include Kyle Petty and Casey Atwood.
1. (1) MARK MARTIN 133.2
Just had a solid, unspectacular day. Didn’t really do anything noteworthy.
2. (2) JIMMIE JOHNSON 127.8
Sterling left the door open for JJ to take the points lead, but JJ couldn’t get through it.
3. (7) RUSTY WALLACE 123.13
Overcame a flat tire to be, by far, the big gainer in the points – no one else ahead of him finished higher than 14th.
4. (8) DALE JARRETT 123.1
Just when he had come so close to the top-10 in points, a point penalty had to set him back some more.
5. (4) STERLING MARLIN 122.7
Most of New England has likely turned against him after his spin of Ricky Craven.
6. (3) RICKY RUDD 122.5
Why didn’t he get onto the apron when he knew he was leaking oil? Maybe he needed the extra caution laps, so that he had time to get it fixed.
7. (T5) TONY STEWART 122.3
As a matter of fact, Zippy, there ARE marbles outside the groove at other tracks, and getting into them will take away the right-front grip. It’s not just isolated at NHIS.
8. (T5) JEFF GORDON 118.4
Same basic thing I told Zippy and Tony. There are other tracks where over-driving the car even a little bit will send you up the race track. Adapt your driving style to fit the track, instead of vice versa.
9. (14) RYAN NEWMAN 115.4
Consecutive 5th-place finishes have him as close as ever to where he was after Darlington.
10. (13) KURT BUSCH 113.1
Flat left-front tire and a hole in the radiator put him 4 laps down…and he still came back to finish 8th. What was that you were saying about not being able to pass?
T11. (9) MICHAEL WALTRIP 107.2
Managed to stay on the lead lap after each spin and bring home a decent finish.
T11. (10) BILL ELLIOTT 107.2
A bad carburetor cost him an excellent shot at the win.
13. (11) MATT KENSETH 106.9
Dang flat tire…cost me a win and 111 points…
14. (16) DALE EARNHARDT JR. 104.3
My best guess is that he thought Todd was a lapped car, since he’s not used to seeing the 26 car, and that he would get out of the way. Unfortunately for Dale, that proved not to be the case.
15. (23) JEFF GREEN 98.3
Got his best career WC finish despite a large hole in the fender. Apparently, aerodynamics don’t matter so much at NHIS.
16. (12) RICKY CRAVEN 96.7
His down-to-earth finishes of late have been due more to bad luck than the cars. Remember, this was the time last year when he really got on a roll.
17. (18) ELLIOTT SADLER 95.1
Well, it’s already one more top-10 finish than he had in all of the 2nd half last year.
18. (28) KEVIN HARVICK 93.9
A win at Chicago? And all three RCR cars in the top-10 at NHIS? Looks like they really are on the way back.
19. (15) JEFF BURTON 93.2
Ran up front for a long time, but wasn’t there when it counted.
20. (19) TERRY LABONTE 89.3
Umm…hi Terry. How ya doing? Think you can get a win at Pocono?
21. (22) JIMMY SPENCER 88.9
Rebounded from an early spin to get a much-needed solid finish.
22. (20) BOBBY LABONTE 88.6
If he did that well in a back-up car, imagine how well he would have done in the primary car.
23. (17) KYLE PETTY 88.2
Before blaming Kyle’s wreck on the track, go back and look at the tape. Was I the only one who saw the bump from JJ that sent Kyle up the track in the first place?
24. (24) ROBBY GORDON 86.8
Got back-to-back top-10s for the first time in his WC career.
25. (21) DAVE BLANEY 86
In the wall in the second lap? Dave’s sure been having the little trouble at the start of races, as of late.
26. (29) WARD BURTON 79.1
Started out the 2nd half of the season just like the 1st: got into position to win, then took advantage of someone else’s misfortune. Hopefully the rest of the half doesn’t go like the last one.
27. (26) BOBBY HAMILTON 73.2
This has nothing to do with Bobby, but oh well: It’s not that NHIS doesn’t have enough banking; it’s that the angle decreases as you get closer to the wall. I’ve been there in person, I would know. Has anybody else noticed that?
28. (30) JEREMY MAYFIELD 73.1
Well, he ran in the top-10 for a while – even though he didn’t finish there.
29. (27) JOHN ANDRETTI 72.7
Did the Slide for Life down the front stretch with Casey, and then didn’t do anything for the rest of the day.
30. (25) CASEY ATWOOD 66.7
Licked the wall pretty good near the end of the day. Of all the wrecks, it was probably the most severe.
31. (31) HUT STRICKLIN 64.7
It was good to see him run up in the top-10 for a while, but he faded towards the end, and end up getting lapped.
32. (32) MIKE SKINNER 63.9
“It just blew up.” That’s the worst way to have a promising run come to an end. I feel for you, Mike.
33. (33) KEN SCHRADER 61.5
Got up into the top-10 through pit strategy, but couldn’t sustain it, and ended up with another mid-pack finish.
34. (38) TODD BODINE 58.2
He hadn’t run a lap on the track all weekend prior to the green flag…and he still brought home his best finish of the season. Maybe Geoffrey can bring home a good one while you’re off in BGN.
35. (35) BRETT BODINE 58.1
Brett, you let me down. You ran so well at NHIS last year, so I picked you for my fantasy league. And then you go and finish 27th. Dang it.
36. (34) JOHNNY BENSON 55.6
We welcome you back, Johnny. You must enjoy Pocono or something; isn’t that where you came back from the first set of injuries?
37. (37) STEVE PARK 51.8
He was luckier than the other drivers who overdrove it in; he was able slide it sideways, to scrub off speed, and then back it into the wall, thus only going one lap down instead of getting a DNF.
38. (36) STACEY COMPTON 50.4
Ran in the top-15 for the 1st half of the race, faded badly in the 2nd half. And it apparently wasn’t enough to save his job. It’s just as well – I wouldn’t want to be driving that junk.
39. (39) JERRY NADEAU 45.2
Had his best finish as a sub, and now he’s got a full-time ride for the rest of the season. This should be a good test of whether the 44’s problems are car or driver.
40. (40) JOE NEMECHEK 41.6
I sure hope he’s not keeping a scorecard; if he is, it must be getting pretty long by now.
1. (1) MARK MARTIN 133.2
Just had a solid, unspectacular day. Didn’t really do anything noteworthy.
2. (2) JIMMIE JOHNSON 127.8
Sterling left the door open for JJ to take the points lead, but JJ couldn’t get through it.
3. (7) RUSTY WALLACE 123.13
Overcame a flat tire to be, by far, the big gainer in the points – no one else ahead of him finished higher than 14th.
4. (8) DALE JARRETT 123.1
Just when he had come so close to the top-10 in points, a point penalty had to set him back some more.
5. (4) STERLING MARLIN 122.7
Most of New England has likely turned against him after his spin of Ricky Craven.
6. (3) RICKY RUDD 122.5
Why didn’t he get onto the apron when he knew he was leaking oil? Maybe he needed the extra caution laps, so that he had time to get it fixed.
7. (T5) TONY STEWART 122.3
As a matter of fact, Zippy, there ARE marbles outside the groove at other tracks, and getting into them will take away the right-front grip. It’s not just isolated at NHIS.
8. (T5) JEFF GORDON 118.4
Same basic thing I told Zippy and Tony. There are other tracks where over-driving the car even a little bit will send you up the race track. Adapt your driving style to fit the track, instead of vice versa.
9. (14) RYAN NEWMAN 115.4
Consecutive 5th-place finishes have him as close as ever to where he was after Darlington.
10. (13) KURT BUSCH 113.1
Flat left-front tire and a hole in the radiator put him 4 laps down…and he still came back to finish 8th. What was that you were saying about not being able to pass?
T11. (9) MICHAEL WALTRIP 107.2
Managed to stay on the lead lap after each spin and bring home a decent finish.
T11. (10) BILL ELLIOTT 107.2
A bad carburetor cost him an excellent shot at the win.
13. (11) MATT KENSETH 106.9
Dang flat tire…cost me a win and 111 points…
14. (16) DALE EARNHARDT JR. 104.3
My best guess is that he thought Todd was a lapped car, since he’s not used to seeing the 26 car, and that he would get out of the way. Unfortunately for Dale, that proved not to be the case.
15. (23) JEFF GREEN 98.3
Got his best career WC finish despite a large hole in the fender. Apparently, aerodynamics don’t matter so much at NHIS.
16. (12) RICKY CRAVEN 96.7
His down-to-earth finishes of late have been due more to bad luck than the cars. Remember, this was the time last year when he really got on a roll.
17. (18) ELLIOTT SADLER 95.1
Well, it’s already one more top-10 finish than he had in all of the 2nd half last year.
18. (28) KEVIN HARVICK 93.9
A win at Chicago? And all three RCR cars in the top-10 at NHIS? Looks like they really are on the way back.
19. (15) JEFF BURTON 93.2
Ran up front for a long time, but wasn’t there when it counted.
20. (19) TERRY LABONTE 89.3
Umm…hi Terry. How ya doing? Think you can get a win at Pocono?
21. (22) JIMMY SPENCER 88.9
Rebounded from an early spin to get a much-needed solid finish.
22. (20) BOBBY LABONTE 88.6
If he did that well in a back-up car, imagine how well he would have done in the primary car.
23. (17) KYLE PETTY 88.2
Before blaming Kyle’s wreck on the track, go back and look at the tape. Was I the only one who saw the bump from JJ that sent Kyle up the track in the first place?
24. (24) ROBBY GORDON 86.8
Got back-to-back top-10s for the first time in his WC career.
25. (21) DAVE BLANEY 86
In the wall in the second lap? Dave’s sure been having the little trouble at the start of races, as of late.
26. (29) WARD BURTON 79.1
Started out the 2nd half of the season just like the 1st: got into position to win, then took advantage of someone else’s misfortune. Hopefully the rest of the half doesn’t go like the last one.
27. (26) BOBBY HAMILTON 73.2
This has nothing to do with Bobby, but oh well: It’s not that NHIS doesn’t have enough banking; it’s that the angle decreases as you get closer to the wall. I’ve been there in person, I would know. Has anybody else noticed that?
28. (30) JEREMY MAYFIELD 73.1
Well, he ran in the top-10 for a while – even though he didn’t finish there.
29. (27) JOHN ANDRETTI 72.7
Did the Slide for Life down the front stretch with Casey, and then didn’t do anything for the rest of the day.
30. (25) CASEY ATWOOD 66.7
Licked the wall pretty good near the end of the day. Of all the wrecks, it was probably the most severe.
31. (31) HUT STRICKLIN 64.7
It was good to see him run up in the top-10 for a while, but he faded towards the end, and end up getting lapped.
32. (32) MIKE SKINNER 63.9
“It just blew up.” That’s the worst way to have a promising run come to an end. I feel for you, Mike.
33. (33) KEN SCHRADER 61.5
Got up into the top-10 through pit strategy, but couldn’t sustain it, and ended up with another mid-pack finish.
34. (38) TODD BODINE 58.2
He hadn’t run a lap on the track all weekend prior to the green flag…and he still brought home his best finish of the season. Maybe Geoffrey can bring home a good one while you’re off in BGN.
35. (35) BRETT BODINE 58.1
Brett, you let me down. You ran so well at NHIS last year, so I picked you for my fantasy league. And then you go and finish 27th. Dang it.
36. (34) JOHNNY BENSON 55.6
We welcome you back, Johnny. You must enjoy Pocono or something; isn’t that where you came back from the first set of injuries?
37. (37) STEVE PARK 51.8
He was luckier than the other drivers who overdrove it in; he was able slide it sideways, to scrub off speed, and then back it into the wall, thus only going one lap down instead of getting a DNF.
38. (36) STACEY COMPTON 50.4
Ran in the top-15 for the 1st half of the race, faded badly in the 2nd half. And it apparently wasn’t enough to save his job. It’s just as well – I wouldn’t want to be driving that junk.
39. (39) JERRY NADEAU 45.2
Had his best finish as a sub, and now he’s got a full-time ride for the rest of the season. This should be a good test of whether the 44’s problems are car or driver.
40. (40) JOE NEMECHEK 41.6
I sure hope he’s not keeping a scorecard; if he is, it must be getting pretty long by now.