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Power Rankings: Texas
March 25, 2003
11:43 AM EST (1143 GMT)

Four top-2 finishes in six races for Kurt Busch. Enough said. He should be leading the standings by 100 points.

Not many big droppers this week -- you got to be nice when it comes to Bristol. Too many things beyond a driver's control. Time to give them a little break.

Biggest Gain this Week: Ricky Rudd, up 7 spots

Biggest Drop this Week: Michael Waltrip, Mark Martin, Steve Park, down 4 spots

Week 7 of 36, Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway
Rank Prev Number Driver Comments
 1  1 Kurt Busch Kurt Busch He finally won the battle after several near-misses. And that was just with his engines.
 2  2 Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth How did he become so consistent? Let’s see. Hey Matt! New haircut? Nope. Did he get a promotion? Nope. Did I? Nope. Been working out? Nope.
 3  7 Bobby Labonte Bobby Labonte He piloted the highest-ever finishing purple car in the Winston Cup Series. That’s a span of 2,000 races. And you thought Richard Petty made history.
 4  3 Tony Stewart Tony Stewart He hit a lot of cars, but none on pit road after the event.
 5  4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. A damaged car at Bristol is a lot better than a dry gas tank, especially if the latter happens during a green flag.
 6  8 Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson AWOL at Bristol as far as TOC (time on camera) goes.
 7  9 Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon He has not won since cutting his hair short. Fear the mullet.
 8  6 Ryan Newman Ryan Newman Jerry Nadeau told Newman to “use his head,” so Newman did some quick thinking. He blamed a Bodine for the crash.
 9  5 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip In the standings, he leads all Chevrolet drivers. Oh wait, we forgot, Stewart’s in a Chevy this year. Let’s try again. In the standings, he leads all Chevrolet drivers who didn’t run a Pontiac last year.
10 12 Ricky Craven Ricky Craven He took a brand-new Pontiac at Bristol. News flash: It’s not new anymore.
11 13 Sterling Marlin Sterling Marlin Run good.
12 19 Ricky Rudd Ricky Rudd One of the best teams on short tracks and road courses.
13 11 Dave Blaney Dave Blaney Still learning on the short tracks, but should be in contention this weekend at Texas. Which is hilarious, because he would look funny in a cowboy hat. But not as funny as Kenseth looked when he wore the hat last year.
14 10 Mark Martin Mark Martin Speaking of which, he’d look pretty funny in a cowboy hat too.
15 20 Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick New crew chief already paying off. Speaking of payoffs, the winner at Texas gets about a half-million bucks. Or about $220,000 less than a PGA Tour player gets for winning a tournament in Arizona. Go figure.
16 16 Jeff Burton Jeff Burton Finally stopped smoking, increasing his chances of survival in the Winston Cup points chase considerably.
17 14 Elliott Sadler Elliott Sadler This wasn’t a magical repeat at Bristol, but his next-favorite track is this week.
18 15 Johnny Benson Johnny Benson Has five top-20 finishes, but unfortunately, two are of the 19th-place variety.
19 24 Greg Biffle Greg Biffle A wise man once said, “Let sleeping dogs lie.” This team is starting to wake up.
20 17 Dale Jarrett Dale Jarrett You need a GPS system to find him since Rockingham.
21 18 Joe Nemechek Joe Nemechek His championship hopes took a big hit this week. Hey, a guy can dream.
22 23 Rusty Wallace Rusty Wallace He shot a 67 on the golf course on Saturday, beating his losing streak by a stroke.
23 24 Jimmy Spencer Jimmy Spencer He got real sick to his stomach when he saw the yellow flag come out. Good thing he wears an open-faced helmet.
24 22 Bill Elliott Bill Elliott His wheels are red. Why? Does someone spray-paint them? Remember when Kenseth’s wheels were yellow?
25 21 Steve Park Steve Park Just give him a little more time. It’s all there.
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ARCHIVES
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• Week 1 at Daytona International Speedway
• Week 2 at North Carolina Speedway
• Week 3 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
• Week 4 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
• Week 5 at Darlington Raceway
• Week 6 at Bristol Motor Speedway
• Week 7 at Texas Motor Speedway
• Week 8 at Talladega Superspeedway
• Week 9 at Martinsville Speedway
• Week 10 at California Speedway
• Week 11 at Richmond International Raceway
• Week 12 at Lowe's Motor Speedway
• Week 13 at Dover International Speedway
• Week 14 at Pocono Raceway
• Week 15 at Michigan International Speedway
• Week 16 at Infineon Raceway
• Week 17 at Daytona International Speedway
• Week 18 at Chicagoland Speedway
• Week 19 at New Hampshire International Speedway
• Week 20 at Pocono Raceway
• Week 21 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Week 22 at Watkins Glen International
• Week 23 at Michigan International Speedway
• Week 24 at Bristol Motor Speedway
• Week 25 at Darlington Raceway
• Week 26 at Richmond International Raceway
• Week 27 at New Hampshire International Speedway
• Week 28 at Dover International Speedway
• Week 29 at Talladega Superspeedway
• Week 30 at Kansas Speedway
• Week 31 at Lowe's Motor Speedway
• Week 32 at Martinsville Speedway
• Week 33 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
• Week 34 at Phoenix International Raceway
• Week 35 at North Carolina Speedway
• Week 36 at Homestead-Miami Speedway
• Week 37 at Daytona International Speedway
The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.
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