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Power Rankings: Martinsville
April 8, 2003
12:49 PM EDT (1249 GMT)

Y'all sick of the yellow line debate yet?

Line or no line, there has not been a better Winston Cup driver over the last month than Dale Earnhardt Jr.

However, Martinsville Speedway tends to have a leveling effect. Is Earnhardt really championship material? Surprisingly, he has a decent record at the flat, half-mile track, but so does Kenseth.

Biggest Gain this Week: Elliott Sadler, up 11 spots

Biggest Drop this Week: Johnny Benson, 19th to NR

Dropped out: Benson, Jerry Nadeau (21), Bill Elliott (23), Jeff Green (25).

Week 9 of 36, Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway
Rank Prev Number Driver Comments
 1  2 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. The grassy knoll vs. buildings that house school books. Boxers vs. briefs. The yellow line at Talladega.
 2  2 Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth By the final lap, his car had more tape on it than King Tut.
 3  3 Kurt Busch Kurt Busch His engine wasn’t steaming, but he sure was.
 4 15 Elliott Sadler Elliott Sadler This man is about to explode like Tony Stewart. No, not that kind of explode.
 5  6 Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson You can just hear this conversation on the radio: “I’ll give you your lap back, Ward.” “What?! He’s racing me for the lead?!”
 6 11 Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick As if you had any doubt Todd Berrier would be the right tonic for this ailing team.
 7  5 Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon Yep, he wants a second event added at Kansas. And a third.
 8  4 Ryan Newman Ryan Newman That was a painful interview with Jeanie Zelasko after the big crash. And she knew it was not going to be good, too – she practically had that microphone at an arm’s length. “I just wanted to make sure you’re healthy,” she said. Was she hinting that Newman needs to add more beta-carotene to his diet?
 9  7 Tony Stewart Tony Stewart We’ve got some real racing this weekend at Martinsville, and that is right up his alley.
10 14 Ricky Craven Ricky Craven He was like a lone Iraqi taking on a battalion of Marines. “I'm a stand-alone guy out there with no help,” he said.
11  8 Bobby Labonte Bobby Labonte Have you been in an accident that wasn’t your fault? Call 1-800-DA-BIG-ONE.
12  9 Mark Martin Mark Martin I'm not a big fan of all the stuff that we do here,” he said. And you thought drivers never ventured into the Talladega infield.
13 10 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip He’s on TV more than Wolf Blitzer these days.
14 12 Sterling Marlin Sterling Marlin That is more like the old Sterling. No pun intended.
15 13 Ricky Rudd Ricky Rudd Ricky Recked.
16 22 Greg Biffle Greg Biffle His Martinsville car won't be as damaged as the one he returned to the shop after Talladega.
17 17 Jeff Burton Jeff Burton He never had a chance at Talladega after qualifying poorly.
18 18 Dale Jarrett Dale Jarrett “I was getting outrun by cars that were wrecked,” he said. Not your fault, dude. A wrecked car also beat everyone else.
19 16 Dave Blaney Dave Blaney After Rockingham, his team hired a second media relations specialist to handle the flow of requests. They laid him off yesterday.
20 20 Rusty Wallace Rusty Wallace “My car was screaming,” he said. A lot of cars were. In pain.
21 NR Terry Labonte Terry Labonte Avoid The Big One. Enter the Rankings.
22 NR Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Funniest statement by an on-air personality on Sunday: Larry Mac, when he said, “That is not good, Robby Gordon dragging a fuel can away.”
23 NR Jeremy Mayfield Jeremy Mayfield Finally getting more camera time on the track than off the track, which is a major accomplishment.
24 24 Jimmy Spencer Jimmy Spencer Taping for Beyond The Glory: Jimmy Spencer delayed yet another week.
25 NR Joe Nemechek Joe Nemechek Yep, he’s out of the title picture.
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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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