| 1 |
5 |
 |
Kevin Harvick |
No, we didn’t move him into the top spot because of the win. Well, kind of. So sue us. But he’s been a top car in every race in the second half. Not even Larry Foyt can deny that. |
| 2 |
3 |
 |
Matt Kenseth |
He’s got an incredible 286-point lead in the standings. No truth to the rumor that he’ll skip the final two races of the season to get ready for the awards banquet. |
| 3 |
3 |
 |
Jeff Gordon |
He's going to have a mirror-full of the No. 1 Chevrolet this weekend, leaving Gordon to wonder when Jeff Green found the time to improve his road racing skills. |
| 4 |
1 |
 |
Ryan Newman |
Rusty Wallace is his mentor, which explains his late-race fade at Indianapolis. |
| 5 |
4 |
 |
Jimmie Johnson |
He’s going to be a threat for the Winston Cup title for years to come. Which is why some of his competitors hope he gets elected governor of California in October. |
| 6 |
6 |
 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
During one stop at Indy, his pit crew serviced his car -- four tires and all -- in only 12.5 seconds. Which made Dale Jr. pretty upset. He didn’t have time to insert his new Bad Boys II soundtrack. |
| 7 |
12 |
 |
Kurt Busch |
Jimmy Spencer finished one spot behind him at Indy. The only thing that would be more ironic than that is Spencer executing an actual green-flag pass of Busch on the final lap at Watkins Glen. |
| 8 |
8 |
 |
Tony Stewart |
He was so mad after losing at Indy again that he simply wanted to be completely alone for a few hours. So he headed to the theater to go see Gigli. |
| 9 |
9 |
 |
Michael Waltrip |
He picked the wrong year to have a career year. No finishes worse than 27th –- an awesome feat -– and he’s still 499 points out of the lead. They’d have to run the rest of the schedule at Daytona for him to have a shot. |
| 10 |
13 |
 |
Robby Gordon |
He blocked Jamie McMurray like a seasoned veteran, which puzzled the kid, because the caution wasn’t out. |
| 11 |
7 |
 |
Bobby Labonte |
Kevin Harvick hasn’t had a bad finish since his heartbreak at Chicagoland, and Labonte hasn’t had a good finish since his heartbreak at Chicagoland. |
| 12 |
10 |
 |
Jeff Burton |
So Smirnoff might be their sponsor next year. In the new commercial, Jeff Burton's going to bring the Smirnoff, Kurt Busch will bring the Kool-Aid. |
| 13 |
11 |
 |
Terry Labonte |
He had the quote of the week: "(Busch) drives off the end of the hood," Labonte said. "He can't see past his ears." |
| 14 |
14 |
 |
Rusty Wallace |
It was said by Wally Dallenbach during the broadcast that Rusty Wallace “was pretty hard to pass.” Then again, passing Lake Speed in the equipment Dallenbach drove wasn’t all that easy either. |
| 15 |
17 |
 |
Mark Martin |
He used to be the man at Watkins Glen. But that was before his hair turned gray. |
| 16 |
23 |
 |
Jamie McMurray |
He felt so guilty after failing to win at Indianapolis that he went out and bought his girlfriend a $4 million diamond ring. |
| 17 |
16 |
 |
Sterling Marlin |
He has gone from 10th to 16th in the points race in the last four races. And he’s even driving in every race this year. |
| 18 |
NR |
 |
Bill Elliott |
He’s either in the top five, or way back in the pack. His teammate, Jeremy Mayfield, is either in the top 10, or way back in the pack. His other teammate, Casey Atwood, is usually not even at the track, and if he is, he’s way back in the pack. |
| 19 |
15 |
 |
Jeremy Mayfield |
As soon as they got the Silly Season rumors died down, they’ve started again. A win at Watkins Glen would quiet those down, but so far, the Las Vegas oddsmakers aren’t giving Mayfield much respect in that department. |
| 20 |
18 |
 |
Greg Biffle |
Man, he’s having a hard time fighting off Jamie McMurray for the rookie title. Short guys really are tougher to fight. |
| 21 |
22 |
 |
Jimmy Spencer |
He’s had five straight finishes of 25th or better. “We've picked up some points,” he said. Yep, sure have. On Dale Jarrett. |
| 22 |
19 |
 |
Dale Jarrett |
His jackman is already talking about returning to work. Some ad wizard at Timex needs to sign this man. |
| 23 |
20 |
 |
Elliott Sadler |
What a bad weekend for Robert Yates Racing. After the race, they finished themselves off by watching Schindler's List. |
| 24 |
NR |
 |
Todd Bodine |
He’s quietly putting together a solid second half -- much to the relief of his fabricators. |
| 25 |
25 |
 |
Ward Burton |
He’s not hiding the fact that he wants to leave after nine years at Bill Davis Racing. If he follows the Michael Waltrip pattern, then some team needs to hire him, because he’ll light up the circuit only two years after shocking the world with a win in the Daytona 500. |
