Skip to main content VideoAudio Sign UpLearn MoreDemo Sign UpLearn MoreDemo Sign UpLearn MoreDemo Sign UpLearn MoreDemo
NASCAR RacePoints Earn Points View Rewards
Power Rankings: 2003
November 18, 2003
10:29 AM EST (1029 GMT)

Week 37 of 36, Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway
Rank Prev Number Driver Comments
 1 - Ryan Newman Ryan Newman He was the man to beat all season.
 2 - Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon So he sold his house for $13.3 million. Does that count towards his official Winston Cup earnings? If it does, then $18,407,76 he earned is a new record. Matt Kenseth, beat that!
 3 - Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson He rallied back to finish second in the standings, but he still can’t afford Jeff Gordon’s house.
 4 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. He had former lightweight champion Arturo “Thunder” Gatti in his pits all afternoon at Miami. After the race, John Andretti walked up and demanded a shot at the title.
 5 - Tony Stewart Tony Stewart He had the worst year of his Winston Cup career, with career lows in wins (2), points finish (7), top-five finishes (12) and top-10 finishes (18). That shows you just how good this team actually is.
 6 - Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth Looks like they waited until the final race of the season to give him one of Mark Martin’s engines.
 7 - Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick Apparently, he didn’t know that wrecking Kurt Busch wouldn’t get Robby Gordon into the top 10 in the standings.
 8 - Bobby Labonte Bobby Labonte Just think: If Bill Elliott would have retired after Rockingham, he would have won Miami outright.
 9 - Bill Elliott Bill Elliott He’ll probably be back next year. Social Security does not pay what it used to.
10 - Kurt Busch Kurt Busch He was the man to beat up all season.
11 - Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip He had a career year – eight top fives is a lot – but he drove the final 13 races with his hands wrapped firmly around his throat.
12 - Jamie McMurray Jamie McMurray He was the highest finishing blonde-haired driver in the standings. Matt Kenseth might have been, but we’re not sure what his hair color is.
13 - Jeremy Mayfield Jeremy Mayfield He made up 10 spots in the standings in the last 13 races, which is better than 2002, when he merely made up commercial spots.
14 - Mark Martin Mark Martin Larry Foyt finished more races in the second half than he did. We didn’t make that up.
15 - Terry Labonte Terry Labonte So he made the top 10 in the standings when Kurt Busch crashed. That laugh you heard was Jimmy Spencer’s.
16 - Rusty Wallace Rusty Wallace He didn’t kick butt this year, so he started a Busch Series team that will.
17 - Robby Gordon Robby Gordon He was a lot like Ron Fellows this year. Once Watkins Glen was over, so was his season.
18 - Jeff Burton Jeff Burton He narrowly edged Matt Kenseth, 8-7, for the coveted title of “Most Provisionals Used” at Roush Racing.
19 - Greg Biffle Greg Biffle His stats masked the fact that he drives for Roush Racing. He didn’t use a provisional all year, and he only had one engine failure.
20 - Ricky Rudd Ricky Rudd Incident with Kevin Harvick at Richmond made for the best television -- and the best quotes -- of the year.
21 - Ricky Craven Ricky Craven He failed to finish 10 of the final 26 races, including five of the last nine.
22 - Elliott Sadler Elliott Sadler Because he didn't win the Winston Cup title, a lot more deer will lose their lives this winter.
23 - Sterling Marlin Sterling Marlin Having to testify in federal court seems to make him run better.
24 - Joe Nemechek Joe Nemechek The Joe Nemechek/Brian Vickers story of the No. 25 Chevrolet in 2003 is chronicled in Hemingway’s classic novel The Old Man and the V.
25 - Dale Jarrett Dale Jarrett He’ll be Comeback Driver of the Year in 2004. If he’s not, he’ll have to endure Bill Elliott-type talk, except he won’t be answering questions in victory lane.
0
ARCHIVES
0
• 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.
Superstore
AUCTIONS
  Learn More | Sign Up