| 1 |
3 |
 |
Jimmie Johnson |
He could have driven that thing with his left knee and still scored a top-five. |
| 2 |
4 |
 |
Matt Kenseth |
He finished third at Charlotte, making it the highest-ever finish by a robot in the Nextel Cup Series. |
| 3 |
2 |
 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
He pulled a Michael Waltrip on Sunday – he got more TV time during the commercials than he did on the track. |
| 4 |
1 |
 |
Jeff Gordon |
Before the race, he told Kyle Busch, “Stay on my bumper.” Which wasn’t too difficult. |
| 5 |
6 |
 |
Tony Stewart |
He’s remained in the top 10 in the standings all year, even with the devastation of getting his remote-control car smashed by a member of Kevin Harvick’s pit crew. |
| 6 |
7 |
 |
Bobby Labonte |
If he doesn’t break out the Wellbutrin for that late spin, he never will. |
| 7 |
5 |
 |
Ryan Newman |
He hit the wall, which sucked. But it hurt worse after he learned it was with the help of Derrike Cope. |
| 8 |
10 |
 |
Kasey Kahne |
He kind of bottomed out and got into the 18 car there at the end. Which means he can forget the free Redskins passes. And the Shrek 2 tickets. |
| 9 |
12 |
 |
Jamie McMurray |
That was pretty close to his first win in two years, and his first with the No. 42 Dodge. Which means Donnie Wingo’s awesome victory lane drawl will have to wait a few more weeks. |
| 10 |
17 |
 |
Elliott Sadler |
He was about the only guy strong enough to keep up with Jimmie Johnson at Lowe’s. Unfortunately, Sadler was sick all night – the color of his face matched his race car. |
| 11 |
8 |
 |
Mark Martin |
His luck has been awful this year. He had to get a new trophy case built just to hold all his Goody’s Headache Powder Awards. |
| 12 |
9 |
 |
Kurt Busch |
Man, those fans booed him pretty loud on Sunday night. The good thing is, “boo” sounds like half of his last name, so he can just pretend that what they are saying. |
| 13 |
13 |
 |
Rusty Wallace |
That was his first top-10 finish since the big win at Martinsville. Or since he said he’d like to stick Stewart’s finger up his rear end. And his first since NASCAR Drivers 360 made its debut. |
| 14 |
18 |
 |
Jeremy Mayfield |
He was busted for speeding on pit road. He was doing 51 in a 45, but it won’t appear on his NASCAR license as long as he does not get busted again for six months. |
| 15 |
19 |
 |
Michael Waltrip |
He pulled a Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Sunday – he got more TV time on the track than he did during the commercials. |
| 16 |
11 |
 |
Kevin Harvick |
He had a pretty good battle in the closing laps with Ricky Craven, but FOX chose not to show it with their “Battle for 23rd place” window. |
| 17 |
15 |
 |
Sterling Marlin |
Gear done broke. |
| 18 |
14 |
 |
Robby Gordon |
He left Indy after less than 30 laps so he could get to Charlotte. While he was landing in the infield, his helicopter was immediately put a lap down by Jimmie Johnson. |
| 19 |
16 |
 |
Greg Biffle |
He made a great save of his Ford when it got loose on him. Kurt Busch, watching through his windshield, had this to say: “Save it! Save it! Whew.” |
| 20 |
21 |
 |
Brian Vickers |
His car was pushing pretty badly at Charlotte, mainly because he was sticking a plywood sign out of the window, which said, “Hey Jimmie, can you cut me a break? It’s me, Brian.” |
| 21 |
20 |
 |
Dale Jarrett |
He did a pretty good job in the booth during the Busch race. But he definitely needs to learn how to scream needlessly there’s a crash in Turn 4. |
| 22 |
22 |
 |
Ward Burton |
His segment on NASCAR Drivers 360 came out on FX last Friday night. And frankly, so far, his has been the most interesting. Hopefully, when the DVD comes out, it’ll have subtitles. |
| 23 |
23 |
 |
Casey Mears |
He can finally tell everyone he leads the Nextel Cup Series in something – his three seventh-place finishes leads all drivers. Actually, we didn’t check, but we’re pretty sure no one has four of them. |
| 24 |
NR |
 |
Joe Nemechek |
At Charlotte, he tied his best finish since Daytona, which led Michael Waltrip to say, “I know how that is, Joe.” |
| 25 |
NR |
 |
Terry Labonte |
He’s 0-for-50 in his career at Dover. And that is just his record at the slot machines. |
