| 1 |
1 |
 |
Jeff Gordon |
Did you see that he appeared on Celebrity Poker Showdown? He won his game, too. Unfortunately, at the victory table, Pepsi and Fritos were not allowed. |
| 2 |
2 |
 |
Jimmie Johnson |
He said at Chicagoland that he hasn’t had any problems racing with Tony Stewart this year. Mainly it’s because he’s been ahead of him 95 percent of the time. |
| 3 |
3 |
 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Say what you want about the new points system, but it’s pretty cool that Earnhardt Jr. didn’t have to drive at Loudon if he didn’t feel like it. |
| 4 |
12 |
 |
Tony Stewart |
So Martha Stewart got two years probation at her sentencing last week. Which means she is the second Stewart to be placed on probation this month. |
| 5 |
4 |
 |
Michael Waltrip |
He’s sixth in the points over the last six races. Which means he was able to run better after his exhausting commercial schedule was completed earlier this year. |
| 6 |
5 |
 |
Ryan Newman |
He’s on a 12-race Bud Pole drought. Which means he will win it on Friday. |
| 7 |
13 |
 |
Kasey Kahne |
Well, we guess the wreck at Chicago proves they are not using traction control, so thanks to Tony Stewart for clearing that up. |
| 8 |
8 |
 |
Mark Martin |
His official status for Chicago was listed as “running” despite the late problem, preventing him from tying Jeff Burton for the series lead in the blown engine category. |
| 9 |
7 |
 |
Bobby Labonte |
Why did y’all fire Fatback? Did he exceed the food per diem one weekend? |
| 10 |
17 |
 |
Jeremy Mayfield |
He had the quote of the weekend at Chicago: "Tony Stewart doesn't really bother me," Mayfield said. "Maybe he's a little more afraid of me than he is of Kasey.” |
| 11 |
6 |
 |
Elliott Sadler |
Whoa. His pit crew has won the McDonald’s Drive-Thru Pit Championship three times in the last four races. Those wins are worth $20,000 apiece. If they can win it a couple more times, they’ll pass Morgan Shepherd in 2004 earnings. |
| 12 |
18 |
 |
Terry Labonte |
His son won the Busch race at Chicago. Inspired, Terry went on to score his best finish of the season. Which means Terry might make the Chase for the Nextel Cup if Justin can somehow win the next four Busch races in a row. |
| 13 |
11 |
 |
Jamie McMurray |
He is driving at New Hampshire for Rusty Wallace this week, which makes him the shortest driver in history to start a Busch race for Rusty Wallace Inc. |
| 14 |
16 |
 |
Dale Jarrett |
So we saw that he is going to run some Busch Series races in 2005. Did he miss Johnny Sauter that bad?. |
| 15 |
9 |
 |
Kurt Busch |
Like many drivers, you can pre-order a Kurt Busch calendar for 2005. Fortunately, he’s not wearing swimsuits. |
| 16 |
10 |
 |
Matt Kenseth |
Last year, he was 399 points up. Now, he’s 399 points down. Which means he probably likes the new points system. |
| 17 |
14 |
 |
Brian Vickers |
He led Indianapolis testing last week. Which means when Tony Stewart touched him, Vickers learned how to drive the Brickyard through osmosis. |
| 18 |
15 |
 |
Kevin Harvick |
He isn’t running great, but he’s hanging in there pretty well. |
| 19 |
22 |
 |
Joe Nemechek |
He’s going to run a GI Joe paint scheme later in the year. The car will be made out of cheap plastic, and the tires will have a Kung Fu grip. |
| 20 |
19 |
 |
Casey Mears |
You’ve got to admit, he’s made tremendous strides this year. Already, he’s learned how to understand everything Sterling Marlin and Ward Burton says. |
| 21 |
21 |
 |
Sterling Marlin |
We hope he wins New Hampshire, because the track will need to bring in a translator for the New England media. |
| 22 |
23 |
 |
Rusty Wallace |
He released his Busch driver, Billy “Catfish” Parker, this week and replaced him with Jamie McMurray, probably because Rusty wanted to hear Benny Parsons say “McMary” on a Saturday. |
| 23 |
24 |
 |
Greg Biffle |
Did you see that Subway brought back Jared to star in their ads? The ads are going to cost $60 million. They should at least take $15 million and enter Jared in a sixth Roush car for the 2005 season. |
| 24 |
25 |
 |
Robby Gordon |
Oval clocks featuring Robby Gordon are available in the NASCAR.COM Superstore. Next year, we hope to get them shaped like road courses. |
| 25 |
20 |
 |
Jeff Burton |
He’s pretty good at Loudon and has a real shot at winning. Which means he can thank his team instead of his sponsors in victory lane. |
