| 1 |
1 |
 |
Jimmie Johnson |
He’s another guy who probably had his 10-year high school reunion this year. Too bad, he probably missed it, since those things are on Saturday nights. But you gotta wonder if they gave out programs with his updated phone number in there. He’ll have old classmates selling that number on eBay. But not before they hit him up for tickets. |
| 2 |
3 |
 |
Jeff Gordon |
As our B. Duane Cross pointed out yesterday, Gordon has never won the title without leading the series in victories. |
| 3 |
5 |
 |
Kurt Busch |
His crew chief, Jimmy Fennig, might have the most-mispronounced name in NASCAR. Next to MacMary, anyway. Even TV calls him “Fenn-ing.” |
| 4 |
5 |
 |
Ryan Newman |
He admitted that he hadn’t talked to Rusty since the incident at Martinsville. Which means Ryan will retire after Homestead to avoid going to the team Christmas party, then turn right around and unretire in January. |
| 5 |
7 |
 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
So now he might get penalized for having a windshield that was too thin at Phoenix. How did NASCAR know this? Do they have a guy whose only job is to measure windshield thickness? And where do we apply? |
| 6 |
8 |
 |
Tony Stewart |
You can bet Robby Gordon is praying Stewart’s engine blows in the next two races, because the Loudon wreck might end up costing Stewart the title. |
| 7 |
9 |
 |
Joe Nemechek |
We don’t know what happened, but someone flipped a switch, and all of a sudden, this guy’s tough. He had even sucked at Phoenix his entire career, and he ran really well on Sunday. Career-best finish there. If you want to make some serious money, bet on a top-three for this guy at Miami. |
| 8 |
2 |
 |
Jamie McMurray |
If he won Phoenix, this fan selected by Havoline would have won $1 million. The way Jamie has been running, the fan probably thought he was going to collect. Hope he didn’t have a lot of credit card debt. |
| 9 |
4 |
 |
Mark Martin |
Since Kevin Harvick got us in the mood, let’s talk more about fights. We’d like to see Mark Martin take on Toby Keith. We know Mark’s giving up a lot in the weight-advantage department, but we’d pay the $30 to see it. Ford could be the presenting sponsor. The loser can’t make any more commercials. |
| 10 |
11 |
 |
Rusty Wallace |
He signed Top-Flite as sponsor of his Busch team. If his cars are halfway as hard as the company’s golf balls are, then the cars will hold up pretty well in crashes. |
| 11 |
10 |
 |
Jeff Burton |
So now NASCAR might turn around and allow liquor sponsorship. Burton was hoping to get liquor sponsorship earlier to save his team at Roush. The way he’s running at RCR (pretty well) it might be safe to say Burton’s glad they didn’t allow it earlier. |
| 12 |
16 |
 |
Kasey Kahne |
His brother refuses to cut his hair until Kahne wins a Nextel Cup race. We had no idea Elliott Sadler was actually Kasey Kahne’s brother. |
| 13 |
20 |
 |
Kevin Harvick |
He might have had the quote of the day at Phoenix: "Kasey's not big enough to get out of his car and fight this battle." |
| 14 |
17 |
 |
Greg Biffle |
After Kevin Harvick went over to confront Kasey Kahne after the race, Biffle should have gone over to Kahne and said, “I know how you feel.” |
| 15 |
14 |
 |
Dale Jarrett |
It would have been funny to see him fight Jamie McMurray after they tangled a little bit on the track. Jarrett’s got a 20-year advantage on McMurray, not to mention two feet and 100 pounds. But we’d give McMurray the advantage if the fight goes more than four rounds. |
| 16 |
13 |
 |
Ricky Rudd |
He rallied at Phoenix to score his seventh straight top-20 finish. It was touch-and-go there for awhile. |
| 17 |
12 |
 |
Jeremy Mayfield |
In a stunning development, he is going to drive for Rusty Wallace for half of the Busch Series events in 2005. Those two like to cuss a lot, so if Rusty serves as his spotter, then be sure to tune into their scanner frequency for 17 Saturdays. |
| 18 |
15 |
 |
Elliott Sadler |
Since Top-Flite has entered the sport as a sponsor, maybe Robert Yates can work a deal to get the company to sponsor Elliott Sadler for the two races each year at Talladega. |
| 19 |
24 |
 |
Casey Mears |
That was pretty brave to stay out and try to nurse that car home even though he had a flat. He should have parked on the backstretch and tried to change it like those idiots do on the interstate. |
| 20 |
21 |
 |
Michael Waltrip |
His season hasn’t been a total loss. In fact, he’s on a tear of 14 straight top-30 finishes. |
| 21 |
25 |
 |
Robby Gordon |
His engine blew in the closing laps, which means RCR gave him Kevin Harvick’s motor for Phoenix. |
| 22 |
NR |
 |
Sterling Marlin |
His contract is up at the end of next season. Which means Rusty Wallace needs to promise Sterling a one-year contract for 2006 in order not to have three retirement tours going at once next year. |
| 23 |
19 |
 |
Carl Edwards |
For some reason, he does not run well in the Nextel Cup car whenever the Truck Series is at the same track that weekend (like Phoenix). Maybe he feels more compelled to run better knowing Roush Racing is paying five figures for plane fuel. |
| 24 |
18 |
 |
Matt Kenseth |
Need another engine. Copy that. |
| 25 |
23 |
 |
Brendan Gaughan |
It’s looking more and more like he will remain in the Nextel Cup Series next year, much to Ted Musgrave’s relief. |
