| 1 |
1 |
 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Jimmie, it might help your title chances somewhat to offer Kevin Harvick some cash to stay home this weekend. Think of it as an investment in a title, not a financial loss. |
| 2 |
2 |
 |
Jeff Gordon |
You got hosed. |
| 3 |
8 |
 |
Jamie McMurray |
We’ll be serious for a second. McMurray’s good at Darlington partly because he really seems to enjoy running there, and that is half the battle. On the other hand, Dale Earnhardt Jr. seems to not share McMurray’s confidence at Darlington, and that reflects in the results. |
| 4 |
3 |
 |
Kurt Busch |
NASCAR's going to mostly two-day shows in 2005. Which means there's even less time for this boy to get some sun. |
| 5 |
5 |
 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
The team elected to save a few pounds by not running with a spare battery on board. Actually, this is the team’s fault, because Dale Jr. saved eight pounds of weight by cutting his hair two weeks ago, so they could have reinstalled a spare battery. |
| 6 |
9 |
 |
Mark Martin |
He said that his crew chief, Pat Tryson, is a “great cheerleader.” Which means if Tryson ever wins a Craftsman Truck Series race, he’ll copy Carl Edwards and do a backflip off the bed. |
| 7 |
7 |
 |
Joe Nemechek |
01 – We don’t care if you have scored more points in the last six races than Jeff Gordon. In its prime, The General Lee was still the faster No. 01. But only when driven by Bo. Luke was not a good driver. |
| 8 |
4 |
 |
Ryan Newman |
So they are moving qualifying to Saturday, which will force the media to come up with clever headlines like “Mr. Saturday.” |
| 9 |
6 |
 |
Tony Stewart |
"I'm glad this is over," he said at Darlington. He could have meant his run in the Chase, but then again, he was probably talking about the Scott Peterson trial. |
| 10 |
12 |
 |
Kasey Kahne |
We got good news for ya, Kase. Lindsey Lohan is available. Maybe you can star with her in her next movie: Mean Stewart. |
| 11 |
10 |
 |
Rusty Wallace |
His daughter is dating Jamie McMurray, which is cool, because Jamie’s probably pretty lenient about letting Rusty get some laps back. |
| 12 |
11 |
 |
Jeff Burton |
We lost our bet. Jeff Burton officially scored more points than Carl Edwards over the final 14 races. Martin Truex Jr. wasn’t the only person to clinch something important at Darlington. |
| 13 |
14 |
 |
Greg Biffle |
When he crashed with Ron Hornaday in the Busch race on Saturday, Hornaday apologized, saying his foot slipped off the gas petal. Ron, when you get over 40, the correct excuse is, “I hit the gas when I meant to hit the brake.” |
| 14 |
23 |
 |
Carl Edwards |
We were figuring this whole liquor sponsorship would enable Roush to find Carl a sponsor, but it hasn’t happened. We were hoping they’d have a sponsorship announcement where Carl did a backflip into a vat of whiskey. |
| 15 |
15 |
 |
Dale Jarrett |
Like Bobby Labonte, he’s facing the potential end of his nine-year winning streak. Which can mean only one thing – the mustache needs to make a return in 2005. |
| 16 |
16 |
 |
Ricky Rudd |
He’s got eight straight top-20 finishes. That is his longest streak of top-20s with the Wood Brothers. We’re really stretching for some positives here, but hey, we got it done. |
| 17 |
13 |
 |
Kevin Harvick |
He had some run-ins with Johnson at Darlington. Johnson says they haven’t talked yet, mainly because Harvick’s car stopped way the hell out in Turn 2, and man, that’s a long walk out there. |
| 18 |
17 |
 |
Jeremy Mayfield |
Well, what do you know. A couple weeks ago we said he needed a 17th-place finish to balance out his recent inconsistency, and dang, he nearly pulled it off that 17th-place run at Darlington. He just needed a couple more laps and he would have had it. |
| 19 |
22 |
 |
Sterling Marlin |
He’s going to be sponsored by Lone Star at Homestead. Which is a bum deal, because there’s no Lone Stars near Sterling house in Tennessee, so Sterling can’t use his free meal coupons. |
| 20 |
24 |
 |
Matt Kenseth |
He’s tied with Elliott Sadler in the Nextel Cup standings, setting up an epic head-to-head battle at Homestead for the coveted eighth spot. If Kenseth wins the race but Sadler finishes second and leads the most laps, Kenseth gets the tiebreaker based on more top-10 finishes. You can’t make this stuff up, folks. |
| 21 |
NR |
 |
Bobby Labonte |
Sorry about not including you in the Rankings last week. We honestly forgot. You had fallen off the radar. Now go end the losing streak. |
| 22 |
19 |
 |
Casey Mears |
He is on Family Feud this week. The show is so old that it had already been on the air for two years when Mears was born. And Sterling Marlin had already been in a couple of Cup Series races. |
| 23 |
18 |
 |
Elliott Sadler |
So NASCAR is going to allow liquor sponsors next year, or, as Elliott calls them, “lickuh sponsahs.” |
| 24 |
20 |
 |
Michael Waltrip |
So DEI has come out and said he’ll keep his job if he finishes 10th or better next year. With the Chase format, that gives him 26 races to do it. Nearly 12 percent of the first 26 races next year are on restrictor plate tracks, so he’s got that going for him, which is nice. |
| 25 |
21 |
 |
Robby Gordon |
31 – As we said earlier, Jimmy Howell retired as NASCAR flagman. Which means Howell has given Robby the black flag for the final time in his storied career. |
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