| 1 |
2 |
 |
Jimmie Johnson |
They gave him some sort of championship belt for the win at Vegas, which means the rumors are true that Hulk Hogan is selling off his old relics for quick cash. |
| 2 |
1 |
 |
Kurt Busch |
"If you can remember back to 2001 -- we had a big tire change and there wasn't a single Roush car that won a race that year," he said after Vegas. Actually, Jeff Burton won two races that year, so if Busch had said "current Roush driver," that would have been accurate. |
| 3 |
5 |
 |
Greg Biffle |
He will make the Chase mainly because he’s one of a few drivers without a weak track. |
| 4 |
4 |
 |
Jeff Gordon |
Ryan Newman had the quote of the week about Jeff Gordon: “He hit me hard enough to jack the rear end up off the ground and spin the rear tires. Obviously he had more horsepower than he could handle.” |
| 5 |
6 |
 |
Kevin Harvick |
It’s just a guess, but Todd Berrier should have been watching the Travel Channel on Monday night, figuring out where to go on vacation if NASCAR suspends him for the fuel cell violation. Those shows look especially great in high-def, by the way. |
| 6 |
8 |
 |
Tony Stewart |
One of the great untold stories of Las Vegas concerned Jody Fortson, 25, who changes Stewart’s rear tires. Fortson broke a rib when he was hit by one of Mike Bliss’ tires. “The kid didn’t even hesitate and finished the stop before going to the infield medical center. Amazing,” one Gibbs team member told us. |
| 7 |
3 |
 |
Mark Martin |
We couldn’t find any Victory Lane photos of Martin with some of those showgirls after he won on Saturday. Which means someone forgot the phone books that Mark would have needed to stand on. |
| 8 |
12 |
 |
Ryan Newman |
Geez. Gordon picked Newman’s car straight off the ground there, which isn’t easy to do, since Newman does not weigh 125 pounds. |
| 9 |
13 |
 |
Matt Kenseth |
He’s the only Roush driver not in the top 10 in the standings, but he’s run just as well as his teammates -- and his luck will turn around. |
| 10 |
NR |
 |
Kyle Busch |
He drove like a 10-year veteran on Sunday. He won nearly $250,000, which will go toward the purchase of a much-needed tanning bed. |
| 11 |
7 |
 |
Jamie McMurray |
Speaking of tanning beds, if Kyle needs help selecting the right model, we hear Jamie’s the man to ask. |
| 12 |
8 |
 |
Elliott Sadler |
He listed as 20:1 at several casinos in Vegas, which befuddled us, since he was so strong all weekend. But we figured the casino probably got him and Hermie mixed up. |
| 13 |
11 |
 |
Rusty Wallace |
You could almost hear Rusty’s conversations with his spotter in the closing laps at Vegas: Rusty: “Spotter, why is the Tide car racing me so hard going into Turn 4? Tell him to get off my butt.” Spotter: “Uh, Rusty, that’s for position.” Rusty: “What?!” |
| 14 |
19 |
 |
Carl Edwards |
FOX put Carl Edwards in their Sexiest Driver Contest. Not sure whether they were waiting on Carl to run a full Cup schedule -- or get his braces off. |
| 15 |
14 |
 |
Dale Jarrett |
So he’s going to race the UPS truck, eh. It’s just a stab in the dark, but we guess Dale will do it in October in the Craftsman Truck race at Atlanta. |
| 16 |
17 |
 |
Jeff Burton |
The new Jeff Burton merchandise has been slow arriving, so Jeff’s fans are actually going out, buying Robby Gordon’s old gear on clearance and superimposing Jeff’s name on it. We haven’t heard any reports of Mike Bliss fans employing similar methods. |
| 17 |
18 |
 |
Scott Riggs |
His teammate, Boris Said, actually has a fan club called the Said Head Fan Club. You simply can't make this stuff up. |
| 18 |
NR |
 |
Casey Mears |
Every time he has a solid run, it’s in a car with pink colors on it. Which means Mears ever becomes completely comfortable with his feminine side, he’ll be a Nextel Cup champion. |
| 19 |
23 |
 |
Mike Bliss |
We’ve learned two things this season: 1. Mike Bliss one of the more underrated drivers out there. 2. Ward’s fans are still extremely angry he does not have a ride. |
| 20 |
20 |
 |
Joe Nemechek |
True story: At Atlanta in the Busch race in 2001, Nemechek won and pocketed a not-so-whooping $43,000. Nemechek owns his Busch car, and honestly, the money does not go far in paying his expenses. Since then, we’ve called him Need-a-chek. |
| 21 |
10 |
 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Vickers got out of that car and glared at Junior pretty good. With all that red hair, red face and anger flowing, Vickers kind of looked like Mark McGwire with Jose Canseco in his crosshairs. |
| 22 |
16 |
 |
Sterling Marlin |
Actual conversation overheard this weekend: “Sterling is driving for FitzBradhsaw this weekend -- pro bono -- but don’t say pro bono around Sterling, because he’ll think you’re talking about Cher’s ex-husband.” |
| 23 |
NR |
 |
Dave Blaney |
He is probably going to have to win a race in order to get some substantial TV time. |
| 24 |
15 |
 |
Kasey Kahne |
One of the more disturbing trends in NASCAR -- and this is right under the 75-minute-pre-race show trend -- is that Robin Leach does the drivers’ introductions at Vegas every year. This year, he called him “Kasey Con.” |
| 25 |
22 |
 |
Bobby Labonte |
He was only on the track for eight minutes Sunday, or 67 fewer than FOX’s pre-race show. |
