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Power Rankings: Texas
November 1, 2005
9:07 AM EST (0907 GMT)

Biggest Gain this week: Jeff Gordon, up 12 spots

Biggest Drop this week: Jimmie Johnson, down seven spots

New this week: Joe Nemechek (16), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (18).

Dropped out: Sterling Marlin (22), Kyle Petty (24).

Week 34 of 36, Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway
Rank Prev Number Driver Comments
 1  1 Tony Stewart Tony Stewart I guess him and Chad Knaus can’t have a civil conversation. Knaus should walk up to him and say, “You mad at me?” If Tony says yes, Chad needs to hold up a Wendy’s Bacon Mushroom Melt, and say, “How about now?”
 2 14 Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon That Steve Letarte guy is a pretty big dude, and Gordon is running great with him. And here I thought Hendrick hired him just to discourage Kurt Busch from ever entering their pit box.
 3  4 Greg Biffle Greg Biffle Commercials are currently being filmed that will be used in 2006. I can’t wait to see Biffle’s new Subway ones. In the new ones they should have his car loaded down with foot-long meatball subs, with Tony Stewart driving the cop car. Only this time, Stewart doesn’t let him go with a mere warning.
 4  9 Mark Martin Mark Martin He said, "If I had cars like that every week, man, I think I could drive until I was 60." Well, Ken Schrader is going to do that, and his cars won’t even turn.
 5  7 Carl Edwards Carl Edwards I think Carl should have to do one flip for every victory of the year. On the same try. Get him a trampoline if necessary. That should prevent a 10-win season.
 6  6 Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth Rumor has it that he helped open up Walgreens’ 5,000th store. What? Why did Kenseth have to go? Wasn’t Mark Martin available?
 7  5 Kurt Busch Kurt Busch He flat-out refused to give any quotes yesterday, costing his sponsor some exposure. See, this is where Michael Waltrip would come in handy. Have him the designated hitter of quoting when drivers are too mad to talk. He knows all the drivers’ sponsors.
 8  3 Ryan Newman Ryan Newman A lot of y’all emailed me after I made the joke about Newman being a single-car team going for the title, but Newman confirmed it at Atlanta when he said: “We’re a one-car team going for one position.”
 9  2 Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson His weekly teleconference was canceled. Mainly to prevent Tony Stewart from calling in.
10 13 Brian Vickers Brian Vickers Still not much news on Vickers. Jayski is going to have to dig deeper. VICKERS TO GET HAIRCUT? Heard Brian Vickers was seen near a Great Clips in Mooresville. UPDATE DENIED Hearing now that was Kasey Kahne, not Vickers, sorry
11 16 Jamie McMurray Jamie McMurray Sterling, if you somehow figured out how to get on the Internet and are reading this, I have a good prank idea for you before you leave Chip Ganassi Racing. Have Bill Davis call McMurray and have him say he’s just bought out the new McMurray contract from Roush. See what he says.
12 12 Jeff Burton Jeff Burton Did you see him on the Weather Channel over the weekend? They actually offered him a part-time job, but he turned it down. Seriously. And he didn’t even tell them Ward was available.
13  8 Ricky Rudd Ricky Rudd Allen Bestwick committed a grievous error during Sunday’s broadcast. He simply called Rudd’s crew chief “Michael McSwain.” That was it. No “Fatback.” Maybe that is his way of complimenting Fatback’s weight loss.
14 20 Kyle Busch Kyle Busch This was the first year he didn’t go Trick-or-Treating.
15 10 Rusty Wallace Rusty Wallace Everybody thinks it is really cute to give him rocking chairs, but it makes the front of his house look like a Cracker Barrel.
16 NR Joe Nemechek Joe Nemechek Report: Nemechek quoted
17 11 Denny Hamlin Denny Hamlin He is definitely in the No. 11 car at Texas. Please let him win. Denny Hamlin in 10-gallon hat with those teeth grinning. Same thing for Carl Edwards, actually.
18 NR Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Report: May-Ling overjoyed by top-five at Atlanta
19 15 Casey Mears Casey Mears His donated a helmet for breast cancer awareness (www.bcrfcure.org). The auction raised $3,050, and the good karma helped Mears have one of his better months.
20 17 Bobby Labonte Bobby Labonte First question Bobby asks potential car owners: “You guys wouldn’t make me run a purple car, would you?”
21 21 Elliott Sadler Elliott Sadler That purple paint scheme he ran at Atlanta featured Halloween candy. It got voted the top special scheme he’s run all year by slim margin. Kyle Busch helped sway the vote.
22 19 Jeremy Mayfield Jeremy Mayfield He can still win the title. He can win all three races and lead the most laps and hope Stewart finishes 35th or worse in all three. Same for Biffle, Johnson, Edwards, Newman and Kenseth. Wallace and Martin retire with a race to go to generate extra publicity. Busch is early released from Roush. It can happen.
23 19 Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick This frustrating year has led to some rapid released hair.
24 25 Dave Blaney Dave Blaney He’s got six straight top-25 finishes. And 15 straight top-35s. And 55 straight top-40 finishes.
25 23 Kasey Kahne Kasey Kahne The wreck with Reed Sorenson was Teen Idol vs. Teen Idol. Kahne clearly didn’t roll out the welcome mat for his new competition.

The Power Rankings are written by Ryan Smithson and the opinions listed here are solely those of the writer. To email Ryan about the Rankings, click here.
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