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Power Rankings: Richmond
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
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May 3, 2006
7:56 PM EDT (1956 GMT)

Biggest Gain this week: Kurt Busch, up seven spots

Biggest Drop this week: Greg Biffle, down eight spots

New this week: Brian Vickers (20), Jeremy Mayfield (21).

Dropped out: Reed Sorenson (20), Sterling Marlin (25).

Week 10 of 36, Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway
Rank Prev Number Driver Comments
 1  1 Tony Stewart Tony Stewart A lot of you guys have e-mailed asking why the Michelin Man is No. 1 every Wednesday. You're seeing the rare peak of driver and team right now.
 2  2 Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth He has a very unfriendly last name for people who have a lisp. They will drown people if you say it fast three times.
 3  6 Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson A lot of people are picking him to win Richmond. Such a win would tie Chad Knaus for the team lead in crew chief wins with Darian Grubb.
 4  3 Kasey Kahne Kasey Kahne Erin Crocker should have been used to drive in relief for Kasey instead of Hermie Sadler. It would have been like that great scene in Back to School. "Erin! We need ya! Get your suit on!"
 5  4 Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick It was pretty funny to hear that Richard Childress missed Harvick's PIR win because he was in Africa shooting elephants. It is not too tough to shoot elephants, you see. For Harvick's next win, Childress will probably be in Texas, hunting black angus cows.
 6  7 Jeff Burton Jeff Burton Convo from 2005
Fan 1: "Who won the race?"
Fan 2: "Jeff Burton."
Fan 1: "Yeah right. Tell me who really won."
Fan 2: "Biffle."
Convo from 2006
Fan 1: "Who won the race?"
Fan 2: "Jeff Burton."
Fan 1: "Figures. He's been on the verge."
 7  5 Mark Martin Mark Martin I honestly think that Roush Racing put Greg Biffle's hood on Mark Martin's car so that it would be worth more when they auction it off.
 8  8 Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon No smoke (Nicorette), no Coke (Pepsi) and no wins.
 9 14 Carl Edwards Carl Edwards Report: Edwards refusing to sue paparazzi who snapped topless pics of him
10 17 Kurt Busch Kurt Busch There was a race this season where his window net fell down. I think it was Phoenix. See, that is why Kurt should not have had his ears pinned back. In the past, when his window net fell down, he could simply take his helmet off and use the left one to hold the net up until the next caution.
11  9 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. So we're still trying to get him introduced to the hot chick that stars in the Mercury commercials. She was born in a town near the RCR shops and starred last year in some movie titled Junebug. If that isn't fate, I don't know what is.
12 10 Kyle Busch Kyle Busch He turned 21 on Tuesday. He is proudly legal now. Except he'll get this all the time: "Nice try, kid. This is a fake. You look 12."
13 18 Scott Riggs Scott Riggs This should have been on Jayski this week: RIGGS WOULD HAVE BEEN 22ND IN POINTS HAD HE NOT MISSED DAYTONA: Hearing that Riiggs would have gotten more points had he made the Daytona 500. UPDATE YES: Sources say he would be in the lower 20s in the points instead of mid 20s.
14 11 Bobby Labonte Bobby Labonte He is a sure bet for a top-10 this week. And it's an equal bet that TV will interview him and say "A fifth-place run for Bobby Labonte! Brings back old times, doesn't it?"
15 12 Clint Bowyer Clint Bowyer He has got Prilosec on the car this weekend. Just letting LarryMac know in advance so he can get some practice saying it.
16 16 Dale Jarrett Dale Jarrett There are already rumors that he is going to wind up with Michael Waltrip and Toyota. If Waltrip finally gets a haircut, it will be a union between two ex-mullets.
17 13 Denny Hamlin Denny Hamlin He was pretty mad about his rough driving penalty at Talladega. Maybe it was uncalled for. But when you keep seeing commercials of him bumping lawn mowers or using his boat to blow people off the water, it is hard to think of him as a gentle soul.
18 21 Jamie McMurray Jamie McMurray Report: McMurray petitioning NASCAR for extra points when Will Ferrell drives winning No. 26 car in Talladega Nights
19 19 Martin Truex Jr. Martin Truex Jr. He was featured on SPEED's 7 Days this week. Power Rankings makes a brief cameo during the show. It re-runs Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
20 NR Brian Vickers Brian Vickers He got pretty mad when he heard that the No. 25 car was getting the black flag in the Busch race. Apparently, he's a closet Ashton Lewis Jr. fan.
21 NR Jeremy Mayfield Jeremy Mayfield Already had a lot of people asking why Mayfield has Stewart's car destroyed in the latest Nextel commercial. It has got to be because Stewart hasn't been letting Mayfield get his laps back.
22 24 Elliott Sadler Elliott Sadler Race-winnin cah. Eyum un Eyums Fawd Fewzyun wuz stellah enthuh draft. Layud uhlottuh laps, nevuh went upside dayown, finnisht un all fowah teyeyuhs. Not bayud.
23 15 Greg Biffle Greg Biffle Funny commercials currently being shown: 2
Top-fives: 0
24 23 Casey Mears Casey Mears One of my favorite headlines of the year appeared on Saturday:
Mears doesn't care that Busch is sorry
25 22 Ryan Newman Ryan Newman Goodbye, Newman.

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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