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Power Rankings: Chicagoland
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
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July 5, 2006
4:47 PM EDT (1647 GMT)

Biggest Gain this week: Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Elliott Sadler, up five spots

Biggest Drop this week: Carl Edwards, down six spots

New this week: Bobby Labonte (24), Ken Schrader (25).

Dropped out: Joe Nemechek (19), Reed Sorenson (23).

Week 18 of 36, USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway
Rank Prev Number Driver Comments
 1  6 Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth I guess a lot of y'all do not think I pay attention to stats anymore. Kenseth is ranked No. 1 this week based on momentum and last year's performance at Chicagoland.
 2  1 Greg Biffle Greg Biffle So I was in Subway in Daytona last week. Two teenage girls are in line ahead of me.
First girl: "Please give me a ham-and-cheese on white."
Worker to second girl: "And what will you have?"
Second girl : "Same as her."
Worker: "And what was that?"
 3  3 Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson I finally figured out why he wore a hat during his visit to the Hollywood Hotel on Friday night. He didn’t have time to shave his eyebrow.
 4  5 Jeff Burton Jeff Burton Someone told me that the beach ball that hit the track on Lap 5 had a Cingular logo on it. Question: if the beach ball was already inflated when the fan went through the gate, did the attendants just smile and say, "Wow, cool beach ball. That is sure to create a yellow if you toss it onto the track!"
 5  4 Kasey Kahne Kasey Kahne Report: Four single moms see Kasey Kahne unloading his boat, promptly drive straight into Lake Norman.
 6  2 Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon Report: Jimmie Johnson worried Gordon’s pending marriage will make him run like he did from 1994-2001.
 7  9 Kurt Busch Kurt Busch Report: Kurt Busch haters already wishing his season was named "Kurt's Last Call".
 8 12 Tony Stewart Tony Stewart Report: Stewart's brand-new exercise equipment feeling lonely, depressed, under-appreciated.
 9  7 Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick I nearly choked to death with laughter during the Busch race. FX goes to a glowering Harvick, who goes on a 30-second rant about how bad the tires were. Then they cut to a smiling Carl Edwards, who said the tires were the best thing since sliced bread.
10 15 Kyle Busch Kyle Busch I have no way to verify this, but a fan claims this was uttered on TV with a few laps to go at Daytona: "There's Kyle Busch, getting help from his brother Kurt, who is helping his brother Kyle."
11 11 Denny Hamlin Denny Hamlin FedEx commercial moderator: "Joe Whatever from Boston, Mass. writes...Does Denny Hamlin have any hobbies he enjoys?"
No, but he has hobbies that he doesn't enjoy.
12 17 Elliott Sadler Elliott Sadler He is going to be on the cover for EA Sports’ NASCAR 2007, narrowly beating out Sterling Marlin for the coveted honor.
13 13 Mark Martin Mark Martin Report: Martin really worried his NASCAR Hall of Fame plaque will depict him with a Viagra uniform.
14  8 Carl Edwards Carl Edwards After seeing Tony Stewart’s success, Roush Racing has announced plans to work on the "Car-l of Tommorow," where Roush Racing introduces a new Carl Edwards, complete with added width and girth.
15 10 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Seen in front of the No. 8 hauler last Saturday: An attractive girl with a shirt that read: "Future Trophy Wife."
16 14 Ryan Newman Ryan Newman Little-known fact about Ryan: He collects novelty T-shirts. He wore a red one last week that read: "Speaker City" -- an homage to the 2003 film Old School.
17 16 Jamie McMurray Jamie McMurray Actual question I heard asked at Daytona about the Gillette "Newman?!" commercial, in all seriousness: "Did Ryan really shave his number into your heads like that? Is he always doing mean things to you guys?"
18 20 Brian Vickers Brian Vickers Report: Vickers annoying team by asking for chilled Red Bull during pit stops.
19 18 Scott Riggs Scott Riggs I still believe he actually cut his feet while trying to stop his car without brakes, in true Barney Rubble style. The story of him cutting his feet while unloading a Jet Ski was just a cover.
20 22 Casey Mears Casey Mears Report: Mears really hoping he can become third Hendrick driver to marry a model.
21 25 Dale Jarrett Dale Jarrett Report: UPS really didn't want to re-film all those commercials.
22 24 Tony Raines Tony Raines I think I solved the mystery about why Terry Labonte didn’t respond at Sonoma when D.W. said, "Terry, this is D.W, you got a copy?" I don’t think Terry even heard him. The theory is that FOX producers accidentally tried Terry’s Hendrick Motorports radio frequency.
23 21 Clint Bowyer Clint Bowyer Weird stat of the year: Clint has more points in the last six races than Tony Stewart.
24 NR Bobby Labonte Bobby Labonte Bobby Labonte: The E! True Hollywood Story.
25 NR Ken Schrader Ken Schrader Report: Schrader voted least likely to own a Bluetooth headset.

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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