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Power Rankings: Loudon
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
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July 12, 2006
9:14 AM EDT (0914 GMT)

Biggest Gain this week: Dale Earnhardt Jr., up seven spots

Biggest Drop this week: Elliott Sadler, down six spots

New this week: Reed Sorenson (23), Jeremy Mayfield (24), Sterling Marlin (25).

Dropped out: Dale Jarrett (21), Tony Raines (22), Ken Schrader(25)
Week 19 of 36, Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway
Rank Prev Number Driver Comments
 1  1 Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth It was quite a weekend in Chicago. Next year they are going to host Kenseth at Wrigley Field, where he will sing Take Me Out In Turn 2 during the seventh inning stretch.
 2  6 Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon Report: Gordon refuses to apologize after driving through farmer's market, injuring 56
 3  7 Kurt Busch Kurt Busch Report: Kurt hopes to tap into Kenseth's fan base by spinning out Gordon at Loudon
 4  4 Jeff Burton Jeff Burton He is on the verge of making the playoffs. Of course, the Roush-loving press would dub it as "Roush alumnus secures bid for the Chase for the Nextel Cup."
 5  4 Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson Almost overheard in Gordon’s car with 10 laps to go: "Hang on, Jimmie. I'll get you the points lead as soon as I can catch the 17 here in Turn 1."
 6  2 Greg Biffle Greg Biffle A lot of America is fat. And here is why. I can go to the grocery store and get a frozen pizza and a six-pack of beer for $6.92. But when I want a No. 8 combo from Subway -- you know, grilled chicken -- it's $8.05.
 7 15 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. All right. I had Dale Jr. ranked much too low last week. Just like imdb.com has Junior listed much too high (they have his height listed as 6-2). Yeah right man! I know he is not a foot taller than Jeff Gordon.
 8  9 Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick Report: Harvick urging Childress to go on another safari
 9 10 Kyle Busch Kyle Busch He has two straight top-fives, but yet, he hasn’t been interviewed after the race either time. Probably because TV producers hate it when someone's sunglasses take up 84 percent of the screen.
10  5 Kasey Kahne Kasey Kahne I really hope Danica Patrick enters Nextel Cup. She'd unseat Kasey as the prettiest driver.
11 13 Mark Martin Mark Martin Just a random thought: When was the last time you saw this guy qualify badly? Ever? I mean seriously. Ever see an article saying, "Mark Martin qualifies lowly 37th"?
12  8 Tony Stewart Tony Stewart He ran out of gas, which sucked. But the good news is that his car coasted about 150 feet more than it would have when he was 32 pounds lighter. This is useful information for next month’s race at Michigan.
13 11 Denny Hamlin Denny Hamlin Report: FedEx officials lobbying NASCAR to take away Dale Jarrett's past champ's provisional
14 17 Ryan Newman Ryan Newman Report: Federal officials foil plot by Ryan Newman to eclipse Jeff Burton in number of 2006 Bud Poles
15 14 Carl Edwards Carl Edwards Funny, true story: Tom, his motorcoach driver, still hasn't shaved since Carl's last win. His beard is Rasputin-ish. And he is single. And will remain single until Carl's next win. Pocono never looked so good.
16 19 Scott Riggs Scott Riggs Barney Rubble, who also goes by the name of Scott Riggs, had a pretty good run in the USG Bedrock 400, running 15th
17 17 Jamie McMurray Jamie McMurray In Talladega Nights: The ballad of Ricky Bobby, Jamie makes a brief cameo. He loses to Will Ferrell in a head-to-head battle. Except in the movie they don’t point out that it would have been his first win since Charlotte in 2002.
18 12 Elliott Sadler Elliott Sadler Report: Sadler wants Montoya's F1 ride, if he can get past the language barrier(s)
19 18 Brian Vickers Brian Vickers Poll: Vickers voted most likely Chevrolet lame duck driver to win before season is out
20 24 Bobby Labonte Bobby Labonte When he moved from Gibbs to Petty, his bad luck followed.
21 20 Casey Mears Casey Mears A lot of the media has made a big deal out of Juan Pablo Montoya's debut. They asked him many legitimate questions about his learning curve in NASCAR. But they ignored the most important angle: How will Larry McReynolds handle his name?
22 NR Reed Sorenson Reed Sorenson Report: Sorenson relieved by Montoya's hiring, claims learning Spanish will be much easier than deciphering Ward Burton
23 23 Clint Bowyer Clint Bowyer If Tony Stewart had to wear Bowyer's all-black firesuit every Sunday, he’d lose 7-10 pounds a week. And that is just if he wore it during driver introductions.
24 NR Jeremy Mayfield Jeremy Mayfield Hey Jeremy! Where do you want the Ray Evernham pinata!
25 NR Sterling Marlin Sterling Marlin I was going to ask Chip Ganassi why he always hired drivers from either Columbia (Marlin) or Colombia (Montoya). But I didn’t think he would get the joke, so I didn't.

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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