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Power Rankings: Pocono
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
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July 19, 2006
3:44 PM EDT (1544 GMT)

Biggest Gain this week: Kyle Busch, up seven spots

Biggest Drop this week: Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., down four spots

New this week: J.J. Yeley (21), Martin Truex Jr. (23).

Dropped out: Bobby Labonte (20), Sterling Marlin (25).

Week 20 of 36, Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway
Rank Prev Number Driver Comments
 1  5 Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson Webster’s Dictionary added a new word this week: Unibrow. I’ll tell you, NASCAR is slowly invading the world.
 2  9 Kyle Busch Kyle Busch With Elliott Sadler’s move to Evernham, Robert Yates Racing will pretty much have to promote 19-year-old Stephen Leicht to the big leagues. And Kyle won’t be the youngest driver anymore. But he will always be the palest.
 3  2 Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth He got spun by Jeff Gordon last week. Then he wrecked with David Stremme. Kenseth then was rear-ended while driving his rental car to Indy. Then he wrecked at the Indy test. So he had four crashes in less than 15 hours.
 4  2 Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon Almost seen on Jayski last week:
GORDON TO CHANGE NAME TO SELL MORE SHIRTS? Hearing Jeff Gordon will legally take his fiancée’s name and change it to Jeff Vanderbosch. UPDATE: Being told new name won’t fit on a T-shirt and idea is being abandoned.
 5  4 Jeff Burton Jeff Burton Actual sentence seen on NASCAR.COM on Sunday, obviously a typo: "1:47 p.m. -- TNT reviews the career of four-time New Hampshire winner Jeff Burton. It's been 166 races since he has won, and he'll start second today. His words -- and looking at his past -- show he's now slouch."
Report: Burton now a slouch
 6  6 Greg Biffle Greg Biffle The Subway saga continues. Actual convo last week:
Customer: I want everything but peppers. (Subway worker starts piling on banana peppers)
Customer: Everything but peppers, please.
Subway: Oh. Well, these are not peppers. They are banana peppers.
 7  3 Kurt Busch Kurt Busch Media coverage of Busch’s new ears has slowly faded into oblivion. Sad.
 8  8 Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick After Saturday’s Busch race, he now thinks 43 percent of his competitors are either morons, boneheads or idiots.
 9 11 Mark Martin Mark Martin My favorite NASCAR.COM Mark Martin headline of the year: Martin recalls all-star races lost, not won
10 10 Kasey Kahne Kasey Kahne He has got to be wondering why he has to kiss women in commercials that are Jeremy Mayfield’s age. Like, "Dadgum, I have won five times on tour. Give me someone who doesn’t look like a reject from Desperate Housewives."
11  7 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. MOORESVLLE, N.C. (NASCAR.COM) – Authorities are planning to indict NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. for reckless friend endangerment after he failed to warn both Dale Jarrett and Jeremy Mayfield about the insane amount of commercials that will be required when you’re a teammate of Michael Waltrip, multiple sources told NASCAR.COM on Wednesday.
12 13 Denny Hamlin Denny Hamlin At Pocono this weekend, young rookie David Stremme will attempt to copy Denny Hamlin by completely destroying his car and going on to an improbable victory.
13 15 Carl Edwards Carl Edwards He hasn't won this year. Neither has Martin or McMurray. Maybe Roush drivers aren't kidding in the Ameriquest commercial when they say they are letting other people win for once.
14 14 Ryan Newman Ryan Newman He had the quote of the week: "We just got hit from behind by [Michael Waltrip]. He’s usually like that here. We didn’t get wrecked hard enough to get out and throw a helmet at him."
15 16 Scott Riggs Scott Riggs Tenth place at Loudon. For shizzle, Scott Rizzle.
16 12 Tony Stewart Tony Stewart What in the world was he talking about during his post-wreck interview on Sunday? Matt Yocum should have provided Tony with a chair, an ottoman and a cigar if he had known his remarks would have been that extensive.
17 17 Jamie McMurray Jamie McMurray There are two ways to get Benny Parsons to stop saying "MacMary." Either he says the name right, or McMurray runs poorly, preventing Parsons from mentioning him. So far, McMurray has done the latter.
18 19 Brian Vickers Brian Vickers Casey Mears’ move to Hendrick next season will place a lot of pressure on him to at least threaten to win at Pocono twice a year.
19 22 Reed Sorenson Reed Sorenson I know it was minor, but on Sunday, TNT goes, "Reed is trying for his first career top-five." Which was wrong. Just saying. Maybe they meant David Stremme.
20 18 Elliott Sadler Elliott Sadler I simpluh kuhnnot comment on ruhpawts I'm moovin tuh Evuhnhayum Motuhspawhts.
21 NR J.J. Yeley J.J. Yeley With a 10th-place and a 12th-place in the last two weeks, he has now built a 148-point lead in the rookie standings on Brent Sherman. This is pretty much insurmountable ground for Sherman.
22 21 Casey Mears Casey Mears It appears Juan Pablo Montoya won’t be able to run in NASCAR right away, which bought Ganassi’s fabricators an inordinate amount of time.
23 NR Martin Truex Jr. Martin Truex Jr. Report: Truex really hoping Chase includes top-20 drivers in 2007
24 23 Clint Bowyer Clint Bowyer AOL instant message convo I intercepted on Monday:
Harvick1975: Hey CB, can you please pass Hamlin in the rookie points
BowyerRCRdriver: LOL
Harvick1975: I am serious. Get 'er done.
BowyerRCRdriver: LMAO
25 24 Jeremy Mayfield Jeremy Mayfield Report: Michael Waltrip hopes to sign Mayfield, keep average age of driver lineup above 42, keep average hair length of drivers at medium

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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