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RICHMOND

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  • Who's Up

Biggest Gain this week:

Jamie McMurray: 12th to 7th

New This Week :
Kasey Kahne
Sterling Marlin

  • Who's Down

Biggest Drop this week:

Carl Edwards: 7th to 12th

Dropped Out :
Mark Martin
Robby Gordon

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 1
    CHANGE : 0

  • 1

  • Jeff Gordon

    This Bud (or Miller Lite) is for you, Jeff.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 4
    CHANGE : +2

  • 2

  • Jimmie Johnson

    Check the Loop Data: Only two drivers have an average running position of 8.9 or better -- Gordon and Johnson. That goes a long way toward explaining why those two Hendrick cars have won five of nine races. ... I cannot explain the seemingly convenient cautions, so stop asking, Agent Mulder.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 2
    CHANGE : -1

  • 3

  • Jeff Burton

    Burton has led only 27 of his 2,845 laps (.009 percent) this season. On the flip side, Tony Stewart has run on point for a series-best 591 of his 2,807 (.210). ... Try not to read anything into that; it's just a quirky fact. And don't break out the "rather be lucky than good." Luck has nothing to do with Burton being second in points and Stewart is good.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 3
    CHANGE : -1

  • 4

  • Matt Kenseth

    Matty has six consecutive top-15 finishes at Talladega and seven in the past eight plate races. That's less stunning than the Packers drafting Justin Harrell with the 16th pick in the NFL draft. ... Nothing Kenseth does on the track should surprise anyone.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 5
    CHANGE : 0

  • 5

  • Denny Hamlin

    Hamlin's average finish in the two plate races this season: 24.5. In the other seven races: 8.8. Another case where the numbers just don't add up, because he had the car to beat -- for 500.1 miles at Talladega.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 6
    CHANGE : 0

  • 6

  • Tony Stewart

    Why was Smoke, who crashed while running in the top 10 as the race-ending caution came out, scored 28th at Talladega? From Section 10-8B of the rule book:
    When the checkered flag is given to the leader, the balance of the field receives the checkered flag in the same lap. Finishing positions will be determined according to the most laps traveled in the least total time, whether the car is running or not.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 12
    CHANGE : +5

  • 7

  • Jamie McMurray

    Proof that Mac learned something while dating Rusty Wallace's daughter once upon a time: Larry Carter is a damn good crew chief. ... For all things that have gone wrong for Toyota this year, losing Carter has to be on the short list.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 10
    CHANGE : +2

  • 8

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    A merger between DEI and Robert Yates Racing makes a lot of sense. Looking at the big picture, DEI has three drivers and, with all respect to Ricky Rudd, RYR has David Gilliland. Between Junior, Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard and Gilliland, I think Mr. 51 Percent would have a nice foundation from which to build DEI into a bona fide championship contender.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 9
    CHANGE : 0

  • 9

  • Clint Bowyer

    Suffered only his second thirtysomething finish of the season at Talladega, but it also was his third consecutive finish off the lead lap. Says here he rebounds at Richmond; 11.0 average finish in two starts. That should net enough cash to keep Athena in beads for a few more weeks.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 13
    CHANGE : +3

  • 10

  • Kurt Busch

    Kurt's third-place finish was the best-ever for the blue deuce at Talladega, besting Rusty Wallace's eighth-place run on Oct. 15, 2000. Sunday also marked the first time Penske had two top-10 cars in a restrictor-plate race since Sept. 28, 2003, at 'Dega (Ryan Newman fourth; Wallace ninth).

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 8
    CHANGE : -3

  • 11

  • Kyle Busch

    Strange fact of the week: Kyle has crashed-out of a race 10 times in both the Busch and Cup series.
    Stranger fact of the week: Kyle has crashed-out of both Talladega races in odd-numbered years since his debut: April 30-May 1, 2005; April 28-29, 2007.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 7
    CHANGE : -5

  • 12

  • Carl Edwards

    It was tough to slide Carl down five spots, especially after engine problems ended his day after only 27 laps at Talladega. Still, he's 12th in points, three spots better than he was through nine races last year.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 14
    CHANGE : +1

  • 13

  • Kevin Harvick

    Harvick has consecutive top-10 finishes, but that's not surprising considering his recent success at Phoenix and on plate tracks. Now comes Richmond, where he won the fall 2006 race and has top-10s in six of 12 starts.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 16
    CHANGE : +2

  • 14

  • Martin Truex Jr.

    Truex Jr. posted a 10th-place finish at Talladega. That is not good news for this weekend. His average finish in the races after his previous eight top-10s have resulted in a 26.3 average finish.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 15
    CHANGE : 0

  • 15

  • Greg Biffle

    Overshadowed by the ongoing Dale Earnhardt Jr. contract talks is this potential 2008 Silly Season barn-burner: The Biff's deal is up after next season. ... Which comes first: A new sponsor for the No. 16 or Biffle signs on the dotted line? Either way it's the headline story after Junior puts pen to paper.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 17
    CHANGE : +1

  • 16

  • Juan Montoya

    Some were surprised that he wasn't the catalyst for The Big One at Talladega. He kept his nose clean until slapping the wall on Lap 162. Now it's back to the short tracks. Any chance Juan and Tony Stewart turn up the dirt in a loser-leave-NASCAR event at Eldora? I mean, it is the WWE way, right?

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 18
    CHANGE : +1

  • 17

  • Elliott Sadler

    Sadler celebrated his 32nd birthday on Monday, and opened the bidding on his special Autism Awareness paint scheme helmet. The auction ends May 7.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 20
    CHANGE : +2

  • 18

  • Tony Raines

    The assumption is that you have to own one of the multi-mirrored DLPs to get an on-air glimpse of Raines. It's not like it was hard to find him at Talladega. His average running position was 22.880 -- and he finished 22nd. ... I guess the elephant got in the way of the camera.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 19
    CHANGE : 0

  • 19

  • Bobby Labonte

    The last time a Petty was in Victory Lane at Richmond? Feb. 23, 1986 -- and Kyle was driving for the Wood Brothers. You have to go back to Feb. 23, 1975, when Richard won, to find the last Petty Enterprises entry as the first across the stripe. ... What I'm saying is don't take Labonte in your fantasy pool this week.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 22
    CHANGE : +2

  • 20

  • David Stremme

    Hey, Chip -- Stremme's picture has been updated, thanks to PR hawk Kelby Krauss. (Glad you read the rankings, Mr. Ganassi!) Now give that man a raise (Kelby, not David; he's already made $1,011,840 this season). ... Sunday was Stremme's second top-10, a career-best eighth, in 47 starts. Congrats.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 21
    CHANGE : 0

  • 21

  • Jeff Green

    Green has netted back-to-back top-15 runs for the first time since Race Nos. 25-26 of the 2002 season. The No. 66 crew is riding high so let's not make a big deal of his six DNFs -- and only one top-10 -- in 14 starts at Richmond. Or that Greenie was parked the last time he raced at RIR. The good news is that he's back in the COT, which has resulted in two top-six runs in three starts.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 24
    CHANGE : +2

  • 22

  • Ryan Newman

    Newman raced the Kodak colors at Talladega and finished ninth, only his second top-10 of the season. His other start with a special paint scheme (Mobil 1) ended with a 12th at Fontana. His average finish with Alltel as the primary sponsor: 27.4. ... And don't think Sprint/Nextel isn't aware of this.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : 25
    CHANGE : +2

  • 23

  • Reed Sorenson

    He finished a career-best 25th at Talladega, and finished all laps for the first time in three races at the track. It's the baby steps, folks.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : NR

  • 24

  • Kasey Kahne

    He's back! Well, sort of ... if you consider a 21.4 average finish in the past five races being "back." But hey, Kahne was 12th at Talladega -- his second top-15 of the season. It ended his worst stretch since the final seven races of the 2005 season. ... And besides, today is my daughter Peyton's ninth birthday and she really likes Kasey. It's the least I could do, sweetheart.

  • Rank

    PREVIOUS : NR

  • 25

  • Sterling Marlin

    A couple of hiccups in the past handful of races but overall Sterling's average finish of 25.6 since Bristol lands him the final spot this week. ... Until Mark Martin, who sat out Talladega (hey, gotta race to be ranked), takes the green at Richmond and returns to the rankings next week.

2007 Power Rankings

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