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Power Rankings: Charlotte
May 20, 2003
11:10 AM EDT (1110 GMT)

After careful consideration, it has come to light that Bobby Labonte is probably the hottest driver right now.

Or Kurt Busch. Toss a coin. And Labonte has better history at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Both looked solid during The Winston. Dale Earnhardt Jr. loses his top ranking, but don't lament -- he can get it back easily.

Biggest Gain this week: Jimmie Johnson, up four spots

Biggest Drop this week: Robby Gordon, down six spots

Dropped out: Jamie McMurray (24)

Week 12 of 36, Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway
Rank Prev Number Driver Comments
 1  2 Bobby Labonte Bobby Labonte He could have spun out Kurt Busch to create a caution in The Winston, but he probably didn’t want Kurt showing him his backside on national TV.
 2  4 Kurt Busch Kurt Busch He didn’t have to wreck Robby Gordon this year in the final segment of The Winston. Robby’s car was wrecked way before that.
 3  3 Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth If they voted to introvert the field instead of invert it, he definitely would have made the cut.
 4  1 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. He refused to cry after wrecking the brand-new car the team built for him for The Winston. The fabricators -– who have to fix it -- will do all the crying for him.
 5  9 Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson Ok, so Humpy was right by picking him to win. That makes it something like 86 times out of 89 that he’s picked the winner of The Winston. If he picks Brett Bodine to win next year, start getting suspicious.
 6  7 Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon He ran a Wright Brothers scheme in The Winston. To make it authentic, he traveled about as fast as the Wright Brothers did in 1903.
 7  8 Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick He truly enjoyed the Goo-Goo Dolls show at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Glad someone did. Everyone else would probably rather have a Goo-Goo Cluster.
 8  5 Mark Martin Mark Martin Hasn’t been in the top 10 in the standings since Rockingham.
 9  6 Sterling Marlin Sterling Marlin His car owner says they might not run The Winston next year. He’ll probably go over to Tony Stewart’s house to watch it. Naturally, Sterling brings the drinks.
10 10 Rusty Wallace Rusty Wallace It was a non-points race, so he avoided all the annoying losing-streak talk. All the annoying losing-streak talk of how he hasn’t won a non-points race in awhile, either.
11 13 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip This ranking brought to you by Snap-On, Aaron’s Dream Machine, NAPA, Oreo, Coca-Cola, Ritz and Tuck's Medicated Pads.
12 11 Jeff Burton Jeff Burton Good thing he won the Open. Missing The Winston would have been uncomfortable. But not as uncomfortable as watching Ryan Newman waiting for cars that would never arrive.
13 14 Terry Labonte Terry Labonte Not bad, not bad. Not quite the old days yet – no pun intended – but they’ve made some serious strides. A win would be the most popular in the garage since, well, anytime Ricky Craven wins.
14 12 Elliott Sadler Elliott Sadler His helmet traveled faster in The Winston in 2002 than he did in 2003.
15 18 Ricky Craven Ricky Craven Annika Sorenstam will be the only woman competing this weekend on the PGA Tour. Ricky Craven knows how she feels. He was the only Pontiac that made it to the final segment of The Winston.
16 16 Tony Stewart Tony Stewart He said that he might not drive in The Winston next year. Heck, the way his finishes have been his year, he might not be in it anyway.
17 17 Ryan Newman Ryan Newman Aw, Ryan! We know you wanted to confront someone! Don’t let a little red flag stop you. You’re young – sprint the mile over there!
18 21 Joe Nemechek Joe Nemechek Had a real shot at winning The Winston – and $1 million, which would have doubled his 2003 earnings. Weird stat: John Andretti, Steve Park and Johnny Benson (two top-10s combined) have all made more money this year than Joe, who has three top-10s and a win.
19 20 Bill Elliott Bill Elliott Don’t expect a few broken bones to stop him. He’s got the pain threshold of an anvil.
20 19 Greg Biffle Greg Biffle He’s completed 99.4 percent of his laps this year.
21 15 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon He’s taking fans on an exclusive tour of his double-duty try this weekend. Umbrella not included.
22 23 Ricky Rudd Ricky Rudd Did you see that move he put on Rusty during The Winston? Reporting from his home in New York, one writer said that it “brought the crowd of 500,000 to its feet.”
23 NR Jeff Green Jeff Green His hiring by DEI set a record – he’s now worn three straight uniforms (NesQuik, AOL, Pennzoil) with yellow as a major color. We’ve learned that yellow is not slimming.
24 22 Ward Burton Ward Burton Ouch. During The Winston, he got pinched on the track by Jeff Gordon, who was leaning out the window trying to get Ward to look at a Pepsi logo.
25 25 Dale Jarrett Dale Jarrett So far, they’ve been the 2003 New York Mets of the Winston Cup Series. But like the Mets, it could all turn around any week.
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ARCHIVES
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• Week 1 at Daytona International Speedway
• Week 2 at North Carolina Speedway
• Week 3 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
• Week 4 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
• Week 5 at Darlington Raceway
• Week 6 at Bristol Motor Speedway
• Week 7 at Texas Motor Speedway
• Week 8 at Talladega Superspeedway
• Week 9 at Martinsville Speedway
• Week 10 at California Speedway
• Week 11 at Richmond International Raceway
• Week 12 at Lowe's Motor Speedway
• Week 13 at Dover International Speedway
• Week 14 at Pocono Raceway
• Week 15 at Michigan International Speedway
• Week 16 at Infineon Raceway
• Week 17 at Daytona International Speedway
• Week 18 at Chicagoland Speedway
• Week 19 at New Hampshire International Speedway
• Week 20 at Pocono Raceway
• Week 21 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Week 22 at Watkins Glen International
• Week 23 at Michigan International Speedway
• Week 24 at Bristol Motor Speedway
• Week 25 at Darlington Raceway
• Week 26 at Richmond International Raceway
• Week 27 at New Hampshire International Speedway
• Week 28 at Dover International Speedway
• Week 29 at Talladega Superspeedway
• Week 30 at Kansas Speedway
• Week 31 at Lowe's Motor Speedway
• Week 32 at Martinsville Speedway
• Week 33 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
• Week 34 at Phoenix International Raceway
• Week 35 at North Carolina Speedway
• Week 36 at Homestead-Miami Speedway
• Week 37 at Daytona International Speedway
The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.
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