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Power Rankings: Fontana
May 11, 2004
9:13 AM EDT (0913 GMT)

Why was everyone so angry that trash was thrown on the track? It's got to be easier to pick up there.

Biggest Gain this week: Robby Gordon, up eight spots

Biggest Drop this week: Kasey Kahne, Dale Jarrett, Elliott Sadler, down four spots

New this week: Casey Mears (24), Ken Schrader (25).

Dropped out: Ward Burton (22), Kyle Petty (25).
Week 10 of 36, Auto Club 500 at California Speedway
Rank Prev Number Driver Comments
 1  3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. He had the quote of the week: "And if you noticed, there wasn't anyone throwing their Budweiser away. All I saw was Coors. What's that tell you? I guess those last few swallows of a Coors really ain't that good."
 2  2 Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson His little brother Jarit is a rising star in the Late Model ranks, which means that in five years, nearly 10 percent of the Nextel Cup drivers will be named J. Johnson or K. Busch.
 3  1 Kurt Busch Kurt Busch He’s going to run a Superman scheme at the second Michigan race. You know, the same race where Jimmy Spencer punched him last year. We guess Busch wanted some extra help in case Spencer comes over for Round 2.
 4  5 Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon His car was pelted with trash after the race. Put some pretty big dents in it, too. One of two things happened: 1. They were Dale Jr. fans mad that he beat their man, or 2. They were trying to dent the car so bad that it would fail inspection.
 5  4 Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth He said that there was a “a lot of crazy stuff going on” at Talladega, but we’re not sure exactly if he meant in the race, or in the infield.
 6 10 Ryan Newman Ryan Newman He only utters one word – “Hey” – in the new Dodge commercial. We are not sure what Ryan was paid for the spot, but we’re sure his pay-per-word average exceeds Michael Waltrip’s.
 7 13 Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick The premiere of his reality show on FX is out in Los Angeles this week. No word yet on whether Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle will serve as ushers.
 8  6 Tony Stewart Tony Stewart Billy Joel was embarrassed this week when he drove into a house. But it wasn’t entirely his fault – Stewart had gotten him loose right before he entered the yard.
 9  6 Rusty Wallace Rusty Wallace The media reported on Sunday that he’s already started a new losing streak.
10 11 Jamie McMurray Jamie McMurray “I’ve never been hit that hard on a superspeedway,” he said about Talladega. Sure he hasn’t, but he’s never tried to use a fender to cut down Jimmy Spencer’s tire.
11 11 Bobby Labonte Bobby Labonte He had the highest-finishing Barney-colored car at Talladega.
12  8 Kasey Kahne Kasey Kahne Quote of the week, No. 2: “Tony Stewart has been running into everything all year, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he did it here, too.”
13  9 Elliott Sadler Elliott Sadler We’re not sure who has worse luck in Alabama – Sadler, or Billy Gambini in My Cousin Vinny.
14 16 Mark Martin Mark Martin He’s going to run a Batman scheme at Michigan in August. How genius. We figure Batman is over the age of 50, and could probably use some, um, help.
15 14 Sterling Marlin Sterling Marlin He ran a Kentucky Derby paint scheme at Talladega. Horse run good.
16 24 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Man, he was strong all weekend long at Talladega. Who says you can’t run a road course car on a superspeedway?
17 19 Greg Biffle Greg Biffle He sure did spray a lot of water from his motor on pit road, but fortunately, none of it went on Doug Richert’s face.
18 21 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip What does the 499 in the Aaron’s 499 stand for? You don’t know? It’s the number of Aaron’s ads starring Michael Waltrip that appeared on Sunday’s broadcast.
19 15 Dale Jarrett Dale Jarrett He drove the entire race at Talladega at the rear of the field, which must have given Eric McClure some confidence. “Hey guys, I am racing Dale Jarrett for position!”
20 17 Jeremy Mayfield Jeremy Mayfield Not all the fans were idiots. We saw a couple of Mountain Dew cans bounce off Mayfield’s car.
21 18 Joe Nemechek Joe Nemechek Engine did blow, Joe.
22 23 Jeff Burton Jeff Burton His new sponsor is Roundup. Kills Silly Season rumors in less than 24 hours, or your money back.
23 20 Brian Vickers Brian Vickers Well, look at the bright side. That caution gave your teammate the victory.
24 NR Casey Mears Casey Mears He had the highest-finishing Dodge at Talladega, and chances are pretty good that he’ll have the highest-finishing Dodge at Fontana.
25 NR Ken Schrader Ken Schrader He’s got a tougher, leaner, more manly paint job. It’s mainly blue, but it’s still got a little canary yellow still mixed in it. The new colors are permanent, mainly because they painted it with a Sharpie.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.
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