Power Rankings: Bristol
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
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March 22, 2006
2:10 PM EST (1410 GMT)
Biggest Gain this week: Dale Earnhardt Jr., up six spots

Biggest Drop this week: Casey Mears, down seven spots

New this week: Martin Truex Jr. (24), Bobby Labonte (25).

Dropped out: Clint Bowyer (16), Joe Nemechek (25).

Week 5 of 36,Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway
Rank Prev Number Driver Comments
1 1 Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson Kenny Wallace got the movie The Benchwarmers as an associate sponsor at Atlanta. With Knaus' suspension, Johnson's car would have been much better marketing.
2 6 Mark Martin Mark Martin A lot of people wondered why he couldn't catch Kahne in the final laps. It was because Martin was distracted after he realized he was missing his afternoon dose of Matlock.
3 7 Kasey Kahne Kasey Kahne Judging by his early success, 43 guys are going to show up at Bristol with dyed black hair.
4 4 Tony Stewart Tony Stewart I truly believe that the Carl Edwards ESPN photo shoot jinxed him. Which pretty much eliminates any future chance of a similar Tony Stewart cover.
5 2 Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth He isn't in the Gillette Young Guns anymore. Neither is Kevin Harvick. Which means they are making a huge push toward drivers that do not wear their hat 24/7.
6 8 Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon That new Chevrolet commercial, where all the Chevy drivers toast each other, drives me crazy. That is water in that champagne glass! Use the real thing! Kyle Busch isn't even in the commercial!
7 10 Greg Biffle Greg Biffle On TV, they said that Biffle holds his steering wheel differently than Dale Earnhardt Jr., because Biffle is a young guy. Come on. Biffle is six years older than Junior.
8 9 Jeff Burton Jeff Burton He won the Busch race on Saturday, and it was his first win in anything in four years. And he clearly forgot how to do a burnout.
9 5 Kyle Busch Kyle Busch I have to apologize to Kyle. We made fun of him two weeks ago for saying that he didn't mean to wreck Michel Jourdain in his home state of Mexico. Kyle actually knew that Mexico has 32 recognized states, and that is what he meant. Maybe Tony Stewart told him.
10 3 Casey Mears Casey Mears Overall, he had a pretty bad week. He had his birthday on the day of the Las Vegas event, but at 10 a.m. the next day, Jimmie Johnson left him at the airport, and he had to fly commercial back from Las Vegas (gasp!) and he had a middle-row seat (double gasp!). Then he finished 21st at Atlanta.
11 11 Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick He had the radio transmission quote of the weekend about Kurt Busch: "If he takes a swipe at me it will be more than his ears that hurt."
12 18 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. We need to introduce Dale Jr. to the girl in the Mercury commercials. And she's even a North Carolina native. It would be perfect. Clearly, I have given this too much thought.
13 14 Dale Jarrett Dale Jarrett I guess you remember the Jarrett-Newman clash at Bristol last year. Funny thing is, Jarrett apologized for it a few weeks ago. I guess he realized he better call Newman since Bristol (and potential payback) is coming up.
14 12 Jamie McMurray Jamie McMurray He has a new house, a new dog, new assistants, new job, new uniforms, new everything. All of which are not nearly as stressful as a hairstylist change.
15 17 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon At least the motor didn't blow up.
At Atlanta, Robby had to pit under green for a vibration, got caught speeding on pit road, saw his catch-can man get hurt and had a sure top-five turn into a 28th-place finish.
16 21 Denny Hamlin Denny Hamlin If Carl Edwards had been driving the No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet on Monday, this would have been the post-race quote: "Gosh, we had a great Chevrolet today. I knew it was fast when I took out Ryan Newman there in Turn 4. It was an honor to be fast enough to get into the back of him."
17 13 Carl Edwards Carl Edwards There is a member of his team that has refused to shave until Edwards wins again. Now, knowing Carl's lack of success at short tracks, you know what this poor guy's wife is thinking as the series hits Bristol and Martinsville. "Aww, no! I gotta look at you with a full beard for at least three more weeks!"
18 15 Ryan Newman Ryan Newman I'll bet he went crazy when he saw Kahne win. "Dang it, Kasey, NASCAR was going to give us nose help! Oh no! That is Petty in eighth! Sorenson in 10th!"
19 24 Scott Riggs Scott Riggs Report: Riggs already worried Mayfield will demand his ride if Mayfield falls out of top 35
20 21 Elliott Sadler Elliott Sadler He is a big NCAA hoops fan, but it is starting to affect his driving. I can almost hear his Atlanta radio transmissions:
Baldwin: "Pit in 6, Elliott."
Sadler: "Pitt is up by six?"
Baldwin: "No, I want you to pit in 6."
Sadler: "You want me to watch Pitt at 6?"
21 19 Brian Vickers Brian Vickers He keeps getting requests (seriously) from girls to attend their high school proms. He should do it. He didn't get to go to his because he was a Busch regular at the time.
22 22 J.J. Yeley J.J. Yeley Report: Michael Waltrip devastated that Yeley is now the last driver listed alphabetically
23 23 Kurt Busch Kurt Busch After that pit-road accident, Edwards' crew chief said, "We're going to get you a new nose, Carl." For a brief second, I thought Carl was going to become the second driver in two months to have major plastic surgery.
24 NR Martin Truex Jr. Martin Truex Jr. His post-race report said that "Four new tires were bolted on Truex [as he] returned for the final restart." That was pretty cool that he drove from 28th to 19th on the final run despite having four tires bolted on him.
25 NR Bobby Labonte Bobby Labonte Man, he has a fast car at Atlanta. I can almost hear what Newman was saying on the radio.
Ryan: "Why is the 43 all over me? Is he trying to get the Lucky Dog?"
Spotter: "Ryan, that is for position, bud."

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.