AFTER LOUDON RANKINGS

Did Kyle Busch learn lesson at Loudon?

Driver maintains hold on rankings despite wreck at New Hampshire

DAVID POOLE

The Charlotte Observer

Monday, Jun. 30, 2008

• Rewind | A lot of teams had the same opportunity as laps wound down
• Slideshow | Sunday's action at the track
• Videos | Sunday's postrace news conferences and more
• David Poole's blog | Tony Stewart was absolutely a pro postrace
• Manufacturer cutbacks? | The autoextremist.com report and NASCAR spokesman's denial
• Updated points | Unofficial Sprint Cup driver standings
• Results | Unofficial NASCAR scoring

That's Racin' ranks the top 40 teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series after the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. N.H. Rankings are based on team performance and potential for success. (Last week's ranking in parentheses):

1. (1) Kyle Busch - car No. 18

Loudon lesson: No future in jacking around with a guy who has less to lose than you.

2. (2) Carl Edwards - car No. 99 No factor at all at Loudon, which was kind of a lost weekend for Roush Fenway cars.

3. (3) Dale Earnhardt Jr. - car No. 88

Wrecked on the way to pit road at Loudon. Will his Daytona magic return this week?

4. (4) Jeff Burton - car No. 31 It seems something good needs to happen to spark Richard Childress Racing's teams.

5. (6) Jimmie Johnson - car No. 48

There were times this car was the fastest at Loudon. Hasn't happened a lot this year.

6. (5) Kasey Kahne - car No. 9

Momentum can be a fleeting thing. Despite recent flurry this team's not a Chase lock.

7. (7) Matt Kenseth - car No. 17

Needs to get through Daytona with decent finish then pick up steam for run to Chase.

8. (9) Tony Stewart - car No. 20

Horrible luck again at Loudon, but it was taking two tires on final stop that sunk him.

9. (10) Denny Hamlin - car No. 11

Might well have won the race at New Hampshire if it hadn't rained. Sadly, it did rain.

10. (8) Greg Biffle - car. No. 16

This team's running better than it's finished. It also should be better than it's running.

11. (12) Jeff Gordon - car No. 24

Part of you expects this team to catch fire any time. Part of you sees no signs of that.

12. (11) Clint Bowyer - car No. 07

Could be him, could be his teammate Kevin Harvick right here. Both need to step up.

13. (13) Kevin Harvick - car No. 29

14. (14) Brian Vickers - car No. 83

15. (16) Martin Truex Jr. - car No. 1

16. (19) Kurt Busch - car No. 2

17. (15) David Ragan - car No. 6

18. (17) Ryan Newman - car No. 12

19. (23) Bobby Labonte - car No. 43

20. (25) Elliott Sadler - car No. 19

21. (20) Juan Pablo Montoya - car No. 42

22. (18) Mark Martin/Aric Almirola - car No. 8

23. (26) Casey Mears - car No. 5

24. (21) Jamie McMurray - car No. 26

25. (22) Travis Kvapil - car No. 28

26. (24) David Gilliland - car No. 38

27. (30) David Reutimann - car No. 44

28. (34) Michael Waltrip - car No. 55

29. (27) Paul Menard - car No. 15

30. (28) Dave Blaney - car No. 22

31. (31) Robby Gordon - car No. 7

32. (29) Sam Hornish Jr. - car No. 77

33. (35) Reed Sorenson - car No. 41

34. (32) AJ Allmendinger - car No. 84

35. (33) Scott Riggs - car No. 66

36. (36) Regan Smith - car No. 01

37. (NR) J.J. Yeley - car No. 96.

38. (38) Patrick Carpentier - car No. 10

39. (37) Michael McDowell - car No. 00

40. (40) Dario Franchitti - car No. 40

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