In what was yet another fuelish event, #12-Ryan Newman made his gas last the final 52 laps today at Michigan International Speedway and won the GFS Marketplace 400. For Newman, it was his 5th victory of the season and 6th of his career. He’s now the lone driver in Cup history with 6 wins….58th on the all-time win list. This was also the 47th victory for Roger Penske (or 50th if you count the three that Jeremy Mayfield got for partner Michael Kranefuss)….with the last six for Penske Motorsports being earned by Ryan. Had a nice “beer crash” at pit-in today….wonder what Junior called Rusty? One thing’s for sure….it was the pits for Earnhardt’s chances after that. Notice how fast the response was today by the rescue teams? Also, we saw a press release this week about a new “chase” vehicle for NASCAR with a face familiar to drivers aboard. It’s all about damage control. Second beef….NASCAR.com must be fixed. Last week, they decided to eliminate the 43rd position in their results. Today, it’s 14th! Is this some kind of contest….guess the driver we’ve forgotten? For the record, Ward Burton was 14th (I was able to find this at one of those “unofficial” websites). #30-Steve Park (5th) had his best finish since he was runner-up at Dover in June of 2001! His Top-5 finish gives us 29 drivers to hit that mark this season….last year we had 31 of ’em. #49-Ken Schrader (8th) had his best finish since he was 8th at Atlanta in March of 2001! #10-Johnny Benson (10th) had his best finish since he was 5th at Dover in June. #45-Kyle Petty (16th) had his best finish since he was 11th at Talladega in April. #37-Derrike Cope (34th) had his best finish since he was 29th at Las Vegas in March (only 9 races). STREAKIN: Ryan Newman has 5 Top-10’s in the last 6 races. Robby Gordon has 5 Top-10’s in the last 6 races. Kevin Harvick has 4 Top-5’s in the last 5 races. Matt Kenseth has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races. The Rookie Report: For the ninth time this season, Greg Biffle (4th) was the top-finishing first year driver. He was followed by: Tony Raines (24th), Jamie McMurray (36th), Larry Foyt (39th), and Casey Mears (42nd). Biffle & McMurray are now tied at the top in this category. This Week’s Elevator…UP: Operator of the Week is Johnny Benson (+25), followed by Matt Kenseth (+24), Ken Schrader (+22), Tony Stewart (+20), Kyle Petty (+20), Mark Martin (+20), and Mike Skinner (+20). DOWN: The Big Dropper is Bobby Labonte (-36), followed by Jason Leffler (-29), Kevin Lepage (-27), Christian Fittipaldi (-26), Larry Foyt (-25), and Casey Mears (-25). With all those surprises at the top of the lineup and all those good drivers at the bottom of the starting grid, this week was a shaft-watchers delight! Nearly 1/3 of the field involved. Matt Kenseth put some more distance between himself and Little E today….71 points worth. His lead is now a very strong 329 markers, with a “Magic Number” of 4 (that’s pretty high with 13 races to go). Greg Biffle (21st to 19th) made the only multiple-position move in the Top-50. Rusty Wallace went down in flames (don’t you just love a good pun?), falling from 12th to 15th.( StockCarFans.Com Wcup Newsletter )(8-17-2003)
