If you thought the rumblings about the #12 car’s fuel mileage was loud before, get ready for a deafening roar this week! Ryan Newman stretched his fuel (yet again) for a smooth 78 laps today and held off Bill Elliott to take his 8th victory of the Winston Cup season in this afternoon’s Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway. His 9th career win moves Newman into a tie for 47th on the all-time win list with Paul Goldsmith, Cotton Owens, and Bob Welborn. Bill Elliott (2nd) had his best finish since he won at The Brickyard in August of 2002. Todd Bodine (11th) had his best finish since he was 8th at Pocono in July. Bobby Hamilton Jr (14th) tied his career-best finish today. He was 14th at Talladega in October of 2001. STREAKIN….Ryan Newman has 5 Top-10’s in a row. Rusty Wallace has 5 Top-10’s in a row. Jeff Gordon has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races. This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the Week is John Andretti (+21), followed by Jeff Burton (+20). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Elliott Sadler (-32), followed by Mike Skinner (-27), Jason Leffler (-24), and Dale Jarrett (-20). Twice as many downs as ups this week. Matt Kenseth has lost 177 points off his lead the last two weeks. It’s still a healthy 259 markers, but the “Magic Number” has swung to the competitors side the last couple races. It’s now down to 8 vs Kevin Harvick….it was double digits two weeks back. Matt’s crew busted their butts int the garage for 21 points. Remember that in November. We lopped another four drivers off the list today for Championship material. Everybody from 18th (Greg Biffle) on down is now out of the running. Jeremy Mayfield (24th to 21st) made a three position upward move today. Elliott Sadler (20th to 23rd) made the same move in the negative direction.( StockCarFans.Com Wcup Newsletter )(10-5-2003)
