Who's hot, who's not

SportsLine.com staff

SportsLine.com's look at the best and worst drivers over the past five Winston Cup Series races.

The criteria for who's hot and who's not is simply how drivers have fared in the past five Winston Cup Series races. The points system is based on the total finishing positions for each of the past five races, with the lowest total being the best and the highest being the worst. In addition, for each win a driver has over the past five races, a deduction of 5 points is taken off of their total.

For example, if a driver has finished 4th, 10th, 11th, 1st and 2nd in the last five races, their total would be (4 + 10 + 11 + 1+ 2) = 28. After subtracting the bonus deduction of 5 points for winning a race, their overall total would be 23.

Note: In order to qualify for consideration, a driver must have competed in each of the past five races.

Last updated: Nov. 19, 2002

Last five races: Miami 400 (11/17), Phoenix 500 (11/10), North Carolina 400 (11/3), Atlanta 500 (10/27), Martinsville 500 (10/20).

The hottest drivers

Rank	Driver	11/17	11/10	11/3	10/27	10/20	Total
1	Kurt Busch	1	6	3	1	1	-3
The Finish Line: With three first-place finishes in his previous five races, Busch ends the Winston Cup season in a blaze.
2	Mark Martin	4	4	2	8	10	28
The Finish Line: Another fourth-place finish solidifies second-place for Martin.
3	Dale Jarrett	15	9	12	3	8	47
The Finish Line: He finishes 15th in the last race of the season, but he captures the third hottest spot.
4	Jeff Burton	3	12	4	12	17	48
The Finish Line: Three finishes in the teens don't hurt Burton.
5	Johnny Benson	13	16	1	23	2	50
The Finish Line: First and second-place finishes enable Benson to finish out the season in the top five.
Just missing the cut: Jeff Gordon (52 points), Tony Stewart (55), Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rusty Wallace (69).

The coldest drivers

Rank	Driver	11/17	11/10	11/3	10/27	10/20	Total
1	Ken Schrader	27	37	22	42	26	154
The Finish Line: Schrader has the unfortune of finishing out the season as Winston Cup's coldest driver.
2	Bill Elliott	7	30	39	33	42	151
The Finish Line: Elliott's seventh-place finish at Homestead pulls him out of dead-last place.
3	Jimmy Spencer	42	23	31	30	24	150
The Finish Line: Spencer's 42nd-place finish at Homestead ends the season for him on a sour note.
4	Kyle Petty	31	32	30	14	37	144
The Finish Line: Four of his last five races placed him no better than 30th place.
5	Mike Wallace	11	28	43	31	27	140
The Finish Line: Wallace finishes the season with an impressive 11th-place finish at Homestead.
Just above bottom: Jeff Green (139 points), Bobby Hamilton (137), Todd Bodine (135).