Why did the bottom feeders finish where they did?(DRIVER REPORTS)

Scott Riggs

If there were a Reverse Chase, Riggs would have been the champion. That's the closest thing to an award one could offer him after two mediocre seasons on the Cup tour. It appeared Riggs' program was turning around after he finished fourth in the Daytona 500 and finished in the top 10 two other times in the first five races. But there wasn't much to speak of after that, other than a career-high second in August at Michigan, despite the team's switch to crew chief Rodney Childers in June. Next season, Riggs moves with Childers into Evernham Motorsports' research and development team. Riggs will have better engine reliability, but he inherits organizational issues that plagued EMS this year after the loss of crew chiefs Tommy Baldwin and Slugger Labbe.

STERLING MARLIN His performance suffered because he was a lame duck. it was disappointing that Marlin was relegated to the organization's test car in his eighth year of service to Ganassi Racing. Case in point: Marlin had four engine failures, his teammates none. Marlin had no influence on the selection of chassis for his cars and never fee comfortable behind the wheel. The ultimate insult: Marlin learned through the rumor mill that David Stremme was taking over the No. 40 car, after owner Chip Ganassi refused to return Marlin's phone calls. Marlin's legendary father, Coo Coo, died in August--one week before the Stremme announcement--and Marlin missed Watkins Glen, which knocked him out of contention for a finish in the top 25 in points. A fresh start with MB2 will get Marlin back on track.

TRAVIS KVAPIL Despite moving under the Penske roof in 2004, the No. 77 car has not made significant gains. Kvapil couldn't match former driver Brendan Gaughan's 2004 numbers--not by a long ...