The Sprint Cup tour is just four races into the 2009 season. But the twists and turns have established early frontrunners and sent some Chase regulars spinning into oblivion on the track and in the point standings.
That four of the top six drivers in the point standings — Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart — are former champions is no surprise. Clint Bowyer (second) and Carl Edwards (fourth) have the potential to be champions. Ditto Kyle Busch (seventh), who won at Las Vegas but dropped one position after a horrific race at Atlanta, as well as Kevin Harvick (eighth), particularly after exhibiting such resilience after fighting back from two laps down to finish fourth in the Kobalt Tools 500.
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Noticeably absent from the top 12 is Jimmie Johnson (although he’s just 18 points shy of the top 12), Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Given that Mark Martin has returned to full-time action, he could also be added to the list of potential Chase contenders. However, the No. 5 Chevrolet has been rife with misfortune and technical failures similar to the aforementioned drivers.
While Johnson, Hamlin and Burton are still in striking distance after four races in 2008, there’s plenty of big names lurking further back who will be hungry to make a charge. Most notably, 24th-place Earnhardt currently trails his Hendrick teammate and point leader Jeff Gordon by 237 points, but with the tight competition ahead of him it’s likely he’ll recover.
With a week off, teams are using the time to test, reload and rebuild. Certainly, the battle at Bristol will lead to further shake ups in the points. But for now, let’s break down the top 12 drivers to see how they’ve gotten this far:
PTS.-STANDING POS. CAR DRIVER RANK
1 24 Jeff Gordon 1
2 33 Clint Bowyer 14
3 2 Kurt Busch 2
4 99 Carl Edwards 3
5 17 Matt Kenseth 9
6 14 Tony Stewart 6
7 18 Kyle Busch 5
8 29 Kevin Harvick 10
9 9 Kasey Kahne 16
10 16 Greg Biffle 7
11 83 Brian Vickers 12
12 0 David Reutimann 19
13 48 Jimmie Johnson 4
14 11 Denny Hamlin 8
15 31 Jeff Burton 18
16 55 Michael Waltrip 22
17 19 Elliott Sadler 28
18 26 Jamie McMurray 11
19 1 Martin Truex Jr. 23
20 44 AJ Allmendinger 24
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