Top 5 and 5 to watch: Bristol

Top 5 and 5 to watch: Bristol


By Bill Marx
Sporting News NASCAR Service

Here’s a look at the top five drivers in the Sprint Cup Series standings and five drivers to watch in Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway. All statistical references are for Sprint Cup races at Bristol unless otherwise indicated. Driver rating is based on the past 11 races at the track.

1. Kevin Harvick, 91.5 driver rating. Harvick gambled on tires and won last week and became the first driver to clinch a spot in the Chase. He can gamble all he wants the next three weeks, too. He has a solid record at Bristol: One win and 11 top 10s in 19 starts. Nine of those top 10s are top fives.
2. Jeff Gordon, 99.4. Gordon has an outstanding record of five wins and 20 top 10s in 35 starts. He struggled last week and finished outside the top 10 for only the second time in nine weeks. Gordon is desperate for a win before the Chase begins.
3. Denny Hamlin, 95.0. Hamlin finished second last week and has two top fives in the past three weeks. The No. 11 team appears to have awakened after a five-race slumber. Hamlin finished 19th in March to snap a run of four finishes in the top six. He has yet to win at Bristol.
4. Tony Stewart, 95.9. Stewart is doing everything except winning. He has nine top 10s in the past 10 weeks. He finished second in March and has one win and eight top 10s in 23 starts. Since leading 769 laps in a five-race stretch (March 2006 to March 2008), Stewart has led one lap in the past four.
5. Jimmie Johnson, 87.0. Johnson picked up his first win at Bristol in March, which gave him three wins in the first five races of the season. Johnson could use a strong run Saturday night. He has one top 10 in the past six weeks.

Five to watch

6. Carl Edwards, 88.2. Although he hasn’t won this year, Edwards is the hottest driver in the series. He hasn’t finished worse than seventh in the past six weeks and has top fives in the past three races. Now the question is whether Edwards can break through and get his first win since the final race of 2008. He has two wins at Bristol and finished sixth in March.
12. Clint Bowyer, 79.9. Bowyer has a 35-point lead over Martin, and as much as Bowyer would like to end an 85-race drought, it is more important for him to stay near or ahead of Martin. Bowyer has four top 10s in nine starts, but engine failure in March left Bowyer 40th and with his first DNF at the track.
13. Mark Martin, 89.9. Martin finished 35th in March but second in this race a year ago. He has two wins and 23 top 10s in 43 starts. Martin has 16 top fives and really, really needs No. 17.
14. Ryan Newman, 85.8. Newman is 103 behind Bowyer and needs a lot to go his way over the next three races to make the Chase for the second consecutive year. He has nine top 10s in 17 starts but only one top five, and that was in 2004.
15. Jamie McMurray, 70.5. McMurray has a lot in common with Newman, including what he needs to make happen Saturday night. McMurray is two points behind Newman and, like Newman, has one top five—in 2003. He finished eighth in March for his fifth top 10 in 15 starts. McMurray has had a wildly erratic season, and if he pulls off another one of his top fives, he might find himself right back in the hunt for the final Chase spot.