So far, so good.
POWER RANKINGS for Texas:
1. Kyle Busch — 110.5 driver rating (No. 1 last week): Okay, before I get hundreds of angry e-mails asking if I am the president of the Kyle Busch fan club, understand that Power Rankings are based on how a driver has done throughout the season — and even with his abysmal 38th-place showing at Martinsville Speedway, nobody has been better than "Shrub." He still tops the Sprint Cup Series in laps led (336) and is among the top 10 in the series for wins, poles won, average running position, average finish, fastest laps run, quality passes (passing cars inside top 15 while running in green flag conditions) and laps spent in the top 15.
2. Carl Edwards — 106.5 driver rating (No. 2 last week): Is Carl Edwards starting to get that winning feeling again?
Lost amid the controversy of the "theft" of a Roush Fenway Racing proprietary part was the fact that Edwards recorded his career best finish at Martinsville last weekend — ninth. While that may not seem very important for the driver who already has two victories under his belt this season — the only driver in the series with multiple triumphs to date — it is his first top-10 result since the second of his back-to-back wins at Las Vegas.
That may be just the medicine the driver of the No. 99 needs as he makes the trek to Fort Worth, Texas, this weekend. Although Edwards does have a victory on his Texas resume, he only has an 18.2 average finish in six starts because of four finishes of 15th or worse. Combine that with the fact that Edwards has seemed unbeatable at times on intermediate tracks in the Car of Tomorrow, and it makes it extremely difficult to go against this gunslinger from Columbia, Mo.
"I've had a lot of success at Texas throughout my career and I am hoping to continue that this weekend," said Edwards. "I am confident that (our) team will be competitive this weekend."
3. Jeff Gordon — 106.5 driver rating (No. 4 last week): Talk about drivers making a comeback — look no further than Jeff Gordon.
The disappointment of two finishes of 35th or worse in the first three races of 2008 seem far behind him, particularly as he has secured an average finish of 6.0 with two top-five results in the three races since that poor starting stretch.
He needs as much momentum as he can get entering this weekend's 500-mile event as the host track is one of just two current tracks where Gordon has yet to record a victory in his Sprint Cup career.
"We've been close several times the past couple of years," said Gordon, who has five top-fives and seven top-10s in 14 starts at Texas. "But whether it was an electrical problem while leading or me hitting the turn 4 wall while leading, we haven't won."
Earlier this year at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a high-speed track which is comparable to TMS, Gordon showed strength en route to a fifth-place result, so look for him to challenge his Texas-winless mark this weekend.
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. — 105.0 driver rating (No. 7 last week): How clutch has Junior been this season? Last year, it took Earnhardt until race No. 12 to record his fifth top-10 result of the year. This year? Only six races. For those of you looking for a historical perspective, eight races were needed for Junebug to score a top-10 in 2003 — his best Sprint Cup season to date.
But he didn't achieve the fourth-best driver rating this week because of his accomplishments in years past, but rather what he has done in 2008. And folks, he has certainly impressed. This past Sunday at Martinsville, the driver of the No. 88 Amp/National Guard Chevrolet padded his laps-led account for the year by pacing 146 circuits and, most important, looking competitive all day long.
How will he do at Texas this Sunday? The 1.5-miler is among his best tracks even though his sole triumph there came in 2000. In 11 starts, he has seven top-10s and an average finish of 12.9 — a mark that would be superior had his engine not expired in a frustrating fashion in last year's spring Texas event.
"I do enjoy running at Texas," Earnhardt said. "That was the track where I got my first win. Typically, the tracks where drivers get their first wins are tracks they always run well at. Not sure why, but I guess if you know what it takes to get a win, you always have that in your mind. We have struggled there as of late, but hopefully with the new Chevy Impala SS program, and the way we have run on those mile-and-a-half tracks as of late, we can turn things around."
5. Tony Stewart — 100.8 driver rating (No. 6 last week): How rare is it to hear that Tony Stewart "quietly" secured a top-five finish? But that's exactly what the boisterous two-time past Sprint Cup champion did last Sunday at Martinsville — his third top five and fourth top-10 result of the season.
But what happens this weekend? That's a mystery. Yes, Stewart has two top-10s at the three races on intermediate tracks so far this year, including a runner-up result in Atlanta just a few weeks ago, but he has led just six laps at tracks ranging from 1.5-2 miles in distance. That said, he does have a pretty impressive mark at Texas Motor Speedway. In 12 starts at the track in Fort Worth, Smoke has completed 97.9 percent of all laps run in competition and has seven top-10s, including a win in the 2006 Fall race.
Keep an eye on Stewart on Sunday, particularly as he is approaching a special milestone. Although he has only led 100 laps or so at Texas just once before, history could be made Sunday if he can lead 108 laps or more on race day, as that will push him over the 10,000 laps led in Cup competition.
6. Kevin Harvick — 100.0 driver rating (No. 3 last week): Happy may not have been able to extend his streak of consecutive top-10 finishes last weekend (finishing 12th at Martinsville), but he is quickly earning the label of Mr. Consistency.
Through six races this season, Harvick has an average finish of 7.8, is second in the standings, and is just one of two drivers in the series to complete all laps in competition so far (teammate Jeff Burton is the other).
Harvick should keep that label through the Texas event. In 10 starts at the speedway, Harvick has an average finish of 13.6 with two top fives and four top 10s, and has completed 3337 of 3345 laps in that span.
7. Jeff Burton — 99.4 driver rating (No. 8 last week): While he was busy scolding rookie Michael McDowell following the Martinsville Cup race, Burton may not have noticed that his third-place result at Martinsville helped him take over the top spot in the standings.
He could extend that lead this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway where he is the only Sprint Cup driver to have multiple victories.
An important stat to remember: Ever since the track started hosting two races in 2005, Burton has performed better in the Spring race compared to the Fall event.
8. Jimmie Johnson — 95.5 driver rating (Outside of top 10 last week): Can Jimmie Johnson put all the "slump" talk behind him? His fourth-place finish at Martinsville certainly helps, but he will need to follow it up with another positive result at Texas.
Luckily for J.J.'s fan base, their guy is the top driver in previous races at Texas (9.2 average finish in nine starts), so Johnson shouldn't have to hear many more "what's wrong" questions in the future if things go to plan.
9. Greg Biffle — 95.1 driver rating (No. 5 last week): Martinsville has never been one of Biffle's best tracks, and it showed as he chugged along to a 20th-place result.
Guess what, it's not likely to get any better this Sunday.
Even with a victory and an additional top-10 result on his Texas resume, Biffle has an average finish of 24.5 — making TMS his third worst track on the calendar (only Watkins Glen and Talladega offer bigger headaches for The Biff).
10. Denny Hamlin — 93.6 driver rating (Outside of top 10 last week): Simply put, Denny Hamlin was due for a victory at Martinsville last weekend.
He looked strong early in the running of the season-opening Daytona 500, but fell off the pace late in the race. He was en route to victory at Bristol, but a mechanical problem gift-wrapped the result for Jeff Burton. He took over the lead late and did not relent.
But last weekend, Hamlin charged to the front late at Martinsville on his way to leading the final 73 laps before securing the win.
Not that he needs the extra momentum heading into Texas, where he has four top-10 finishes in five starts.
He made the leap back into the Power Rankings Top 10 with his victory. Check back next week to see how much the expected strong run at Texas helps him charge up the ladder.
Phil
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
