Sprint Cup Series Point Standings

[Garrett Duke]

The Sprint Cup is the top series or top devision of NASCAR...the big leagues. It is the series that I watch and follow, so I know more of the drivers and races and info regarding the Sprint Cup than I do the Nationwide Series. The Sprint Cup is a little different than the Nationwide Series race in the fact they have what they call the Chase. The Chase is like the play offs and only the top twelve in points are able to be in the chase to race for the championship. Any driver outside of the top 12 is racing for 13 who wins a million dollars at the end of the season. The points are reset at the begining of the chase which is the final ten races of the season and with each win the drivers get during the regular season, they will get ten bonus points (per win) that will be added onto the points come time for the chase. As of right now, they have seven more races left of the regular season (including Indy this Sunday) before the Chase starts on September 11.

I will be posting the top fifteen drivers of the Sprint Cup just because there is several drivers outside of the top twelve fighting to get into the top twelve. I will most likely post the standings on Monday or later when I get the time to do so. The standings shown after the races are unofficial due to NASCAR checking the cars after the race to make sure each car is up to NASCAR standards. Here is the top fifteen in points as of July 22. 2010:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Jeff Gordon (-103)

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Kurt Busch

6. Kyle Busch

7. Jeff Burton

8. Matt Kenseth

9. Tony Stewart

10. Carl Edwards

11. Greg Biffle

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (-15 points out of the top 12)

14. Mark Martin

15. David Reutimann

[RogerDuke]

Thanks Garrett.

So if Jeff Gordon finishes first next race and Kevin Harvick has problems and doesn't finish, how many points would Jeff be ahead of him by?

[Garrett Duke]

Great question, Roger!

Larry McReynolds who was the announcer for Fox and the announcer for TNT who had explained the pit stops and technical car stuff had said once during a TNT race that a driver can earn 161 points total in a race. I assume that is if he gets the pole, led the most laps, and then went on to win the race. Because I did hear a lower number from somewhere else, but I do remember Larry saying that.

Well Gordon starts eightth tomorrow with Juan Montoya at the pole, so Gordon wouldn't get the extra points from starting at the pole. But he could lead the most laps, in fact he holds the record for leading the most laps at the Brickyard, and could end up winning. So I would say that if Kevin Harvick had some major car issues and didn't finish or finished at the end, that Gordon could take the lead away from Harvick.

At this point, Gordon really needs a win and that is what he is going for on Sunday...well he always is, but more so than normal now that he is secured in points. He needs the extra ten points that they get with each win. He has the most top five finishes so far with ten, five consecutive top five finishes. But without a win, once the chase starts up, they say Gordon will be twelveth in points. The last spot. Granted that is fifty points between the twelveth and first place at that point (so far, since Hamlin and Johnson both have five wins so far. So they'll have 50 points extra to lean upon) and that could be easily beaten with a great race from him and a not so good race from the others. But having those extra points would be great comfort going into the chase.

Great question Roger. Don't wish nothing bad for Harvick (not a Harvick fan myself, but my aunt is) but would love to see Gordon's name up front for a change this year. HA HA. (Sorry for all the Gordon facts here...know not all is Gordon fans as myself. Just pointing out facts and info on the chase and how it works. Using him as an example.)

[Garrett Duke]

Here are the top fifteen drivers in the points as they run after the Brickyard on Sunday (Official) :

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Jeff Gordon (-184)

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Jimmie Johnson

5. Kurt Busch

6. Kyle Busch

7. Jeff Burton

8. Matt Kenseth

9. Tony Stewart

10. Carl Edwards

11. Greg Biffle

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Mark Martin (- 62)

14. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

15. Ryan Newman

[Garrett Duke]

Official points as of 8-4-10

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Jeff Gordon (-189) Little FYI today is Gordon's 39th birthday (August 4)

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Jimmie Johnson

5. Jeff Burton

6. Kyle Busch

7. Kurt Busch

8. Tony Stewart

9. Matt Kenseth

10. Carl Edwards

11. Greg Biffle

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Mark Martin (-34 points out of the top twelve)

[Garrett Duke]

Here is the official Sprint Cup top fifteen points standings as of August 9, 2010:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Jeff Gordon (-185)

3. Jeff Burton

4. Kurt Busch

5. Jimmie Johnson

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Kyle Busch

8. Tony Stewart

9. Carl Edwards

10. Matt Kenseth

11. Greg Biffle

12. Mark Martin

13. Clint Boywer (-10 out of the top 12)

14. Ryan Newman

15. Jamie McMurray

Well the points are starting to get either exciting, nerve wrecking, or both depending on who's your favorite driver is. They only have four more races until the chase will be set and the chase will start for the championship. I can't believe we are this close already...the season really seems to fly by ... or is it just me?

[Garrett Duke]

Well things shook up a little bit in the points with the Sprint cup series.

Here is the official points in the Sprint Cup (top 15):

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Jeff Gordon (-293)

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Tony Stewart

5. Jimmie Johnson

6. Carl Edwards

7. Jeff Burton

8. Kyle Busch

9. Matt Kenseth

10. Kurt Busch

11. Greg Biffle

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Mark Martin (-35 points)

14. Ryan Newman

15. Jamie McMurray

Three more races until the chase starts. With Harvick's win on Sunday, he is officially locked in the chase. Though, everyone else is not locked into the chase, I think the top ten drivers will most likely be in the chase unless any of them or all have DNFs or horrible races for the last three races and someone else has three great races to take their place. (DNF -Did Not Finish). I could be wrong though...

(Just FYI...I do tend to update or post on most of the NASCAR threads at the same time, so if interested, you may want to click on the NASCAR link to check the rest of the NASCAR threads as to not miss any of them. )

[Garrett Duke]

Official Sprint Cup Points as of 8/23/10:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Jeff Gordon (-279)

3. Kyle Busch

4. Carl Edwards

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Tony Stewart

7. Jeff Burton

8. Matt Kenseth

9. Jimmie Johnson

10. Kurt Busch

11. Greg Biffle

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Jamie McMurray (-100)

14. Mark Martin (-101)

15. Ryan Newman

Well two races to go until the chase and now Gordon is clinched into the chase. Harvick and Gordon are both for sure in the chase no matter what happens the next two races.

[bolukeduke]

thanks for posting this garrett.it seems like your a big nascar fan. whos your favourite racer. mine is jeff gordon. but my all time is richard petty

[Garrett Duke]

thanks for posting this garrett.it seems like your a big nascar fan. whos your favourite racer. mine is jeff gordon. but my all time is richard petty

You are very welcome. I enjoy posting and writing about the races! I am a huge NASCAR fan who barely misses a race...though have missed a few here and there. Been a fan for about thirteen years now, though didn't get hooked into watching it as much as I do until six or so years ago when I finally got to understanding the sport more. Though I wouldn't know if I am a bigger fan or not. . .

My all time favorite NASCAR driver is Jeff Gordon! I finally met another Jeff Gordon fan! My second favorite is Jimmie Johnson since Gordon owns half of his car. Richard Petty is an awesome driver, but never really watched him other than in highlights and videos and all that. GO GORDON GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bolukeduke]

jeff gordon is amazing:D Its nice to met another jeff fan besides me

[Garrett Duke]

Well after the Atlanta race yesterday, the top ten point positions are locked into the chase. Meaning the only positions that may be available is eleven and twelve points. (Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer) There is only one race left to go before the chase starts (is soooo hard to believe we are at this point already! Boy does the season goes by fast...why can't the off season go by this fast? LOL)

Here is the top fifteen point positions:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Jeff Gordon (-219)

3. Kyle Busch

4. Tony Stewart

5. Carl Edwards

6. Jeff Burton

7. Jimmie Johnson

8. Kurt Busch

9. Matt Kennseth

10. Denny Hamlin

11. Greg Biffle

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Ryan Newman (-117)

14. Jamie McMurray

15. Mark Martin

This is what the chase would look like if it were to start today...at least I think it would, with the points reset. Though if Ryan Newman got into the chase next week, he would be number eight since he has a win to push Gordon to nineth, Edwards to tenth, Burton to eleventh, and Kenseth to twelve. I could be wrong, but this is what I kinda predict it looking like...that is unless Gordon or someone else within the top twelve gets a win next weekend or they move in points position! Don't quote me here, was just playing around to see what it would look like now and this is what it looks like.

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Kyle Busch

5. Kurt Buscsh

6. Tony Stewart

7. Greg Biffle

8. Jeff Gordon

9. Carl Edwards

10. Jeff Burton

11. Matt Kenseth

12. Clint Bowyer

[RogerDuke]

So, once the Chase starts, is there an advantage to being in ninth place or tenth place after the regular season is over or is everybody treated equally at the beginning of the Chase regardless of their standings?

[Garrett Duke]

Everyone is treated equal w/in the chase, I think. Just they reset the points...can't remember to what number. But just for example, lets say they start everyone at zero. Right now both Johnson and Hamlin have five wins so they will be both at fifty points when it starts, Kyle has three wins so he'll have thirty points. Since Gordon hasn't had a win, he'll be at zero. Johnson and Hamlin will have fifty points on him, which he can gain in one race if he has an awesome race and they finish below him. I don't think they get bonus points once they are within the chase already. If I remember right, everyone's points is reset, just the top twelve has the chance at the championship. Everyone else is fighting for thirteenth where they'll take home a million dollars. Now for Hamlin going into the chase, right now he is tenth, so he'll be going from tenth to I believe second since Johnson is higher in points right now...I could be wrong about that though.

I hope that answers your question Roger.

[RogerDuke]

Thanks Garrett.

Hmmm, the million dollars you mentioned....is that divided up with the whole team or is that just the drivers take?

[Garrett Duke]

Thanks Garrett.

Hmmm, the million dollars you mentioned....is that divided up with the whole team or is that just the drivers take?

I would assume that the million dollars would go to the driver and his pit crew that got the thirteenth spot.

[Garrett Duke]

Well, the points have been reset for the chase that starts this Sunday at Loudon, New Hampshire. Can't say I'm too thrilled with it, but no one asked me. LOL. So here is the top twelve and how they sit in the chase:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Jimmie Johnson (-10)

3. Kevin Harvick (-20)

4. Kyle Busch (-20)

5. Kurt Busch (-40)

6. Tony Stewart (-50)

7. Greg Biffle (-50)

8. Jeff Gordon (-60)

9. Carl Edwards (-60)

10. Jeff Burton (-60)

11. Matt Kenseth (-60)

12. Clint Bowyer (-60)

I got the standings from NASCAR.com and had added the points behind the leader due to how many wins they did have or for Gordon on down that didn't have a win. Hopefully they'll come back during the chase to get a win or two. . .LOL.

Edited September 15, 2010 by Garrett Duke

[RogerDuke]

Thanks for posting this Garrett.

It's going to get good now.

How many races are there in The Chase?

I see there's no Mark Martin. Besides him and Dale Jr, what other big names didn't make it?

[Garrett Duke]

As always, you are very welcome, Roger. I am always excited to be able to talk about NASCAR to anyone that will listen...or not listen. LOL. It is one of the very few things I know well enough to talk about. LOL.

There is ten races that make up the chase. (Loudon, New Hampshire starts it off this Sunday at 1 PM EST on ESPN). The NASCAR season comes to a sad end the weekend before Thanksgiving normally. (Perhaps I'm the only that is sad to see the season come to an end. . .) I haven't looked it up this season, but it generally ends the weekend before Thanksgiving and starts again on the second Sunday in February. (Talking about the chase...it is rumored that the top dogs of NASCAR are discussing or thinking of tweaking the chase for next year...)

No Dale Earnhardt Jr or Mark Martin in the chase this year. Hopefully they can use this time to tweak and work in their cars and experiement for next year. Jr may not have had the stellar regular season that most of us would love for him to have (heck, I think I'd root for him to win over Gordon if it came to that. That's saying a lot coming from me!), but I do believe that this year, for Jr, has been better than last year.

For other big names that is out of the top twelve...Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne haven't made it. Sad to see Jamie McMurray miss it after winning both Daytona 500 and Talledega this year. Juan Pablo Montoya made it into the chase last year, but did not make it this year. But by far the biggest names out of it is Dale Jr and Mark Martin.

[RogerDuke]

Thanks Garrett. You sure know your NASCAR. It's hard to believe you can win two races and not make it in like Jamie McMurray. I wonder if part of that "tweaking" will include automatic entrance to The Chase if you win a regular season race. That couldn't add too many more to the competition. I bet there's not many racers who won at least one race and didn't make it in....or am I wrong?

[Garrett Duke]

Thanks Roger...though I do have to give credit that I do read up on it on NASCAR.com and on Yahoo!'s NASCAR sports page. Though do tend to go towards NASCAR.com to be my favorite source of info of the two sites.

Jamie McMurray won the two big races this year...one would think he would have made it. Hopefully next year he will. He is a great driver and seems to be a great guy as well! As for other non-chase drivers winning a race, there is three other drivers who won races this year. Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman, and David Reutimann. Though Jamie is the only one that won two, the others only won one. On the other hand there is five chase drivers that did not win a race in the regular season. . .(Jeff Gordon , Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, and Clint Bowyer.) I am looking forward to see what they plan on doing with the chase if they do change it...hope they do it for the better. Good question, Roger!

[Garrett Duke]

Race one of the chase is now over and it has left the points jumbled compared to how they had started before the race on Sunday. For example: Clint Bowyer who won the race, came from twelveth in the top twelve to second in points. Now it is the time to see just how big one race can affect their points in the standings; whether the drivers have a bad day or a good day.

Here is the top fifteen in points...keep in mind, the drivers rated thirteenth or lower has no chance of getting into the top twelve in standings. The highest they can achieve is thirteenth. . .

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Clint Bowyer (-35)

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Kyle Busch

5. Jeff Gordon

6. Kurt Busch

7. Jimmie Johnson

8. Carl Edwards

9. Greg Biffle

10. Jeff Burton

11. Tony Stewart

12. Matt Kenseth

**************

13. Ryan Newman

14. Jamie McMurray (-1)

15. David Reutimann

[Garrett Duke]

Well the point standings is still unofficial until tomorrow when they will be made official, but I thought I would post them anyway. I guess by some far off chance we get another repeat of last week where Bowyer's points got ripped from him (which seeing it was JJ who won this week, I doubt and hope that it won't happen) I will update the points. Thought I would go ahead and post them since I have the time and for the most part, they don't change. Like I said...for the most part - it could happen though .

Here is the top 15 points:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Jimmie Johnson (-35)

3. Kyle Busch

4. Kurt Busch

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Carl Edwards

7. Jeff Burton

8. Jeff Gordon

9. Greg Biffle

10. Tony Stewart

11. Matt Kenseth

12. Clint Bowyer (-235) (Bowyer and his team is appealing their penalty and will be heard on Wednesday of this week. If by chance he does win his appeal over his 150 point penalty, he will be seated nineth behind Jeff Gordon.)

13. Ryan Newman

14. Jamie McMurray (-19)

15. Juan Pablo Montoya (-909 behind Newman)

[RogerDuke]

It's about time JJ gets back in form!

Thanks for posting the standings!

[Garrett Duke]

You are very welcome, Roger. Was excited to see JJ win again, though was wishing it was Gordon. I am tired of hearing the media people keep counting all the races since his last win - like I need reminding of that. Anyway, was glad to see JJ bounce back...he normally does when he has a poor race as he had the last race so it wasn't surprising to see him win, especially at a track he is so dominant at.