1. Kyle Busch, 782. A year ago, Busch had just climbed into the top 12 with his victory at Bristol. After winning the first Car of Tomorrow race, he immediately dissed the car on national TV. One year later, he is the rage of NASCAR atop Sprint Cup and Craftsman Truck standings.
2. Greg Biffle, 752. Biffle and Kasey Kahne are the early comeback stories of 2008. Biffle was hanging out 27th in the rankings last year before his fifth-place finish at Bristol moved him up 11 spots to 16th. And that's pretty much where he hung out through the remainder of the season.
3. Kevin Harvick, 749. Harvick was still basking in the glow of his Daytona 500 victory and was fifth in the standings. But he hasn't won a points race since; although he did come awfully close Sunday.
4. Jeff Burton, 745. Burton was second in the standings, three points behind Jeff Gordon. Two races later, he posted his only win of 2007, at Texas, but then he went on an eight-week slide (one top 10). Burton won Sunday to raise his average finish in the first five races to 8.2.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 686. Junior is way ahead of last year's pace, although his Cup winless streak has reached 67 races. His fifth-place finish Sunday gave him three top fives in a row, and he has no DNFs vs. two at this point last year.
6. Kasey Kahne, 674. You ready for this? Kahne was 34th in points after five races last year. He had eight top 10s all of last season. He already has four. His fourth top 10 last year came in race No. 25.
7. Tony Stewart, 656. We are watching a typical Smoke season. He has come close to winning, but only close. Last year, he led 257 laps at Bristol and didn't win (35th). This year he led 267 laps and didn't win (14th). Don't be disheartened Stewart fans. He'll find victory lane soon. He always does.
8. Ryan Newman, 635. Newman ended an 81-race drought when he won the Daytona 500. That meant he entered the second race of the season first in the standings rather than 35th, which is what happened last year after his DNF in the 500. This is the highest he has been after five races since he was second in his rookie year, 2002.
9. Clint Bowyer, 606. Bowyer was eighth after Bristol last year, and he was thought of more as an interloper in the top 12. Not anymore.
10. Kurt Busch, 605. Busch is 10th with an asterisk. Ask yourself this: If Busch hadn't traded owner points with Sam Hornish Jr., how much higher in the standings would Busch be? And, would he have at least one victory? Twice the field was set by owner points because qualifying was rained out and Busch had to start deep in the field, including last week at Bristol when he started 36th and finished 12th. Hornish, using Busch's 2007 points, started seventh. Busch, by the way, is a five-time winner at Bristol. Rant over. Last year Busch was 20th after Bristol.
11. Matt Kenseth, 604. Last year Kenseth was fourth in points, in the third week of a stretch of 23 weeks in the top five. This year has been a battle, but in typical Kenseth fashion, he has forged upward after opening the season with a 35th-place finish at Daytona.
12. Martin Truex Jr., 595. Truex's star had yet to rise five races into the 2007 season. His 37th-place finish left him 25th in the standings and off everyone's radar (all the DEI talk was about Earnhardt and his future). Truex was 13th Sunday, and he no longer is a Cup also-ran.
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