Points as they pan out after the Pennsylvania 500

After the Pennsylvania 500, the only changes that occurred were that Jimmie Johnson moved up 2 spaces to 7th, Kevin Harvick moved back 2 spaces to 9th, AND Kurt Busch swapped with Dale Earnhardt Jr for 12th.

It's the 10 to 14 positions that we are all watching right now.  After his dominant performance at Pocono, Kurt Busch moved up into the bubble spot of 12th, bumping Dale Earnhardt Jr to 13th.. Jr is only 7 points behind Kurt, but look out Jr., because Ryan Newman is in 14th, just 83 points behind you!  No slip ups the rest of the season guys!

As much as I'd like to see Newman get in, with his spate of poor luck, I don't see it, and if he does get in, I don't see the type of consistent performance out of him that we see out of the likes of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart or Kurt Busch.  (I guess I am inadvertently stating who I think the top 4 contenders will be!)

The top 12 are
1-Jeff Gordon (3236 pts),
2-Denny Hamlin (2870)   
3-Matt Kenseth (2825)
4-Jeff Burton (2763)   
5-Tony Stewart (2749)   
6-Carl Edwards (2682)
7-Jimmie Johnson (2624)   
8-Kyle Busch (2611)
9-Kevin Harvick (2600)
10-Clint Bowyer (2552)
11-Martin Truex Jr. (2434)
12-Kurt Busch     (2399)

http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2007/data/standings_unofficial.html