Truck Series Looking Ahead To Kansas

There may be a Dorothy in Kansas, though she's not the one that went flittering about in a hurricane, but there is a storm brewing, and looking at Kansas in the form of the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES.

The NCWTS Teams are looking forward to the next event in the schedule, the April 25 O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway.



The track does not have a repeat winner ... yet and Victory Lane has seen winners of all experience levels, from Raybestos rookie-of-the-year contender Ricky Hendrick in 2001to three-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. a year ago.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 marks the first opportunity of the season for Midwestern fans to see the series “up close and personal.” The race traditionally has been among the best-attended “stand-alone” races on the schedule and continues a Kansas City NCWTS tradition extending back to the inaugural season of 1995.

NBaP sends out a thanks to the Kansas fans for keeping it alive and well there.



Meanwhile we have a former champion battle brewing at the front.

Three of the top four in current championship standings are former NCWTS champions including Hornaday and Mike Skinner, who have battled for wins and titles in 155 races over the past 15 seasons.

1	Kyle Busch	682	Leader
2	Todd Bodine	644	-38
3	Ron Hornaday	611	-71
4	Mike Skinner	606	-76
5	Matt Crafton	561	-121
6	Terry Cook	528	-154
7	Johnny Benson	515	-167
8	Chad McCumbee	505	-177
9	Timothy Peters	503	-179
10	Rick Crawford	496	-186

Their records head-to-head are identical: 25 wins apiece. The two battled down to the wire in 2007 with Hornaday edging his rival for the championship by 52 points.

The two are separated by just five points entering the Kansas race. And if NBaP had a guess to make, that separation will be even closer, if you count paint and sheet metal!

Driver Points Standings, The Top 5

As we head into the final races of the season, it seems almost like a certainty to most that Jimmie Johnson will be collecting his third CONSECUTIVE championship NASCAR Cup Title.

I'm a cautious one at times and say "Hold on there folks. There's a few races to go."

In fact, 7 races ago, everyone was all but certain that the championship was going to Kyle Busch. Yet with bad luck, fates and my unlucky hat, that isn't going to happen anytime soon. (I'll be explaining my "unlucky" hat in a later article.)


What I'm trying to say is that with three races to go, anything is still possible: engine or tire failures; getting caught up in someone else's wreck or bad pit road driving.

If something were to happen to Jimmie, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and even Jeff Burton are ready to pounce. So I'm not getting ready to buy my championship Jimmie Johnson diecast just yet.

Here's a gander at the top 5 in the points standings and you'll see what I mean.

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	--	Jimmie Johnson	6248	Leader
2	2	Carl Edwards	6065	-183
3	-1	Greg Biffle	6063	-185
4	-1	Jeff Burton	6030	-218
5	1	Kevin Harvick	5941	-307

(Photo Credits: Jonathan Ferrey / Getty Images for NASCAR)

Drivers Standings -Cup Bubble Going Into Michigan

Have you noticed that NASCAR.com isn't putting the 'Out of Contention' line in their standings anymore? Must have been too negative on the outsiders looking in.

Here's my table of what's up with the bubble to get into the Chase for the Cup contention.

Watkins Glen had it's affect on folks.

Tony is pulling away from the bubble spot, while Biffle and Kahne are creeping towards it. The big "race" to watch, Kenseth and Bowyer: 22 points apart, with Kenseth 'in' the chase and Bowyer snapping at his heels like an angry, hungry dog... Nah, Bowyer doesn't give me that feel... He's patiently trying to perform consistently to overtake Kenseth. OK, that's better.

Check out Hamlin and Biffle, all tied up.

Without any more banter, here's the numbers, as they look today:

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	CUP BUBBLE
1	--	Kyle Busch	3254	Leader	626
2	1	Carl Edwards	3012	-242	384
3	1	Jimmie Johnson	3010	-244	382
4	-2	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2985	-269	357
5	--	Jeff Burton	2945	-309	317
6	--	Jeff Gordon	2754	-500	126
7	2	Tony Stewart	2744	-510	116
8	-1	Kasey Kahne	2713	-541	85
9	1	Denny Hamlin	2689	-565	61
10	-2	Greg Biffle	2689	-565	61
11	--	Kevin Harvick	2670	-584	42
12	1	Matt Kenseth	2628	-626	0
SPRINT CUP BUBBLE BUMP
13	-1	Clint Bowyer	2606	-648	-22
14	--	David Ragan	2539	-715	-89
15	--	Ryan Newman	2424	-830	-204
16	1	Martin Truex Jr.	2419	-835	-209
17	-1	Brian Vickers	2418	-836	-210
18	--	Kurt Busch	2269	-985	-359
19	--	Jamie McMurray	2231	-1023	-397
20	1	Elliott Sadler	2159	-1095	-469
21	-1	Bobby Labonte	2121	-1133	-507

Driver Standings After Pocono: The Chase Bubble

We've got 4 races left to "The Chase".

I think Kyle Busch can take it easy and even though Jr is looking good, he needs to stay up on the wheel for a little bit longer.

Cousin Carl moved up two spots to third and it's a crazy Chase Bubble (Am I the only one using that term? Did I actually coin a term? Hotdog! If I did.) around the 12th spot as positions 7th through 14th are all within striking distance of each other or a 126 point spread!

I'm not sure I can even predict who is going to fall out of or into the top twelve in as much as it will more than likely be bad luck that dictates this outcome.

We just have to keep watching to see what happens and maybe a little later on, I might take a guess at who will be in and who will be out.

After the

Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 | Pocono Raceway | Race 21 of 36
RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	AROUND
1	--	Kyle Busch	3059	Leader	BUBBLE
2	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2883	-176	371
3	2	Carl Edwards	2874	-185	362
4	--	Jimmie Johnson	2859	-200	347
5	-2	Jeff Burton	2833	-226	321
6	--	Jeff Gordon	2678	-381	166
7	2	Kasey Kahne	2592	-467	80
8	-1	Greg Biffle	2589	-470	77
9	1	Tony Stewart	2569	-490	57
10	-2	Denny Hamlin	2547	-512	35
11	2	Kevin Harvick	2520	-539	8
12	--	Clint Bowyer	2512	-547	0
		CHASE FOR CUP
13	-2	Matt Kenseth	2501	-558	-11
14	--	David Ragan	2466	-593	-46
15	1	Ryan Newman	2339	-720	-173
16	-1	Brian Vickers	2309	-750	-203
17	--	Martin Truex Jr.	2264	-795	-248
18	--	Kurt Busch	2135	-924	-377
19	1	Jamie McMurray	2116	-943	-396

Driver Standings After the LifeLock.com 400

These are preliminary stats until it becomes official:

The top 6 spots stayed put, with Kyle Busch extending his lead over 2nd place driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. to 262 points.

Greg Biffle moved up 4 spots with his 4th place finish to 7th, now 35 points in front of the Cup Bubble.

Denny Hamlin dropped to 12th after his 40th place finish from mechanical difficulties.

Clint Bowyer dropped 3 spots to 13th, outside the top 12 by 27 points from his 22nd place finish.

The contention for the Cup is closing in on the drivers and there's only a 155 point difference between 7th and 13th places. There's only 7 races to go until the chase erupts on us.

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	+/- Bubble
1	--	Kyle Busch	2881	Leader	598
2	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2619	-262	336
3	--	Jeff Burton	2590	-291	307
4	--	Carl Edwards	2509	-372	226
5	--	Jimmie Johnson	2494	-387	211
6	--	Jeff Gordon	2384	-497	101
7	4	Greg Biffle	2318	-563	35
8	1	Matt Kenseth	2317	-564	34
9	4	Kevin Harvick	2308	-573	25
10	2	Tony Stewart	2305	-576	22
11	-3	Kasey Kahne	2295	-586	12
12	-5	Denny Hamlin	2283	-598	0
		CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP BUBBLE
13	-3	Clint Bowyer	2256	-625	-27
14	1	Brian Vickers	2188	-693	-95
15	-1	David Ragan	2185	-696	-98

Complete Driver Standings
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Driver Standings Headed Into the Toyota/Save Mart 350

After Michigan, there weren't any real big changes though Ryan Newman has dropped off the Top 12 radar, but the spots just outside the Top 12 sure do look promising if anything were to happen to anyone outside of 10th because Ragan and Kenseth lurk within 15 points of 12th.

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	--	Kyle Busch	2213	Leader
2	--	Jeff Burton	2181	-32
3	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2129	-84
4	--	Carl Edwards	2007	-206
5	1	Jimmie Johnson	1959	-254
6	-1	Denny Hamlin	1926	-287
7	2	Kasey Kahne	1889	-324
8	-1	Greg Biffle	1884	-329
9	-1	Jeff Gordon	1876	-337
10	--	Kevin Harvick	1817	-396
11	1	Tony Stewart	1774	-439
12	-1	Clint Bowyer	1764	-449
CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP - CURRENT CONTENDERS
13	--	David Ragan	1754	10
14	1	Matt Kenseth	1750	14

Drivers Standings After Pocono 6-11-08

Pocono saw a big move in the points with Denny Hamlin moving up 4 spots to 5th while the biggest drop in the top 12 was Clint Blowyer, falling three spots to 11th!

Meanwhile, David Ragan quietly sits outside of 12th by 7 points, waiting for someone to stumble. Ryan Newman is just three points behind him, also stalking that spot for now.

12th is our new bubble spot excitement zone!!

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	--	Kyle Busch	2084	Leader
2	--	Jeff Burton	2063	-21
3	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1939	-145
4	--	Carl Edwards	1856	-228
5	4	Denny Hamlin	1800	-284
6	1	Jimmie Johnson	1799	-285
7	-2	Greg Biffle	1781	-303
8	-2	Jeff Gordon	1767	-317
9	3	Kasey Kahne	1719	-365
10	--	Kevin Harvick	1690	-394
11	-3	Clint Bowyer	1679	-405
12	-1	Tony Stewart	1614	-470

Here's the Chase Bubble Spot Look:

8	-2	Jeff Gordon	1767	153
9	3	Kasey Kahne	1719	105
10	--	Kevin Harvick	1690	76
11	-3	Clint Bowyer	1679	65
12	-1	Tony Stewart	1614	0
13	--	David Ragan	1607	-7
14	--	Ryan Newman	1604	-10
15	1	Matt Kenseth	1580	-34
16	-1	Martin Truex Jr.	1558	-56
17	2	Brian Vickers	1502	-112

Standings and Owners Points for 6-5-08

Last weekends junk yard fest on lap 19 at Dover may have involved some of the top 12 in points standings, but no one dropped out of the top 12 because of it, but Bowyer, Hamlin, Harvick and Stewart did give up spots from the altercation:

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	--	Kyle Busch	2050	Leader
2	--	Jeff Burton	1908	-142
3	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1779	-271
4	2	Carl Edwards	1713	-337
5	6	Greg Biffle	1658	-392
6	4	Jeff Gordon	1646	-404
7	2	Jimmie Johnson	1644	-406
8	-3	Clint Bowyer	1633	-417
9	-5	Denny Hamlin	1630	-420
10	-3	Kevin Harvick	1566	-484
11	-3	Tony Stewart	1551	-499
12	--	Kasey Kahne	1524	-526

As far as Owners Points go at the Bubble, 30th to 36th is where the action is these days as Michael Watrip is the man on that bubble spot, replacing last years perennial bubble guy, Kyle Petty and Ganassi, Kauffman and Custer have that sinking feeling this week.

RANK	+/-	CAR	OWNER	POINTS	Pts from 35th
30	2	#22	Bill Davis	1079	67
31	-1	#41	Chip Ganassi	1054	42
32	1	#01	Teresa Earnhardt	1041	29
33	3	#77	Roger Penske	1039	27
34	-3	#00	Rob Kauffman	1023	11
35	--	#55	Michael Waltrip	1012	0
36	-2	#66	Joe Custer	981	-31
37	--	#96	Jeffrey Moorad	870	-142
38	--	#40	Felix Sabates	848	-164
39	--	#84	Dietrich Mateschitz	809	-203
40	1	#78	Barney Visser	676	-336

Driver Standings and Owners Points Bubble for 5/29

The Driver ranks for the top 12, we see Jimmie Johnson taking a hit from last weeks performance, and Matt Kenseth moved up 4 spots into 16th.

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	--	Kyle Busch	1860	Leader
2	--	Jeff Burton	1766	-94
3	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1721	-139
4	--	Denny Hamlin	1596	-264
5	--	Clint Bowyer	1578	-282
6	1	Carl Edwards	1538	-322
7	2	Kevin Harvick	1517	-343
8	--	Tony Stewart	1511	-349
9	-3	Jimmie Johnson	1493	-367
10	--	Jeff Gordon	1486	-374
11	--	Greg Biffle	1483	-377
12	2	Kasey Kahne	1454	-406

NASCAR Driver Points Standings


As far as owner points bubble goes, we're seeing the usual shuffle of one or two spots up and down for some, with 36th and above really being the only contention.

RANK	+/-	Car No	Owner	POINTS	+/- 35th
30	-1	#7	Robby Gordon	980	47
31	1	#41	Chip Ganassi	969	36
32	-2	#00	Rob Kauffman	945	12
33	2	#22	Bill Davis	941	8
34	--	#01	Teresa Earnhardt	941	8
35	-2	#55	Michael Waltrip	933	0
36	--	#77	Roger Penske	930	-3
37	--	#96	Jeffrey Moorad	779	-154
38	--	#40	Felix Sabates	760	-173
39	1	#84	Dietrich Mateschitz	757	-176
40	-1	#70	Margaret Haas	737	-196

NASCAR Owner Points Standings

As you can see, Michael Waltrips No 55 Toyota has to outperform the 77 and other cars to retain his guaranteed starting spot and I think it will go back and forth between the 77 and 55 cars for a while.

Strangely, correct me if I'm wrong, but we don't see the penalties from the 66 or 70 car being reflected in the standings yet.. I was expecting to see the 66 car down here in around or near the bubble after the penalties.

(The 66 car is shown in 26th in owners points at the time of this post)

Standings After Darlington

So what's happened to the standings after Darlington last weekend? Let's take a peek, shall we?

Newman and Kahne fell out of the top 12 and the biggest downward slide in the top 12 was accomplished.. maybe accomplished is not the right word, was Kevin Harvick who slid 4 spots down into 9th.

The biggest climber was Jeff Gordon, 3 spots into 10th.

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	--	Kyle Busch	1690	Leader
2	--	Jeff Burton	1611	-79
3	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1556	-134
4	2	Denny Hamlin	1500	-190
5	-1	Clint Bowyer	1490	-200
6	1	Jimmie Johnson	1442	-248
7	3	Carl Edwards	1400	-290
8	--	Tony Stewart	1397	-293
9	-4	Kevin Harvick	1396	-294
10	3	Jeff Gordon	1326	-364
11	-2	Greg Biffle	1308	-382
12	2	David Ragan	1266	-424

As far as Owners Points go:

The No 22 car and No 77 car swapped spots around the 35th spot, so the No 22 car from Bill Davis Racing is now in the top 35 by 18 points.

RANK	+/-	Car	Owner
30	1	#00	Rob Kauffman	878	54
31	1	#44	Michael Waltrip	873	49
32	-2	#41	Chip Ganassi	872	48
33	--	#55	Michael Waltrip	851	27
34	--	#01	Teresa Earnhardt	835	11
35	1	#22	Bill Davis	824	0
36	-1	#77	Roger Penske	806	-18
37	1	#96	Jeffrey Moorad	730	-94
38	1	#40	Felix Sabates	690	-134
39	-2	#70	Margaret Haas	679	-145
40	--	#84	Dietrich Mateschitz	654	-170