After 5 races so far in the Nextel Cup series, let’s take a look back and see who’s been hot, warm, and freezin’…
Who’s hot …
- Jeff Gordon – definately hot, with 3 top 5s and 4 top 10s. Jeff also has 2 poles. What will happen when “little Gordon” is born?
- Jeff Burton – the hot streak from ’06 continues, as Jeff has 4 top 5s and 4 top 10s, and is only 3 points behind Gordon
- Jimmie Johnson – last year’s champion is pretty hot, with 2 wins in 5 starts
- Matt Kenseth – Matt always seems to be on his game, other than when he’s on Jarrett’s bumper, that is. Definately hot with 1 win in ’07
- Mark Martin – hot! In Mark’s 4 starts, he’s NOT finished out of the top 10. It’s a shame this wasn’t 2006 for him. If he had finished where Reeeegan Smith did at Bristol, he’d be 4th in points.
Warm…
- Kevin Harvick – RCR has 2 cars in the top 5 and 3 in the top 10. Kevin hasn’t seemed to measure up to that Daytona win in the other 4 races.
- Kyle Busch – Kurt’s younger brother needs to learn some tact, even after winning at Bristol.
- Clint Bowyer – definately very warm. Clint has 3 top 10s out of 5 races.
- Denny Hamlin – I think this kid is going to surprise some people in the near future, though he needs to learn how to smile.
- Carl Edwards – 1 win in the Busch series, but no top 5s and only 1 top 10 in Cup.
- Tony Stewart – Has to be warm, what with a nickname of “Smoke”… seriously, Tony has 1 top 5 and 3 top 10s.
- Jamie McMurray – 2 top 10s. Has he finally found a crew chief he can work with?
- Juan Montoya – NASCAR’s new golden boy gets lots of heat, most of it from TV camera spotlights.
Room temperature…
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. – lots of potential as everyone has always said. Let’s see it materialize on the track.
- David Stremme – although 11th in the standings, Stemme hasn’t scored a top 10 … yet.
- Elliott Sadler – Still needs to show us something from signing with that new team
- Bobby Labonte – But room temperature is a great improvement from last season.
- Kurt Busch – his head’s more aerodynamic, but it hasn’t translated into success on the track
- David Ragan – despite a perhaps well-earned reputation for crashing, Ragan does have 1 top 5 and 1 top 10.
- Mike Wallace – although 44th in points, he’s got 1 top 5 and 1 top 10.
Chillin’
- Ryan Newman – 23rd in points, but does have 1 pole
- Scott Riggs – Is Valvoline getting their money’s worth?
- Ricky Rudd – hopes for veteran driver have not materialized, he is mentoring David Gilliland
- Kasey Kahne – Kahne can’t. At least not yet this year.
- Martin Truex Jr. – Busch Series success hasn’t really translated to the Cup Series
- Dave Blaney – Toyota’s premier driver is struggling, along with his fellow Toyotians. Is that a word?
Block of Ice
- Michael Waltrip – hasn’t dug out of the hole in the ice since the Daytona gunk-in-the-manifold scandal.
- Dale Jarrett – only 2 provisionals left, and DJ is out of the top 35 in points
- A.J. Allmendinger – 1 start out of 5 races. Bull!
- Jeremy Mayfield – also only 1 start. Maybe if they put the OTC360 in the gas tank?
