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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Early Season Gainers & Slumpers
Steve Addington’s move to Penske Racing so far has paid dividends...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted March 14, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Steve Addington took over as crew chief for Kyle Busch after leaving Joe Gibbs Racing where he led the No. 18 team for Kyle Busch. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
With the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season just four races old, it’s way too early to make definitive statements about who this year’s winners and losers ultimately will be. But it’s not too early to talk about who’s gained ground and who’s slumped.

Already, some clear trends have emerged in the opening races. Remember, there’s an awful lot to go in the season and much likely will change between now and the end of NASCAR’s 26-race regular season, but here are some of the winners and losers so far.

GAINER — Steve Addington. Last year, Addington unfairly became the fall guy at Joe Gibbs Racing, when Kyle Busch’s performance tailed off sharply during the middle of the season. This despite the fact that Addington was on top of the pit box for all of Busch’s 12 Cup victories since the start of 2008.

Many folks thought Addington was crazy to move from Kyle Busch to big brother Kurt at Penske Racing this year, but the pairing so far has clicked, producing an emotional victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Asked if he felt vindicated after his Atlanta victory, Addington said, “I think if I denied that, I would be lying. You know, it feels good. It honestly feels good to be with this race team, with Kurt as the driver, and come back and win before the 18 car (Kyle) got a chance to win. That's a personal deal. There's nothing against that. I'm still great friends with Kyle and everything. But it's a good feeling.”

SLUMPER — Penske Racing. While Kurt Busch and new crew chief Steve Addington already have earned a race victory and a top-10 points spot, Penske teammates Sam Hornish Jr. and Brad Keselowski have struggled mightily. Hornish is 31st in points, with a best of 16th at Auto Club Speedway. In his other three starts, Hornish hasn’t finished higher than 28th.

Keselowski, in addition to making lots of enemies among his fellow drivers, hasn’t finished higher than 21st in a race and is 33rd in points. His flap with Carl Edwards isn’t exactly the kind of publicity team owner Roger Penske wants, either.

GAINER — Richard Childress Racing. All three RCR drivers are off to strong starts, with Kevin Harvick leading the points, Clint Bowyer fifth and Jeff Burton sixth. Collectively, the team has earned four top-five and eight top-10 finishes, with Harvick having earned two seconds and victory in the non-points Budweiser Shootout at Daytona.

The only thing lacking for this team is a points-race victory, something that hasn’t happened for RCR since Oct. 2008. But as well as this team is running, you know it will happen sooner rather than later — like maybe at Bristol, where the team went 1-2-3 a couple of years back.

SLUMPER — Denny Hamlin. Expected to challenge Jimmie Johnson for the Sprint Cup championship, Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has been surprisingly off the pace this season. Hamlin opened the season with a 17th-place finish in the Daytona 500, and has yet to improve on that, sliding back to 22nd in points. It’s still early, but the No. 11 team has to be a little bit concerned.

GAINER — Paul Menard. Where in the world did Menard come from? In one of the biggest shockers of the season, the previously uncompetitive Menard has made huge gains and is now ninth in the points, ahead of all three of his Richard Petty Motorsports teammates. Menard has finished 18th or better in all four races this season, including an excellent fifth at Las Vegas.

SLUMPER — Carl Edwards. While his Roush Fenway Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle are second and third in the points, Cousin Carl is back in 20th after a disastrous 39th-place finish at Atlanta. Of course, the infamous battle with Keselowski did nothing for Edwards’ reputation as a hothead. Now on a three-race probation, Edwards needs to settle down and regroup.

GAINER — Matt Kenseth. The 2010 Matt Kenseth looks an awful lot like the guy who won the 2003 Sprint Cup championship — smooth, reliable and relentless at posting top-five and top-10 finishes. In four races this season, Kenseth’s worst finish is eighth. Let me repeat that: His worst finish this year is eighth. The addition of crew chief Todd Parrott so far has been a huge boost. We’ll see if the magic lasts.

SLUMPER — Juan Pablo Montoya. Arguably the most improved driver in the series last year, the expatriate Formula 1 racer has been all over the board this year. He had an excellent third-place run last weekend at Atlanta, but his two previous races were both 37th-place finishes. One of those was caused by an engine failure, the other by getting crashed out by teammate Jamie McMurray.

GAINER — Scott Speed. Like Menard, Speed has had a terrible 2009 but is much improved so far this season, ranking 12th in points. That puts him four spots ahead of his Red Bull Racing teammate Brian Vickers. Maybe it’s experience, maybe marriage has mellowed him out or maybe it’s the pedicures. But whatever the reason, Speed is light years ahead of where he was last year.

SLUMPER — Ryan Newman. Another year, another slow start for Ryan Newman. The good news for the Purdue grad is that he’s finished in the top 20 the last two weeks after getting wrecked out of the Daytona 500 and losing an engine in California. Still, he hasn’t led a single lap all season, a disappointing performance after making last year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup in the first year of Stewart-Haas Racing.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEEDtv.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

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