Updated Aug. 25
Two drivers have scored top 10 finishes in each of the past four races.
Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards would no doubt be your first guess, but you'd only be half right.
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| Harvick is quietly becoming a contender. (Getty Images) |
So who is mystery man No. 2?
Try Kevin Harvick, who has finished fourth, eighth, sixth and fourth during August's events. In fact, Harvick has five top 10s -- and three top fives -- over the past six races. He might have been able to make it six for six, but he was derailed by Kurt Busch's spinning car early in the debacle at the Brickyard.
It has been quite a turnaround for the 29 team, which muddled through most of the season after a stellar start.
Harvick finished in the top 10 in four of the first five races, but after a season-high second-place finish in the spring visit to Bristol back in March, results tailed off. Over a 13-race stretch, Harvick managed just one top 10, falling out of the top 12 in points after a 12th-place finish at Daytona.
A third the following week at Chicagoland began the team's climb back to championship contender. Even with Indy's 37th-place finish thrown into the mix, Harvick has jumped from 13th to eighth in the Chase standings over the past six races.
The margin for error still remains small. Harvick sits just 129 points ahead of 13th-place David Ragan with two races remaining in the "regular season," but he's in much better shape than he was a month ago.
"We're peaking at the right time here," said Harvick following his fourth-place run Saturday night at Bristol, "and we'll be ready to go hopefully by the time we get in that Chase."
Power Rankings after Bristol:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 1 |
| Even if Johnson were to finish last and Mark Martin were to win and lead the most laps in the next race at Texas, he would still hold the points lead by 23 points. | ||
| 2 | Mark Martin | 2 |
| There was a time when Martin had a bit of luck at Talladega. From 1988 through 2001 he had 18 top 10s in 28 races. In 12 races since 2002, he has just two top 10s with nine finishes outside the top 20. | ||
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | 3 |
| He has four victories in his past 12 trips to Talladega. However, he finished outside the top 10 in the eight races he did not win, with finishes of 19th or worse in his past four visits. | ||
| 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 4 |
| He captured second at Talladega in the spring of 2008, but has finished no better than 15th in his other five visits to the track. | ||
| 5 | Tony Stewart | 5 |
| Though he won last fall at Talladega, he has finished 22nd or worse in five of his last seven trips to the track with three DNFs by way of crash. | ||
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | 6 |
| He has led at least one lap in all eight of his visits to Talladega, but has just two top 10s to show for it with six finishes of 21st or worse. | ||
| 7 | Kurt Busch | 7 |
| He has three finishes of 21st or worse in his past four visits to Talladega after finishing outside the top 10 just three times in his first 14 trips. | ||
| 8 | Kasey Kahne | 8 |
| Sunday marked his second second-place finish at Talladega. In 12 starts at the track, those are his only top 10s. | ||
| 9 | Ryan Newman | 9 |
| His 36th-place finish Sunday was his sixth of 33rd or worse in 16 starts at Talladega. "We had this race back here in the spring and complained about cars getting airborne and now ironically I'm the guy that gets upside down," Newman said. "I wish NASCAR would do something. It was a boring race for the fans. That's not something anybody wants to see; at least I hope not. If they do, go home because you don't belong here." | ||
| 10 | Kyle Busch | 10 |
| His win in the spring of 2008 is his lone top 10 finish in 10 starts at Talladega. | ||
| 11 | Carl Edwards | 11 |
| After three consecutive top 10 finishes at Talladega between 2005-06, he has finished outside the top 10 in his past six trips to the track, but at least he wasn't flying into the catchfence like in his last visit. | ||
| 12 | Matt Kenseth | 12 |
| Like his Roush-Fenway Racing teammate Edwards, he had three consecutive top 10 finishes at Talladega between 2005-06, but has failed to finish in the top 10 at the track since. | ||
| 13 | Greg Biffle | 13 |
| Finished a Talladega career-best fourth on Sunday, his second consecutive top 10 at the track after finishing no better than 13th in his first 12 visits. | ||
| 14 | Clint Bowyer | 14 |
| He won't complain too much about a 12th-place finish considering he has finished 35th or worse in four of his eight visits. | ||
| 15 | Kevin Harvick | 15 |
| His 21st-place finish Sunday was his fifth consecutive finish of 20th or worse at Talladega. He has been running at the finish of all 18 of his starts at Talladega. | ||
