Not there through seven? Don't expect manna from heaven

Seven races of a 36-race marathon season might not seem like much.

But history has shown that once the checkered flag flies on race No. 7, the Sprint Cup Series point standings are pretty meaningful.

Last season, 10 of the drivers in the top 12 after the seventh race went on to make the Chase. Only two spots changed over the course of the next 19 races to set the playoff field in September: Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon were able to slip into the Chase grid as Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman fell out.

Junior is on the outside of the Chase field, but isn't ready to panic. (Getty Images)

So if that's an indication of how the 2009 season will play out, it could mean bad news for a pretty impressive group of drivers.

Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Newman, Jamie McMurray and David Ragan headline the list of high-profile drivers who enter the Easter weekend break on the outside looking in.

Harvick was second in the standings at this time a year ago, but has not been able to find much success in the early going of this campaign. He had a miserable day in Texas to help him fall 12 spots from where he sat last season at this time.

Biffle leads the Roush Fenway stable of disappointments -- along with McMurray and Ragan -- who seem to have nothing but bad luck all of the time. After leading a good portion of Sunday's race in Texas, Biffle was yet again dealt problems on pit road when lug nuts fell off twice on two different stops.

He rallied back to finish third and doesn't subscribe to being snake bitten in 2009. Biffle said erasing mistakes will turn things around for the 16 team.

"It's not bad luck," said Biffle, currently 15th in the standings, one spot behind Harvick. "When you leave a wheel loose or you stop on the air hose or you do something else, that's not bad luck. That's school of hard knocks. That's making a mistake. That's the way it is. We're all human. We all make mistakes. You make your own luck a lot of times."

Martin, currently 18th, might argue differently.

The victim of a pair of blown engines in the first three races, and then a cut tire and subsequent trip into the wall at Atlanta, Martin seemed doomed to a disastrous year.

But the veteran has rebounded in strong fashion over the last three races and his sixth place at Texas was Martin's third consecutive top 10.

"It sounds corny, but it is just so true," Martin said. "You just can never give up in this business.

"We know we have a great car and a fantastic team and some things are just out of your control sometimes. But we expect to run the way we have the last few weeks and I surely expect that to continue."

Martin's optimistic view is shared by Hendrick teammate Earnhardt Jr., who combined a pit road mistake and an encounter with the wall for a 20th-place Texas finish.

The result dropped Junior to 16th in the standings, but Earnhardt is not about to panic.

"There is no reason to get down," he said. "I was running real, real hard all day, trying to run hard and trying to run well. Just got into the wall down there in the middle of [turns] 1 and 2. The car jumped sideways. ... my mistake.

"But we had a good car and we were up front. We have Phoenix and Talladega and Richmond coming up, all places I like and we've had success in the past. We just need to keep running well. It is way too early to think about points."

Unfortunately for Earnhardt and the rest, history has shown us otherwise.

Garage chatter

• The decision to shut down the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing No. 8 car has shrunk the recently merged operation to two drivers -- Juan Pablo Montoya and Martin Truex Jr. Last season, when Ganassi and DEI were separate entities, there were seven cars on the track between the two. The move adds Aric Almirola to the list of drivers who started the year with high hopes but now find themselves on the unemployment line.

• The decision to move the Sprint Cup Awards Banquet from New York to Las Vegas is not a done deal, but all signs point to a move in time for this year's event. In the past, NASCAR picked up the tab of taking the show to New York and holding the ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria. The new arrangement with Vegas has the sanctioning body receiving between $500,000 and $1 million from the city's Convention and Tourism board for the rights fees. Look for an official announcement in the coming days and a format chance that will open the ceremony to fans.

• Ray Evernham hasn't slowed down since stepping away from the day-to-day operation of his Sprint Cup team. In addition to television work, Evernham had a successful opening weekend as a track promoter when his East Lincoln Speedway in North Carolina kicked off its weekly racing season with a full grandstand and pit area. The dirt track might see several NASCAR stars visit and compete during the season.