NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings - Here Comes Dale Jr.

June 15, 2008

By: Rick Bradham

The top four positions in the Sprint Cup standings went unchanged after the LifeLock 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. However, Kyle Busch could feel the heat coming from Sunday’s first place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr. Busch retains the number one spot with second place Jeff Burton only 32 points behind. But here comes Junior. Earnhardt is still in third place in the standings but he reduced the points difference from third to first and now trails Busch by only 84 points.

End of race strategy and fuel management gave Earnhardt his first point’s victory after joining Hendrick Motorsports and his first victory after a drought of 76 races. Earnhardt drove his 88 Chevrolet to victory under caution but his smart fuel management must have had his father smiling down on him this Father’s Day. Busch had to settle on 13th place for his Toyota after starting on the pole. A rainout of qualifications resulted in the field starting the race based on series standings. Burton remains in the third place for the series after finishing in 15th place on Sunday.

Carl Edwards remains solidly in fourth place in the series. Kevin Harvick remains in tenth place. The other six drivers all switched positions but no one fell out of the twelve positions for the Chase. Jimmie Johnson moved up one spot to fifth while Denny Hamlin swapped positions

with Johnson and is now in sixth. Kasey Kahne moved up two positions to seventh with his second place finish on Sunday. Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon each lost a position with Biffle now in eighth and Gordon now in ninth. Harvick holds onto tenth while Tony Stewart and Clint Bowyer swapped positions. Stewart is now in eleventh and Bowyer is in twelfth.

There are really no surprises as to who is in the top twelve positions. Now the question becomes can they all stay and will this win be the first of many this season for Earnhardt.