1. Tony Stewart  Let’s be honest, how many of us expected the honeymoon to be over by now? I did, but there’s Tony, rolling along like this bunch has been contending for years.

2. Mark Martin  Speaking of contending for years, Martin finds himself in the best situation of his career some 27 years after making his Winston Cup debut in 1981.

3. Ryan Newman  Newman has but two wins in the last 157 races — that dates back to the beginning of 2005. He’ll trash that slump soon enough.

4. Jeff Gordon  It seems like a lot longer than three races ago that Gordon recorded a top 5. However, that’s the case, as JGo was fifth at Darlington.

5. Jimmie Johnson  What are these guys doing winning this early?! Chad, you’re supposed to wait until Indy to turn it on.

6. Kyle Busch  I love Kyle — he’s what this sport has been missing for nearly a decade — but the stomping away and pouting routine in getting old even for me.

7. Kurt Busch  Kurt, on the other hand, has transformed from what Kyle was into a living, breathing marketing robot: Smile real big, plug the product and for gosh sakes, don’t say anything that may come across as controversial. At least when you know the camera is on.

8. Greg Biffle  Mr. Biffle here is becoming quite the media mogul. Spots on TWIN and now NASCAR Now showcasing new “braces look.” It’s the next garage area fad, ya know.

9. Matt Kenseth  Meanwhile, Matty keeps a low profile while keeping the 17 snuggly in the top 12.

10. Carl Edwards  Carl’s demise has been greatly exaggerated. The 99 is simply taking a page out of the 48’s playbook, testing setups and getting geared up for the Chase.

11. Jeff Burton  Charlotte and Dover — two tracks JB has run real well on lately — were total bummers for him. That doesn’t bode well for a team that seriously needs to rebound.

12. Denny Hamlin  There’s so much potential here ... shouldn’t there be a couple wins in the column by now?

13. David Reutimann  Dover pole follows Coke 600 win. Big Mo, baby.

14. Kasey Kahne  Kahne’s annual May-June hot streak is at hand. We’ll see if he can parlay it into a Chase bid this season.

15. Joey Logano  Hasn’t finished outside of the top 20 in a race since mid-April. Seems the kid is getting the hang of the Sprint Cup thing.

Just off the lead pack: Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Brian Vickers

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