Cross' Words: Bristol (cont'd)

Six of one ...
Drivers with momentum heading to California:

• Carl Edwards -- Three consecutive top-10 finishes marks his best stretch since four in a row between Dover and Charlotte during last year's Chase. Could a fourth be in the offing this weekend at Cali? He finished fourth there last fall and third in the spring.

• Kasey Kahne -- Are we seeing the results of Ray Evernham getting grease under his nails again? Saturday night was Kahne's first top-10 this season at a track not named Daytona.

• Bobby Labonte -- Back-to-back 10-top finishes for the first time since Talladega-Charlotte-Martinsville last fall. Prior to that, the last time the No. 43 had three consecutive top-10s: Races 7-9 in 1999, with John Andretti.

• Clint Bowyer -- So much for succumbing to the pressures of the Race to the Chase. ... He's done more than hold his own: one finish outside the top 20 in the past 12 races, dating to Dover in June.

• Jeff Burton -- Has gotten more off-the-track press lately, but his on-track performance has been solid: only two finishes outside the top 20 in the past 12 races.

• Kyle Busch -- Hasn't had consecutive top-10 finishes since Michigan-Sonoma, but he also hasn't finished worse than 13th in the past 11 races, dating to Pocono in June.

Half a dozen of the other ...
And six drivers who need a jump start:

• Jamie McMurray -- Six consecutive finishes outside the top 25 since his victory at Daytona.

• Kevin Harvick -- Hasn't had a top-10 finish since Indianapolis, and would you believe his 15.9 average finish is worst among the RCR teams? 'Tis true -- Burton, 13.6; Bowyer, 14.8.

• Robby Gordon -- Back-to-back twentysomething finishes have dropped Gordon to 27th in points (but he's up two spots, to 23rd, in owner points). It doesn't get any easier at Fontana: one top-10 in 10 starts, three DNFs in the past five races and a 25.0 average finish.

• Greg Biffle -- OK, top-10 finishes in two of the past three races -- and only two finishes outside the top 15 in the past seven races -- shows the team is coming around. But can he string together consecutive top-10s? That hasn't happened since Races 10-16 last year.

• David Ragan -- Qualified fourth at Bristol, but finished 41st. Spent the waning laps caught up in the spin cycle before crashing out for only his second DNF of the season.

• Elliott Sadler -- Finished 29th at Bristol (the first time since 2003 that he hasn't had a top-15 at Bristol in a season) and it's now been 23 races since Daytona, his lone top-10 of the year.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.