Pressure produces results for some on top-35 bubble

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- When the going gets tough, NASCAR drivers get up on the wheel, evident by a handful of performances in Sunday's Sprint Cup race.

Jamie McMurray, who for the first time in years was forced to qualify on time, stepped up his game with an eighth-place finish putting him back into good standing, otherwise known as the top 35 in owner points.

Owner Points

Sprint Cup Series

Pos.	Car	Driver	Points
27.	7	R. Gordon	518
28.	41	R. Sorenson	516
29.	5	C. Mears	514
30.	66	S. Riggs	506
31.	26	J. McMurray	494
32.	96	J.J. Yeley	468
33.	55	M. Waltrip	460
34.	70	J. Mayfield	441
35.	01	R. Smith	438
36.	77	S. Hornish Jr.	435
37.	44	D. Reutimann	418
38.	40	D. Franchitti	416

• Standings: Owner | Driver

Casey Mears was on the verge of being outside the top 35 had he not posted his first top-10 finish of the season. Before Sunday, the Hendrick Motorsports driver had an average finish of nearly 30.0 through five races and was 33rd in owner points.

Regan Smith was well outside the top 35 and raced his way back into a guaranteed position Sunday after he scored a 14th-place finish, the highest-placing rookie of the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Before Martinsville, he had finished 31st or worse four times with his best result a 26th-place showing at Bristol.

When you're outside the top 35 in the owner standings and faced to qualify for Cup races on time alone, it sends a loud wake-up call. More than that, it puts a driver's job in jeopardy.

The pressure was enough to change McMurray's frame of mind.

"I had to race those guys a little bit different than I would have if we hadn't been in that situation," McMurray said. "When guys would get underneath me, I would just let them go because we had to finish well [Sunday] so we could have a little bit of a buffer in the points when we go to Texas.

McMurray, whose No. 26 Ford now sits 31st in owner points, has been a part of the "go or go home" crowd before -- the group of drivers forced to race their way into the show -- but it hasn't been since his rookie season in 2003.

"That was a different feeling," McMurray said.

McMurray also responded to his adverse situation Friday by qualifying his car fifth and backed it up Saturday by being the fastest Ford on the track in the final Cup practice.

Mears mostly struggled in practice -- his top speed no better than 24th in any of the three sessions -- and qualified 39th. Still, he worked his way through the grid for his first top-10 since Talladega in October 2007.

"It was a really good day," said Mears, who moved the No. 5 Chevrolet to 29th in owner points. "It is definitely what we needed so far this year ... the good thing is everybody held their heads up pretty high. We know that we are competitive and this is a good start for us to rebound and go on from here."

Mears said he wanted to be more aggressive on the track and try to gain two more spots nearing the end of the race but, as McMurray indicated, couldn't afford to take chances.

"We really aren't in a position to do that," Mears said. "So I guess at the end there, I was a little bit conservative. Throughout the whole race, I just did what I normally do, but at the end I was just a tick conservative."

Smith was conservative, as well, and intensely focused on a respectable finish.

"There was a number of situations where I could have stuck my nose in there behind a guy like [Kevin] Harvick or [Tony] Stewart or somebody like that. I could have stuck my nose in there and maybe rooted them out of the way, but it's going to come back at me 10 times worse," Smith said.

Smith now clings to the final spot in the top 35, assuring his No. 01 Chevrolet a guaranteed starting spot and saving himself from the gauntlet ... at least for now.