Head2Head: Whose rough start is more surprising?

First things first, it's surprising to see both Ryan Newman and Mark Martin battling to stay in the top 35, but for me, Newman is more of a shocker.

Martin is down in the dumps for one reason -- bad luck. Back-to-back races with blown engines at Fontana and Vegas were followed with a top-10 run ruined when he lost a tire and slammed the wall at Atlanta. Point is -- Martin has had good cars. He's led three of the four races and despite two DNFs, has an average running position of 17.1, 14th-best in the Cup Series.

Newman though, just hasn't been very good.

Newman's average starting position of 20.5 and average finish of 27.8 are both career lows. The No. 39 has yet to finish a race on the lead lap and Newman has an average running position of 24.1.

That's not to say Newman hasn't had his share of difficulties like Martin, because he has. But the fact is, Martin's woes have come while running in the top 10, Newman's have come with him already in the back of the field -- he's been in the top 15 just 30 percent of the time.

Newman's had some tough seasons, but he's never started a year with zero top-20s in the first four races. Add to that how strong his teammate Tony Stewart is running, and it all equals a mystifying start for Newman in his new gig with SHR.

Mark Martin's move to Hendrick Motorsports came with many expectations. Numerous people predicted he would make the Chase and some even thought he instantly became the favorite to win the championship.

Four races in, Martin faces the reality that if he doesn't gain ground at Bristol, battling for a championship may be the least of his concerns -- having to earn his way into a race could become his biggest hurdle.

It doesn't take a degree in nuclear physics to realize a driver would be in a point predicament after blown engines in two of the first four races. For an HMS engine to let loose is, in itself, an anomaly. In the last four seasons, only 10 engine issues have plagued any of the four Hendrick cars -- an average of one every 57.6 races. Based on that reliability, the odds of having his power plant give up the ghost in back-to-back races are one in nearly 3,318.

In his 20 full-time Cup Series seasons, the veteran driver finished top 12 in the standings 17 times. He has the talent and equipment to make it 18, but it's a shock to see the sizeable hole he is in this early.

No disrespect to Ryan Newman, but Martin is one of the best drivers in NASCAR history driving for the premiere team in the sport. Few could have seen him struggling to make the Chase, while fewer yet can envision him having to battle to get into a race.