Reutimann, Montoya up, Edwards down early in '09

David Reutimann and Juan Montoya have bucked predictions this season, and both are close to cracking the Cup Series top 12.

Reutimann has finished 39th and 22nd in his first two full-time seasons. Currently he's 13th. Montoya finished 20th and 25th in his two. He now sits 14th.

The improvement growth is statistically staggering:

Reutimann, along with grabbing his first career series win, has improved his Average Running Position by 7.4 and his Driver Rating by 18.4 from 2008. Montoya's Average Running Position is 4.4 positions better than last season and his Driver Rating has improved by 13.8 points.

On the other end of the improvement spectrum is Carl Edwards, winner of a series-high nine races last season. This season, he has none. Edwards looked like his old self Monday at Lowe's Motor Speedway, finishing fourth with a Driver Rating of 104.0. Beyond that, his numbers are down from last season:

But the above numbers do show a bright side for Edwards. For the most part, his stats still surpass his numbers in all seasons except 2008.

There's further good news: Edwards excels at Dover.

Edwards, who won at Dover in 2007, has had five consecutive top-three finishes at the Monster Mile and five consecutive races with a Driver Rating higher than 100.0.