Top teams need to heed early season warning signs (cont'd)

"We had a great race car [Sunday night]," Martin said after exiting the race. "It was fast, faster than the leaders most of the time. We were really trying to be careful and get up there when it counts. Then, after that caution, about two laps after [on Lap 179], we had a valve break."

The same happened to Earnhardt, who finished 39th, one position ahead of Martin (watch video). After two bad weeks, Earnhardt is 35th in the standings, 252 behind Matt Kenseth, the winner of the first two races. Even more important is that Earnhardt's car is 35th in owners' points just three races before 2009 owners' points begin governing who has guaranteed spots and who doesn't. The top 35 are locked into Sprint Cup fields.

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• The No. 39 Stewart-Haas Chevy driven by Ryan Newman is barely ahead of Earnhardt in owners' points. Misfortune has been Newman's problem. At Daytona, he blew an engine and wrecked two of his cars through no fault of his own. At Fontana, a side piece fell off his rear wing, forced an extra pit stop and ruined what otherwise could have been an excellent run (watch video).

• Joey Logano's No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is 37th in owners' points. If the heralded rookie doesn't improve by the time the sixth race of the season (Martinsville) rolls around, he'll have to start qualifying on speed.

"I learned a lot," Logano said after Sunday's 26th-place finish. "Just working around the race track, different lines, different grooves make your car do different things. Working the bottom, working the top, coming in the pits, it's things like that that you go by race track to race track to keep learning and it takes time."

With three races left before 2009 owners' points kick in, time is in short supply.

• Kenseth is the only driver to post top-five finishes at Daytona and Fontana. Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart are the only drivers to post top-10s in each of the first two races.

Currently, there are six drivers in the top 12 who didn't qualify for last year's Chase. And there are six drivers who did make the Chase last year currently in positions ranging from 15th to 35th.

Before the season began, Juan Montoya predicted this year's Chase would be the most competitive ever. Chances are he's right.

Yes, it's early, but those who have struggled in the first two races can't ignore the danger signs -- getting back to the top of the standings will be more difficult than it has ever been.