Smoke, Newman looking to continue top-five runs

Preview Show
TNT's Marc Fein and Mike Bell on what to expect from NASCAR's tricky triangle, Pocono Raceway.
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Fantasy Preview
NASCAR.COM's Mike Bell gives you the clicks to pick this week for your fantasy team and says the winner will most likely start on the front row.
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Beyond Pit Road
NASCAR artist Sam Bass highlights his collection and talks about his love for his job.
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Garage Expert
Larry McReynolds chats with Slugger Labbe, No. 71 crew chief, about what racing life is like for a team without full sponsorship.
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Track Facts
NASCAR.COM's Nikki Alexander brings you the facts, the history and trends of some past winners at Pocono.
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Travel Log
The Poconos provide a mountain of opportunity to explore the outdoors, whether it be through ...
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Breaking down the Top 12

We have a new leader but no new members of the top 12 halfway through the regular season. Here's our weekly breakdown of the top 12:

Stewart

1. Tony Stewart, 1,853 points -- Stewart finished second for the third time this season and swapped spots with Jeff Gordon to become the first owner/driver to lead the points standings since 1992 champion Alan Kulwicki. And speaking of Kulwicki, could "owner" Stewart win a title, too? Yes, he can.

2. Jeff Gordon, 1,807 -- Gordon had, by his own words, "a frustrating weekend." He crashed during qualifying then finished 26th, two laps down, for his second-worst finish of the season. A bigger issue with Gordon, though, is his sore back. Friday's crash didn't help it.

3. Jimmie Johnson, 1,789 -- What more can you say about the 48 team? Johnson led 298 of 400 laps and capped the race with a thrilling green-flag run after the final restart. Is it possible Johnson can win four championships in a row? Absolutely. A Johnson-Stewart duel for the title will be as gripping as last year's Johnson-Edwards battle.

4. Kurt Busch, 1,762 -- Busch finished fifth for his fourth top -ive of the season (he had five all of last year). Busch has completed all but two laps this season and run a whopping 96.9 percent on the lead lap; Johnson is next at 92.7. At this point last year, Busch had three DNFs.

5. Ryan Newman, 1,680 -- Newman is another driver vying for top comeback honors. He finished eighth, snapping a string of four consecutive top-fives. Newman now has seven top-10s (he had eight all of last year). And he already has doubled his top-fives over 2008.

Hamlin

6. Kyle Busch, 1,634 -- Stop the printer! Kyle Busch didn't lead any laps Sunday. His 23rd-place finish isn't eye-opening -- it's his fifth finish 23rd or worse -- but to not lead laps? Gadzooks! Busch has been all or nothing this year. In the eight races he has finished outside the top 10, his average finish is 25.0.

7. Denny Hamlin, 1,630 -- Hamlin was running second when his right-front tire blew and he smacked the wall on Lap 231. The DNF was Hamlin's first since October at Talladega. Pocono is a great bounce-back track for Hamlin; he has two wins and two thirds in six races there.

8. Matt Kenseth, 1,625 -- Kenseth finished fourth for his third consecutive top-10. He last had three consecutive top-10s last October. Kenseth and the No. 17 team appear to have found the consistency lacking since they started the season with back-to-back wins.

9. Greg Biffle, 1,618 -- Biffle led on the final restart but was caught with eight laps to go, first by Stewart, then by Johnson. His third-place finish was his fourth top-five of the season. Biffle led 41 laps to give him 308 for the season, second only to Hamlin's 479 for most laps led by a winless driver.

Burton

10. Jeff Burton, 1,587 -- Burton finished 16th and lost two spots in the standings. He is 51 points ahead of 13th-place David Reutimann but only 93 out of fifth. The bigger issue for Burton and his RCR teammates is the competitiveness of the Childress Chevrolets. RCR has one win -- Burton in October at Charlotte -- in the past 39 races.

11. Carl Edwards, 1,582 -- A four-tire call on the final pit stop left Edwards mired in traffic on the restart. He lined up ninth but was able to pick up only two spots. We're still waiting for Edwards to recapture the magic from 2008, but at least he led 12 laps, his second most this season. That's a start.

12. Mark Martin, 1,567 -- Martin finished 10th for his seventh top-10 in the past nine races. Martin led one lap Sunday, complements of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Johnson, which gave Martin five bonus points and ultimately made his lead over Reutimann 31 rather than 26 points.

Top five and five to watch

Here's a look at the top five in points and five drivers to watch in Sunday's Pocono 500. All statistical references are for Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway unless otherwise indicated. Driver rating is based on the past eight races at the track:

• Top five ...

1. Tony Stewart, 102.4 Driver Rating -- Stewart has finished seventh or beter in six of the past seven races at the self-proclaimed Tricky Triangle. Overall, he has 14 top-10s in 20 starts with one win (2003). Don't expect the series' new points leader to relinquish his top spot.

Gordon

2. Jeff Gordon, 95.3 -- Gordon has four wins and 22 top-10s in 32 starts. If you remove his four DNFs, Gordon hasn't finished lower than 16th in a race he completed since finishing 28th in his first start in June 1993. Gordon's latest win came in 2007.

3. Jimmie Johnson, 100.8 -- Last week's winner, Johnson swept Pocono in 2004. In 14 starts, Johnson has nine top-10s and only one finish worse than 15th. He qualifies well at Pocono, too. He has a 7.4 average start.

4. Kurt Busch, 106.8 -- This is one track Kurt has a decided advantage over his brother. Kurt has two wins in 16 races, and seven of his eight top-10s have been top-five finishes. Pocono is Busch's most successful track over 1.5 miles.

5. Ryan Newman, 96.8 -- Newman has started from the pole twice in 14 races and responded with his two best finishes: a win in 2003 and a second-place finish in 2007. Newman finished eighth last week at Dover to run his streak of consecutive top-10s to five. His career high is seven.

• Five to watch ...

Busch

6. Kyle Busch, 77.9 -- Busch has led the most laps in all three series this year, which makes this next stat such a stunner: In eight races at Pocono, Busch has led two laps. He is winless with two top-10s and two DNFs (both for crashes). One was last June when he finished last. In the August race, he finished 36th.

7. Denny Hamlin, 123.6 -- Hamlin has owned Pocono since twice posting dominant wins from the pole as a rookie in 2006. He then finished sixth and third twice before tumbling to a 23rd in August. Although winless in 2009, Hamlin has led 479 laps, fourth most in the Cup series.

11. Carl Edwards, 95.7 -- Edwards, who has been surprisingly quiet -- and winless -- in the first half of the regular season, has two wins at Pocono, including last August. Overall, Edwards has four top-10s in eight starts.

14. Kasey Kahne, 88.6 -- Kahne won last year's race from the pole and finished seventh in the August race. He enters this year's race coming off successive top-10s and trailing 12th-place Mark Martin by 66 points for the final Chase-eligible position.

23. Joey Logano, no rating -- Logano will be making his first start at Pocono, but don't let that color expectations of him this weekend. Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin won his first starts (and Cup races) and Pocono, and Edwards won in his first start there, too. And Logano has been driving well lately with three top-10s in his past five races.