From Gordon to Labonte, top 10 is full of storylines

Random thought and observations about the top 10 in points:

• Jeff Gordon is leading the Cup Series point standings after the third race for the first time in the Chase era. It's the first time he's been on point after three events since his 1997 championship season, when he held a 63-point advantage over Terry Labonte after Richmond.

This is a good thing for the sport, Gordon leading the pack. He continues to prove that he's a championship-caliber driver. He remains one of the most marketable names in all of sports.

"We're just bringing awesome race cars to the race track," Gordon said after finishing sixth at Las Vegas. "Three weeks in a row I've felt like we have the car that can win and that's quite a change from last year."

I believe it's a harbinger of things to come.

• Clint Bowyer has two top-five finishes in what was supposed to be a learning-curve season with his new crew chief, Shane Wilson. Now comes Atlanta and Bristol, where he has two top-five finishes and seven top-10s in 12 starts at those tracks.

• Matt Kenseth, so he didn't pull off the three-peat -- all hope is not lost. In the big picture, a 43rd-place finish was the worst thing that could have happened at Vegas but it came early enough that he can rebound; he's only 40 points behind Gordon (watch video).

• Greg Biffle is right about where you'd expect him to be -- in the early season hunt -- after two top-10 finishes. And now comes Atlanta, where he finished fourth last spring and has seven top-10s in 12 starts at the track.

• David Reutimann is averaging a top-10 finish through three races. His previous two seasons' average finish through the first three races: 26.0 in 2008 and 36.5 in '07 (two starts; DNQ at Las Vegas).

• Kyle Busch took advantage of every situation at Las Vegas and made the most of his opportunities. That 41st-place finish at Daytona will stick in his craw a while longer -- and don't look now but he's the defending race winner at Atlanta.

• Kurt Busch is clearly the leader of the Dodge camp (though fading at Vegas continued a disturbing trend). Now comes AMS, where he hasn't finished outside the top 15 in the past five races, including two top-10s.

• Tony Stewart did not lead a lap at Vegas, the first time this year he'd failed to do so. He also finished outside the top 10 (26th) for the first time as an owner. ... Wonder how that driver / owner debrief went? A bit one-sided, you reckon?

• Carl Edwards' 17th-place run, from a fan's perspective, was disappointing. I really believed he would mix it up with the leaders a bit more. Then again, he's led three laps this year -- 3 of 687. He's gotta be flippin' out over that stat.

• Bobby Labonte's decision to sign with Hall of Fame / Yates Racing is proving more fortuitous than anything Earnhardt Ganassi Racing has to offer. Labonte is 10th in the point standings; EGR's lead dog -- Juan Montoya -- is 15th, 34 points behind.

Which driver has been most impressive through three races?
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Reutimann

• David Reutimann -- His fourth-place finish at Las Vegas marked a career-best finish in 66 Cup Series starts. His previous best: ninth-place runs at Fontana and Richmond last fall.

• Bobby Labonte -- He hadn't finished in the top five since a third-place showing at Martinsville on Oct. 22, 2006. Labonte moved up 12 spots to 10th in the point standings.

• Richard Childress Racing -- A week after none of its four drivers placed in the top 15, three finished in the top 12: Clint Bowyer (second), Jeff Burton (third) and Kevin Harvick (12th).

Impressed by ...

Kyle Busch, so get over it. Congrats on winning in front of the hometown folks -- and from the back of the field, no less. Appreciate the kid for what he is: a helluva race car driver (watch video).

Thumbs down

• Joe Nemechek -- Fuel pump and transmission failures have relegated Nemechek to 43rd- and 41st-place finishes the past two weeks.

• Richard Petty Motorsports -- Kasey Kahne (11th) was again the team's front-runner. The others were also-rans: Elliott Sadler (29th), A.J. Allmendinger (33rd) and Reed Sorenson (34th).

• Jimmie Johnson -- Three-time defending champions are allowed mulligans. Let's call charging too hard for potentially a couple extra positions -- and spinning out -- a hiccup (watch video).

Disappointed by ...

I'll bet there were no less than 777 gambling references during the weekend broadcasts. We get it; it's Vegas, there's gambling. Shuffle up things and try rolling the dice with other metaphors.

Fantasy Racing

NASCAR.COM's Race for the Smithson Trophy:

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• Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway
• Qualifying: 6:30 p.m. ET Friday on SPEED
• Race: 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX

Ryan Newman will attempt to make history on Friday when he looks to become the all-time leader in pole wins at AMS. He and Buddy Baker are tied with seven.

Newman's most recent AMS pole came on March 18, 2007. He also started first six consecutive races between March 2003 and October 2005.

The chase is on ...

Three down, 23 to go until the Chase field is set at Richmond:

And Finally

Jeff Gordon became the seventh driver to eclipse 20,000 laps led as he paced the field for 17 laps at Las Vegas (watch video). He's now 3,125 laps behind sixth-place Darrell Waltrip (and 32,188 off Richard Petty's record pace). The top 10 all-time lap leaders as well as the top 10 active drivers and their all-time ranking:

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.