Interesting start to season sure to continue at Bristol

Folks can say what they want -- and certainly there are many opinions floating about on many issues -- but one fact is indisputable about this young Sprint Cup season.

It sure has been interesting.

From the potholes of Daytona International Speedway to the bright lights of Las Vegas to multiple wins by four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson and the controversial Carl Edwards flip of Brad Keselowski at Atlanta, there has been nary a dull moment. OK, well, the down time it took to fix the potholes during the Daytona 500 might have been pretty tiresome -- but the racing around the work on the track was darn exciting.

Strip away all the excesses and that has been true pretty much of every race. The racing has, for the most part, been good -- even when the end result might have seemed too predictable with Johnson ending up in Victory Lane again both at Auto Club Speedway in California and the following Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

As the Sprint Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend for its first foray into short-track madness, there are plenty of storylines that beg to be explored -- and not just the Edwards-Keselowski one that has been beaten to death, but still needs to be brought to some kind of closure.

For evidence, just take a look at the current point standings.

Chasing Jimmie

No one doubts that Johnson and his No. 48 Chevrolet team remain the ones to beat. But take note: even though Johnson is the only multiple winner of races this young season, he's not leading in the points. He's fourth, trailing the triumvirate of Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle.

That in itself is news. And, of course, the argument can be made that Johnson doesn't usually step it up until later in the season anyway -- and then he pushes it into overdrive during the 10-race Chase to the Sprint Cup championship.

But here is what makes it even more intriguing: the names battling Johnson at the top of the point standings. Harvick, whose long-term future at Richard Childress Racing remains up in the air, leads an impressive revival of the RCR stable that actually began to take hold late last season. While he's leading in points, teammates Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton reside in fifth and sixth, respectively. It's only been four races, but it looks like the RCR guys have staying power; now they just have to start winning some races to fully legitimize the organization's comeback. (Continued)