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.

The same goes for Roush Fenway Racing. Perhaps the early season success of teammates Kenseth and Biffle have further added to the frustration level of Edwards, who is fortunate to have escaped his deliberate wrecking of Keselowski with a mere three-race probation. Edwards endangered more than Keselowski's general health with his ill-timed, ill-fated decision to exact revenge; he endangered any hopes he might have for a Cup championship this season (which very well might have been removed from his reach with a one-race suspension or a 100-point penalty).

But then, Roush Fenway isn't all about Edwards. Kenseth is off to the type of consistent start that he has been known to maintain for most years in his career. Last year actually was the exception when he burst out of the gate to win the first two races, and then quickly faded until he was left out of the Chase altogether. As with the RCR threesome, Kenseth and Biffle are exhibiting signs of real staying power that should enable them to challenge Johnson and all of the rest through the summer.

The real surprises

All of the aforementioned names represent no huge surprises, however. They've all experienced some degree of Cup success in their careers, as individuals and as organizations.

That is not the case for two others who currently reside in the top 12 heading into Bristol: Paul Menard, who is ninth; and Scott Speed, who is 12th. What the heck are those guys doing there?

We're about to find out if they are for real. Menard, driving the No. 98 Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports, insists that what's happening is a payoff of a hard offseason of work. Speed, who drives the No. 82 Toyota for Red Bull Racing, has never been shy about telling the world that he's a world-class driver, and now he's starting to show it with some consistency in stock cars.

The guess here is that both better enjoy their current positions among the sport's elite, because they're not likely to be able to maintain them. But that's the beauty of sport. No one truly knows for sure and it will be fun finding out if they can.

The same goes for some others. Overlooked in all the mess that became Atlanta following Edwards' punting of Keselowski was the fact that pole winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. actually was able to salvage a halfway-decent 15th-place finish after enduring a miserable day, during which it quickly became obvious that all of the Hendrick Motorsports entries had missed their setups and were struggling to manage their tires under them.

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That leaves Earnhardt 13th in the points heading into Bristol, where a strong finish likely would propel him back into the top 12 and perhaps once and for all get him pointed back in the right direction.

And on the other end of the spectrum are those such as Juan Montoya and Denny Hamlin -- Chasers last year who have struggled out of the gate largely because of circumstances over which they have had little or no control. Montoya might have been able to steal the Atlanta win from Kurt Busch if he hadn't spun his tires on the restart, but he seemed happy to finish third and jump five spots in the points to 21st. Hamlin, the odds-on preseason favorite to challenge Johnson after his strong finish in 2009, sits 22nd in points.

All of which points to a fascinating weekend coming up in Bristol, where another subplot looms because the track's configuration has been slightly altered by additional installation of SAFER barriers in two of the turns. If the sport can avoid any further potholes the rest of this season, it promises to be one that bears close watching.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

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• Plenty to keep an eye on as series hits Bristol