Heading into Texas, unless something tragic happens to an engine, the top 5 in NASCAR Cup driver points are safe from that 12th place bubble spot.
Jimmie Johnson has a 36 point lead over Matt Kenseth, whose lurking in 2nd place, and Kenseth has a 56 point advantage of Greg Biffle.
As you can see, right now the top 12 has a nice mix of names but if you look at that bubble spot of 12th, there are some snug spots that could be lost or gained, depending on how things go at Texas.
| RANK | DRIVER | POINTS | + / - |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 1073 | 218 |
| 2 | Matt Kenseth | 1037 | 182 |
| 3 | Greg Biffle | 981 | 126 |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | 961 | 106 |
| 5 | Jeff Gordon | 948 | 93 |
| 6 | Clint Bowyer | 885 | 30 |
| 7 | Jeff Burton | 873 | 18 |
| 8 | Carl Edwards | 873 | 18 |
| 9 | Tony Stewart | 869 | 14 |
| 10 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 866 | 11 |
| 11 | Joey Logano | 862 | 7 |
| 12 | Kyle Busch | 855 | 0 |
| 13 | Mark Martin | 844 | -11 |
| 14 | Kurt Busch | 834 | -21 |
| 15 | Paul Menard | 811 | -44 |
| 16 | Ryan Newman | 802 | -53 |
| 17 | Brian Vickers | 786 | -69 |
| 18 | Denny Hamlin | 783 | -72 |
| 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | 780 | -75 |
| 20 | Jamie McMurray | 745 | -110 |
If you look at the Driver Rankings for Texas, Tony Stewart holds the best Average Driver Rating, and Jimmie not so much.
If Matt Kenseth stays true to statistics, he could be taking over the points lead by Sunday evening.
Yet Jimmie Johnson as been outperforming himself for this time of year. Usually he’s laid back and looking to get into the top spots, but this year he started out on top. Hopefully his scenario hasn’t swapped out this year and he starts to fade from mid-way into the season. If he does, you heard it here first on Bruce’s NASCAR Bits & Pieces! (You did hear it hear first, didn’t you? Has someone else said anything? Maybe I’m not the first, but I could be!)
So check out the Driver Stats and maybe this help with your fantasy leagues and have some fun!
| Rk. | Car No. | Driver | Average Finish | High Rating | Average Driver Rating |
| 1 | 14 | Tony Stewart | 11 | 149.7 | 106.1 |
| 2 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | 6.5 | 133.8 | 105 |
| 3 | 99 | Carl Edwards | 16 | 146.7 | 99.7 |
| 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | 15.9 | 135.8 | 98.6 |
| 5 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 11.7 | 130.6 | 96.1 |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 10.6 | 123.1 | 95.6 |
| 7 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 19.2 | 149.2 | 95.4 |
| 8 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 16.2 | 106.1 | 94.4 |
| 9 | 2 | Kurt Busch | 15.1 | 134.8 | 93.8 |
| 10 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | 13 | 136.3 | 91.4 |
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