For Drivers Points, see my 2010 Sprint Cup DRIVERS Points Standings page

Hamlin wins at Texas: #11-Denny Hamlin won the Samsung Mobile 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway taking the lead with 12 laps to go after a mutli-car wreck caused a 19:13 red flag. It is Hamlin's 2nd win of 2010, 1st at Texas and 10th of his career. Hamlin is the 16th driver to win a Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. #48-Johnson was coming fast towards the end and finished 2nd, followed by #18-Busch, #2-Busch, #9-Kahne, #5-Martin, #29-Harvick, #88-Earnhardt Jr., #56-Truex Jr. and #16-Biffle. Only 13 cars finished on the lead lap after a late multi-car wreck late in the race took out #24-Gordon who led 124 laps and pole sitter #14-Stewart who led 74 laps, who finished 31st and 32nd respectfully. #48-Johnson increased his points lead to 108 points over #17-Kenseth. The top five drivers in points stay the same. There were 7 cautions for 32 laps [16:50 under caution], a red flag for 20:28 and 29 lead changes among 12 drivers.
See race results, awards, laps led and more on Jayski's Texas Race Results/Awards page.(4-19-2010)

2010 Sprint Cup Driver Points Standings:
[after Texas, race 8 of 36]:
rank, car#, driver, points, behind
1) #48-Jimmie Johnson, [3 wins] 1248
2) #17-Matt Kenseth, 1140, -108
3) #16-Greg Biffle, 1120, -128
4) #29-Kevin Harvick, 1107, -141
5) #24-Jeff Gordon, 1028, -220
6) #18-Kyle Busch, 1020, -228
7) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr., 1013, -235
8) #31-Jeff Burton, 1005, -243
9) #2-Kurt Busch [1 win], 999, -249
10) #5-Mark Martin, 994, -254
11) #11-Denny Hamlin [2 wins], 973, -275
12) #99-Carl Edwards, 942, - 306
Chase for the Sprint Cup - Contenders:
13) #20-Joey Logano, 941, 1 point out of the chase
14) #14-Tony Stewart, 941, -1
15) #33-Clint Bowyer, 940, -2
2009 Chaser Drivers not in top 15
16) #39-Ryan Newman [1 win], 932, -11
19) #83-Brian Vickers, 835, -107
22) #9-Kasey Kahne, 821, -121
24) #42-Juan Montoya, 789, -153
See standings on Jayski's Drivers Points Standings page.(4-19-2010)

Top-35 in Owner Points and guaranteed a starting spot at Talladega:
Changes: #34-Kvapil finished 24th at Texas and is 34th and has a guaranteed spot at Talladega, #37-Gilliland drops to 35th, 1 points ahead of #7-Gordon, who finished 26th and dropped to 36th and will have to qualify by speed
31) #78-Smith/Furniture Row: 680, +67
32) #71-Labonte/Buckler: 680, +67
33) #38-Conway/Front Row: 628, +15
34) #34-Kvapil/Front Row: 617, +4
35) #37-Gilliland/Front Row: 614, 1 point ahead of 36th
these teams/ drivers must qualify by speed:
36) #7-Gordon/RGM/BAM: 613, 1 point out of 35th
37) #26-Stremme/Latitude43: 457, -157
38) #36-Sauter/Baldwin: 445, -169
39) #13-Papis/Germain: 408, -206
The teams are NOT locked in past the next race as the owners points change after each race.
For the owner points standings, see my Owners Points Standings page.(4-19/21-2010)

NOTE: DRIVERS points and OWNERS points are NOT the same, teams who fail to make the race still get points, while drivers who miss the race get no points

OWNERS CHASE: The Owners championship takes the same format as the drivers championship. Owners have their own Chase, so if a team uses more then one driver and is in the Top 12 after 26 races, that TEAM [not driver] would run for the Chase for the owners championship. The drivers would NOT. This means a driver in the Chase would have a team that is NOT in the chase. Rules on The Chase on my Chase News and Rules page

NOTES II: these points standings are directly from NASCAR Statistics, the unofficial are posted after the race and the official are posted when released, usually sometime Monday afternoon. If they differ from NASCAR.com, take it up with NASCAR.com, I do NOT run that site and have no idea why they would differ, usually with the way penalties are handled, Folks with questions can email NASCAR or NASCAR.com, see my Racing FAQ page this info. Most questions come from folks in Fantasy Leagues, I don't not participate or follow these, ask the person running it how they handles penalties, they should have a rule for such a thing, I do not mediate such things or draft drivers for anyone.

NASCAR has issued penalties to the #13, #47, #00 and #56 teams that compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as a result of rule violations committed at Texas Motor Speedway last week. Robert “Bootie” Barker, crew chief of the #13 team, and Frank Kerr, crew chief of the #47 team, have each been fined $75,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31 for violating Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 20-2.3A (unapproved added weight); 20-7 (all engine cooling system components must be approved by NASCAR prior to being used in competition); and 20-7.3A (radiator mount; failure to submit components) of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rule book.
Car owners Robert Germain (#13) and Tad Geschickter (#47) have each been penalized with the loss of 50 championship owner points for violating Sections 12-1 and 20-2.3A. Drivers Max Papis (#13) and Marcos Ambrose (#47) have each been penalized with the loss of 50 championship driver points for violating Sections 12-1 and 20-2.3A.
Rodney Childers, crew chief of the #00 team, and Pat Tryson, crew chief of the #56 team, have each been fined $25,000 and placed on probation until Dec. 31 for violating Sections 12-1; 20-7; and 20-7.3A. All of these violations occurred during post-qualifying inspection on April 16.(NASCAR)(4-21-2010)
MWR Statement: Executive Vice President of Michael Waltrip Racing Cal Wells: “NASCAR indicated we were running a part, a radiator pan, which had not been officially submitted for approval. We accept NASCAR’s ruling and will not appeal because we cannot debate whether the part was submitted, only whether or not the part needed submission. This gives us a clear line of sight on how parts need to be submitted for approval. We will work diligently with NASCAR in the future on all new parts to ensure this does not happen to MWR again.”(MWR)(4-21-2010)

For records, some rules and more, see my Main Penalties News page