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

Harvick wins wild race at Talladega: #29-Kevin Harvick won the Aaron's 499 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway taking the lead on the third Green-White-Checkered with a few feet to go over #1-Jamie McMurray, winning the race by .011 seconds, the 8th closest finish [since electronic scoring in 1993]. McMurray had led when the last caution came out before lap 188 [the end of the regular length of the race] and led at the start of each of the three green-white-checkered flags. It is Harvick's first win in 115 races [Daytona 500 in 2007], his fist win at Talladega, Richard Childress Racing 90th win and 1st win at Talladega since Dale Earnhardt won his 76th and final race in Oct. 2000. It is Harvick's 12th career win which puts him alone in 31st on the all-time win list. McMurray held on to 2nd place, followed by #42-Montoya, #11-Hamlin, #5-Martin, #6-Ragan, #33-Bowyer, #2-Busch, #18-Busch and #09-Bliss. #48-Johnson wrecked late and finished 31st out of the race. #24-Gordon got involved in a lte wreck, but finished 22nd. #7-Gordon finished 20th and is back in the top 35 in owners points in 34th. The #37 Front Row Motorsports team fell out of the top 35. There were a series and track record 29 leaders with a series and track record 88 lead changes. There were 8 cautions for 32 yellow flag laps.
See race results, awards, laps led and more on Jayski's Talladega Race Results/Awards page.(4-25-2010)

2010 Sprint Cup Driver Points Standings:
[after Talladega, race 9 of 36]:
rank, car#, driver, points, behind
1) #48-Jimmie Johnson [3 wins] 1323
2) #29-Kevin Harvick [1 win], 1297, -26
3) #16-Greg Biffle, 1237, -86
4) #17-Matt Kenseth, 1224, -99
5) #18-Kyle Busch, 1163, -160
6) #5-Mark Martin, 1154, -169
7) #2-Kurt Busch [1 win], 1146, -177
8) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr., 1142, -181
9) #11-Denny Hamlin [2 wins], 1138, -185
10) #24-Jeff Gordon, 1130, -193
11) #33-Clint Bowyer, 1086, -237
12) #31-Jeff Burton, 1082, -241
Chase for the Sprint Cup - Contenders:
13) #99-Carl Edwards, 1067, 15 points out of the chase
14) #14-Tony Stewart, 1061, -21
15) #56-Martin Truex Jr, 1045, -37
2009 Chase Drivers not in top 15
18) #39-Ryan Newman [1 win], 995, 87 points out of the chase
20) #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, 959, -126
23) #9-Kasey Kahne, 926, -156
25) #83-Brian Vickers, 916, -166
See standings on Jayski's Drivers Points Standings page.(4-25-2010)

Top-35 in Owner Points and guaranteed a starting spot at Richmond:
Changes: #7-Gordon finished 20th at Talladega and is 34th and has a guaranteed spot at Richmond, #37-Gilliland drops to 36th, 2 points behind 35th, now #38-Conway
32) #78-Smith/Furniture Row: 680, +67
33) #34-Kvapil/Front Row: 617, +4
34) #7-Gordon/RGM/BAM: 628, +15
35) #38-Conway/Front Row: 614, 1 point ahead of 36th
these teams/ drivers must qualify by speed:
36) #37-Gilliland/Front Row: 613, 1 point out of 35th
37) #26-Stremme/Latitude43: 457, -157
38) #36-TBA/Baldwin: 445, -169
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.(4-25-2010)

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