#29-Kevin Harvick is in the midst of a remarkable comeback year, 25 positions and an amazing 1001 points ahead of this point last year. Harvick is leading an Richard Childress Racing resurgence, an organization that was shut out of the 20’09 Chase, but has two of three drivers in the current Top 12, and #33-Clint Bowyer only 49 points out of 12th. #5-Mark Martin’s wreck-induced 28th at Daytona dropped him out of the Top 12, and he now sits 39 points out from #99-Carl Edwards. Last year, Martin was 65 points out in 13th, and in 2004, he was 138 points and five positions away from a spot in the chase field at race #18. Edwards’ sixth at Daytona kept him in the Top 12, but he’ll need more top 10s to hold on to the final spot. The #99 has only one top 5 this season. For season-to-season comparison after 18 races, current standings and more, see my Chase Stats after Daytona page. And for Chase history, how the ‘old system’ would had played out and more, see my 2010 Chase Rules and News page.(7-8-2010)
