NASCAR Irwin Tools Night Race
The 24th Sprint Cup race of the 2010 NASCAR season takes us back to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Irwin Tools Night Race. The race is set to get underway on Saturday, August 21 at 7 p.m. (ET).
Last week at Michigan, Kevin Harvick won his third race of the season to expand his lead in the Sprint Cup standings to 293 points with a total of 3400 points. With only three races left until the ‘Chase` for the championship begins, points and position mean everything.
Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch are the odds-on-favorites at 6/1 to win this week at Bristol, but there are a few other drivers that might have something to say about that. The following is a preview of the top seven drivers in the Sprint Cup point standings along with their current odds to win this week.
With a huge win last week in Michigan, Harvick helped cement his top spot in the standings and now has a total of 3400 points. In the first race this season at Bristol he started 33rd and finished 11th. Last year in this race he started 16th and finished 38th. He has two second place finishes in this race; in 2001 after starting eighth and in 2003 after starting 23rd. Harvick has 11 top 10 finishes at this track and four in this race.
Despite a 27th place finish last week, Gordon remains second in the standings with 3107 points, 293 back. In the first race here this season he started fifth and finished 14th. Last year in this race he started 33rd and finished 23rd. Back in 2002, Gordon won this race after starting on the pole. He has 20 top 10 finishes at Bristol and nine in this race.
Hamlin jumped up three spots in the standings with a second place finish last week. He now has 3047 points, 353 points out of the lead. In the first race here this year he started 15th and finished 19th. Last year in this race Hamlin ended up fifth after starting 41st. His best career effort in this race was in 2008 when he started 21st and finished third. He has five top 10 finished here, including three in this race.
With a sixth place finish in Michigan, Stewart moved up four spots with 3020 points, 380 points out of the lead. Back in Week 5 at Bristol, he took second place after starting 11th. Last year in this race he started 30th and finished 33rd. In 2001 Stewart won this race after starting 18th. He has eight top 10 finishes at this track with six of them coming in this race.
Johnson finished 12th last week and is now 386 points out of the lead with a total of 3014 points. He won the first race here this season after starting fourth. Last year in this race he finished eighth after starting 21st. His best finish in the race was third back in 2004 after starting 11th. Johnson has eight top 10 finishes here and four in this race.
With a third place finish in Michigan, Edwards has 2986 points and moved up three spots in the standings. Earlier this year at this track he started eighth and finished sixth. Last year in this race he finished 16th after starting 32nd. He does have two career victories in this race; 2007 after starting sixth and 2008 after starting on the pole. Edwards has five top 10 finishes at this track and three in this race.
Burton fell back to seventh in the standings after finishing 24th last week. He has 2986 points, 414 in back of Harvick. In the first race here this season he started 14th and finished 10th. Last year in this race he finished 18th after starting 37th. He has two second place finishes in this race; 1998 after starting 19th and 2005 after starting 24th. Burton has 14 top 10 finishes at Bristol including seven in this race.
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