NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Top 12

10 Mar 2010

Here's the breakdown of a top 12 filled with champions, veterans and a couple of big surprises:

Five past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions: Matt Kenseth (second), Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet) (fourth), Tony Stewart (No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet) (eighth), Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) (10th) and Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) (11th).

Three past NASCAR Nationwide Series champions: points leader Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet), Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford) (third) and Clint Bowyer (No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet) (fifth).

Two respected veterans: Jeff Burton (No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet) (sixth) and Mark Martin (No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet) (seventh).

Two surprises -- and "surprise" might not be a strong enough word: Paul Menard (No. 98 Menards Ford) (ninth) and Scott Speed (No. 83 Red Bull Toyota) (12th).

With a fifth-place finish at Atlanta, Menard entered the top 10 in points for the first time in his series career, which began full-time in 2007. Entering this season, Menard's previous best points position was 21st. Now, if the season ended today, he'd make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

"Obviously, we're off to a much better start than I've ever been off to before," Menard said. I was 38th in points after the Atlanta race last year, and this is a whole new race team for me. It's great to be in the top 10 in points, but it's way too early to get caught up in the points thing. I don't think we're as surprised as everyone else seems to be."

Same goes for Scott Speed, who has the added pressure of having to qualify on speed for at least the first five races of this season. (For the first five races, the top 35 from last year's owner points are locked into each event. Speed's No. 82 Toyota was 36th in owner points in 2009.)

If you are looking to put some cash on one of these guys. Who's the favourite? At the moment its Jimmie Johnson 5/2, ahead of Mark Martin and Jeff Gordan Both 8/1. If you are looking for a underdog ex Formula 1 drivers are a good outside bet, with Juan Pablo Montoya 16/1 and ex Torro Rosso driver Scott Speed 150/1.

All odds correct at time of writing and are subject to change