Here are the current point standings for The Sprint Cup. Drivers get between 40-50% of the purses paid. Makes it easy to think some drivers are happy just being there, not really motivated to try to win. Updated Sept 1th. The top 12 are the 2012 Chase participants. RANK +/- DRIVER POINTS BEHIND STARTS POLES WINS TOP 5 TOP 10 WINNINGS 1 +6 Denny Hamlin 2012 Leader 26 2 4 11 13 5,316,970 2 +2 Jimmie Johnson 2009 -3 26 1 3 12 17 6,097,510 3 +7 Tony Stewart 2009 -3 26 1 3 10 12 5,115,100 4 +2 Brad Keselowski 2009 -3 26 0 3 10 15 4,421,410 5 -4 Greg Biffle 2006 -6 26 2 2 10 15 4,534,960 6 +2 Clint Bowyer 2006 -6 26 0 2 6 15 3,982,290 7 -5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2003 -9 26 1 1 10 17 4,372,840 8 -5 Matt Kenseth 2003 -9 26 1 1 10 16 5,708,900 9 -- Kevin Harvick 2000 -12 26 0 0 4 11 4,311,250 10 -5 Martin Truex Jr. 2000 -12 26 1 0 6 14 3,990,540 11 -- Kasey Kahne 2000 -12 26 2 2 7 13 3,564,340 12 +1 Jeff Gordon 2000 -12 26 1 1 7 12 4,394,480 13 -1 Kyle Busch 774 -1238 26 1 1 6 12 4,773,610 14 -- Carl Edwards 747 -1265 26 1 0 2 11 4,017,020 15 +1 Marcos Ambrose 735 -1277 26 2 1 3 8 3,674,050 16 +1 Ryan Newman 734 -1278 26 0 1 3 9 3,978,200 17 -2 Paul Menard 731 -1281 26 0 0 0 7 3,060,680 18 -- Joey Logano 678 -1334 26 1 1 2 8 3,071,310 19 +1 Jeff Burton 647 -1365 26 0 0 2 5 3,942,350 20 -1 Jamie McMurray 640 -1372 26 0 0 0 3 3,427,120 21 -- Juan Montoya 608 -1404 26 2 0 0 2 3,378,130 22 -- Aric Almirola 587 -1425 26 1 0 0 2 3,542,560 23 -- Regan Smith 566 -1446 26 0 0 0 2 3,129,750 24 -- Bobby Labonte 557 -1455 26 0 0 0 1 3,109,520 25 -- Kurt Busch 499 -1513 25 0 0 1 2 2,995,120 26 -- Mark Martin 492 -1520 17 4 0 3 7 2,167,100 27 -- Casey Mears 462 -1550 26 0 0 0 0 2,690,210 28 -- David Gilliland 451 -1561 26 0 0 0 0 2,654,300 29 -- David Ragan 437 -1575 26 0 0 0 1 2,674,550 30 -- Travis Kvapil 434 -1578 25 0 0 0 0 2,586,970 31 +1 Landon Cassill 421 -1591 26 0 0 0 0 3,110,310 32 -1 AJ Allmendinger 400 -1612 17 1 0 1 3 2,577,390 33 -- Dave Blaney 338 -1674 25 0 0 0 0 2,262,240 34 -- David Reutimann 316 -1696 19 0 0 0 0 1,826,880 35 +1 David Stremme 184 -1828 21 0 0 0 0 1,960,520 36 -1 Brian Vickers 177 -1835 6 0 0 3 3 594,290 37 -- J.J. Yeley 138 -1874 18 0 0 0 0 1,475,960 38 -- Michael McDowell 126 -1886 20 0 0 0 0 1,727,220 39 +1 Ken Schrader 111 -1901 10 0 0 0 0 929,465 40 -1 Josh Wise* 109 -1903 23 0 0 0 0 1,811,000 41 -- Stephen Leicht* 97 -1915 12 0 0 0 0 1,092,260 42 -- Scott Speed 76 -1936 10 0 0 0 0 854,485 43 -- Michael Waltrip 75 -1937 3 0 0 0 1 316,687 44 -- Tony Raines 67 -1945 6 0 0 0 0 719,028 45 -- Terry Labonte 66 -1946 3 0 0 0 0 492,560 46 -- Brendan Gaughan 50 -1962 4 0 0 0 0 354,559 47 -- Scott Riggs 50 -1962 17 0 0 0 0 1,299,060 48 -- Boris Said 34 -1978 2 0 0 0 0 167,290 49 -- Bill Elliott 14 -1998 2 0 0 0 0 196,098 50 -- Hermie Sadler 13 -1999 1 0 0 0 0 80,610 51 -- Robby Gordon 11 -2001 3 0 0 0 0 405,300 52 -- Mike Skinner 10 -2002 4 0 0 0 0 340,850 53 -- Tomy Drissi 6 -2006 1 0 0 0 0 76,242 54 -- Stacy Compton 5 -2007 1 0 0 0 0 64,225 55 -- David Mayhew 4 -2008 1 0 0 0 0 72,625 56 -- Kelly Bires 2 -2010 1 0 0 0 0 69,400 57 -- Patrick Long 2 -2010 1 0 0 0 0 61,555 58 -- Sam Hornish Jr. 0 -2012 10 0 0 1 1 1,319,580 59 -- Trevor Bayne 0 -2012 10 0 0 0 2 1,274,320 60 -- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 0 -2012 1 0 0 0 0 304,275 61 -- Mike Bliss 0 -2012 13 0 0 0 0 1,041,310 62 -- Austin Dillon 0 -2012 1 0 0 0 0 88,285 63 -- Robert Richardson Jr. 0 -2012 1 0 0 0 0 110,318 64 -- Elliott Sadler 0 -2012 1 0 0 0 0 305,788 65 -- Joe Nemechek 0 -2012 23 0 0 0 0 1,944,770 66 -- Reed Sorenson 0 -2012 13 0 0 0 0 1,027,260 67 -- Danica Patrick 0 -2012 5 0 0 0 0 629,770 68 -- T.J. Bell 0 -2012 3 0 0 0 0 277,495 69 -- Jason Leffler 0 -2012 4 0 0 0 0 313,877 70 -- Jason White 0 -2012 1 0 0 0 0 76,610
Snake is right that it is a bit early, but then it is more of a challenge the earlier you predict. 1. Carl Edward5 (Yes I have been watching the same races as you) 2. Kevin Harvick 3. Matt Kenseth 4. Ryan Newman 5. Tony Stewart 6. Greg Biiffle 7. Jimmie Johnson 8. Jeff Gordon 9. Denny Hamlin 10. Brad Kesolowski 11. AJ Allmendinger 12. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 13. Clint Bower 14. Martin Truex , Jr. 15. Kyle Busch