Food City 500: Winners and Losers

Winners

Kyle Busch: Going to start out with an obvious choice from Sunday's race. Kyle not only won the race, but also won in the sense that he gained some confidence back in his pit crew. After a runaway tire cost him any chance at winning the Nationwide race, his crew came through for him in the late stages of the Food City 500. They got him out of pit road first on the final pit stop of the day.

Marcose Ambrose: Placing 10th at Bristol not only bumped his 47 team up four spots in owner points to 24th. It also gave the team a larger sense of security in their spot in the top-35 in owner points and in their short track program. Ambrose is starting to show he truly does belong in the Sprint Cup series.

Stewart Haas Racing: With Newman finishing seventh and Tony racking up another finish in the top-20, this team is starting to show all the critics that they are going to be a team to be reckoned with this season and seasons to come.

A.J. Allmendinger: Not only did he get more races added onto his schedule, he earned those races. With a 16th place finish at Bristol and moving up to No. 16 in owner points, A.J. has taken that 44 team to being the second best Richard Petty Motorsports team behind the nine of Kasey Kahne. How he has not been giving a full schedule is beyond me.

David Reutimann: Going into Bristol, there were many that thought the No. 00's presence in the top 12 was a fluke. After Bristol, Reutimann has become a serious contender for a 2009 Chase spot. Sitting No. 11, only 187 points behind leader Jeff Gordon, should Reutimann continue to get solid finishes, then we will be hearing from him after the fall Richmond race. Heck, even during the race at Bristol, Busch was noticing Reutimann as he told his crew to keep an eye on what No. 00 was doing.

Losers

Travis Kvapil: Even though Kvapil brought home a solid 18th place finish on Sunday, and in my opinion, is a better driver than teammate Paul Menard. Due to lack of sponsorship presence, Kvapil's and the 28 team's season is over after Bristol. Sitting 39th in owner points just 33 points out of a locked in spot and only three-points behind teammate Menard, just was not enough to get someone's name on that Ford.

Yates Racing: As I just stated, they definitely fired the wrong driver in my opinion.

John Andretti: Sunday just was not a good day for you brother. Between self-spinning into the barriers at pit entrance to then laps later punting the No. 66 of Blaney prompting his owner Phil Parsons to park that car. Lets just hope the saying, "no press is bad press," holds true for you.

Scott Speed: Only 21 points out of a top-35 position, lets pray you got a good setup ready for qualifying at Martinsville or if your lucky it might get rained out.

Aric Almirola: You had the chance to steal a top-35 position away from the 71 team, but came up short and let the 82 join in the competition. Lets pray for your sake the same things we are praying for Scott and that 82 team.