Sprint Cup Chase 2014: NASCAR Standings and Schedule Following Auto Club 400

Kyle Busch entered Sunday's Auto Club 400 in a disappointing 14th place in the Sprint Cup standings following a miserable 29th-place finish at Bristol.

None of that matters anymore.    

The 28-year-old, who finished fourth in last year's Chase, erased his early-season struggles with a second consecutive win in Fontana. In fact, as NASCAR Stats on Twitter noted, Auto Club Speedway has long served as a favorite track for Busch:

NASCAR Stats also gives us a gander at the top 10:

Following the wild victory, which saw Busch survive a green-white-checkered finish while tire failures plagued a huge chunk of the field, he is still only in seventh place in the standings. But again, it doesn't matter, as the win all but assures him a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup in the new format.  

Let's take a look at the updated Sprint Cup standings, followed by the upcoming schedule:

Position	Driver	Team	Points	Win?
1	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	186	Yes
2	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	185	Yes
3	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	184	No
4	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	182	Yes
5	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	179	No
6	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	165	No
7	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	158	Yes
8	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	150	No
9	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	150	No
10	Joey Logano	Team Penske	146	No

Race	Track	Date	Time (ET)	Distance (Miles)	2013 Winner
STP 500	Martinsville Speedway	Sun, March 30	1 p.m.	263	Jimmie Johnson
Duck Commander 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Sun, April 6	3 p.m.	501	Kyle Busch
Bojangles' Southern 500	Darlington Raceway	Sat, April 12	6:30 p.m.	501.322	Matt Kenseth
Toyota Owners 400	Richmond International Raceway	Sat, April 26	7 p.m.	300	Kevin Harvick
Aaron's 499	Talladega Superspeedway	Sun, May 4	1 p.m.	500.08	David Ragan
Kansas 400	Kansas Speedway	Sat, May 10	7:30 p.m.	400.5	Matt Kenseth
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race	Charlotte Motor Speedway	Sat, May 17	9 p.m.	135	Jimmie Johnson
Coca-Cola 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway	Sun, May 25	6 p.m.	600	Kevin Harvick

 A 10th-place finish for Carl Edwards, who won at Bristol last week, has vaulted him into first place in the standings, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. remains in second after crossing the finish line 12th. 

Both individuals have a win, however, while Jeff Gordon sits in third as the highest-ranked driver so far without a victory. 

Considering his start, Gordon has flown a little bit too far under the radar so far this season. He was the only driver in the field to tally top-10 finishes through the first four races, and in Fontana, he held a late lead before a caution on Lap 198 pushed him back to 13th place. 

With Brad Keselowski, the winner of the Kobalt Tools 400, in fourth place, the closest winless drivers to Gordon remain Matt Kenseth (fifth), Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson (sixth) and Austin Dillon (eighth). 

Rookie Kyle Larson, who now has two straight top-10 finishes after coming in second, is up to 15th place and an intriguing name to watch for Chip Ganassi Racing as we move forward. 

Drivers head to Martinsville next Sunday for the STP 500. Johnson and Gordon, who have each won that race three times in their career, both boast eight victories at Martinsville, meaning Hendrick Motorsports' early success may very well continue. 

But as Busch showed on Sunday, drivers who haven't fared as well this season can turn things around with just one race.