From An Owner's Standpoint: Middle of the Road

They're not the cream of the crop, but they have solid footing in the Top 35 heading to Martinsville. They don't have to worry about qualifying, but they need to make adjustments if they want to secure their spot in the Chase. Here are your teams in the middle of the road:

Chip Ganassi / Felix Sabates: Two teams solidly in the Top 35--the #40 in 11th and the #42 in 19th. Their third team, the #41 isn't faring quite as well in 29th, but they're inside for at least one more week.

The CGRFS cars have gained an average of 3.3 positions from the end of last season.

While the teams cars are on the rise, so is one of the team's stars. Juan Pablo Montoya's entry into NASCAR is one of the most talked about stories in all of auto racing--there's the F1 angle, the international angle, the diversity angle and the he'll push anyone and anything out of his way to win angle ...

Ganassi is also off to a good start in the Indy Racing League, which kicked off Saturday and saw the third one-two finish for Ganassi drivers Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon.

Ray Evernham: The #19 team is the only one of Evernham's three that has a solid grip in the Top 35, holding down the lucky #13 position. It helps when things are going well for your driver. Elliott Sadler's been lucky in love and luck enough to stay out of trouble so far this year. Not so for the #9 team, which is barely hanging on in a tie for 34th.

Richard Petty: It's awesome to see the Petty Enterprises team with a Top 15 car (#43, 14th). That's a 7-position gain from 2006. How exciting if we get to see Bobby Labonte in the position to race for a place in Chase! The #45 team held down the 35th position in owner points at season's end and has improved 3 spots, inside the Top 35 by a margin of 10 points.

Teresa Earnhardt: She's got two cars in the Top 35, but considering she had a Top 5 and Top 20 car at the end of last season, 17th and 25th positions for the #8 the #1 is nothing to write heaven about. So far the team's season has been plagued with nothing but distractions: promotion and openings of the "Dale" movie, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s contract negotiations and his sister / manager's health. Is outsider Max Siegel the guy to bring the family in focus?

Roger Penske: Both cars sit comfortably in the middle of the road, #2 in 16th and the #12 in 18th--down four and five spots respectively from last season. Funny. It feels like they're doing better than that--they clearly need to step it up. Both drivers have proven they're Chase worthy, and both have proven otherwise.

Robby Gordon: The owner who employs himself as driver is holding his own in the 21st position. I gotta admit, at most times I'm nervous when anyone is around him on the race track, but it is damn hard not to have the utmost respect for his passion for and dedication to racing.

Next: From An Owner's Standpoint: On the Bubble