Who’s Hot / Who’s Not

It was another week, another mechanical problem for Kyle Busch this weekend at Kansas. Busch is going through one of the most surprising slumps in recent history, dropping from the points lead to 12th in a manner of three weeks. But while Busch continues to struggle, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle continue to fight for the title. The big three all finished in the top three this weekend, but it was a Johnson win that gave the No. 48 team the point lead heading to Talladega next weekend. To see who has the best chance of catching the two-time defending champ, check out this week's edition of Who's Hot/Who's Not in Sprint Cup.

If you rewind three weeks with me, you'll notice the Chase for the Sprint Cup title had a discernably different look to it. After Richmond, Kyle Busch led the point standings heading into the Chase, holding a 30-point lead after flat out dominating the first 26 races. Far down the list, Greg Biffle sat ninth, 80 points back, along with four other drivers who failed to earn a win in the regular season. Now, just two races later, Biffle is the hottest driver in the Chase so far, Busch is the coldest, and Carl Edwards continues to lead the points. But how about the other nine drivers? Who still has a chance to contend for the title, and who, like Busch, is all but eliminated from the championship picture? Check out this week's Who's Hot/Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Chase Edition to find out.

The Chase is finally here, and after one race, there's something very strange about the standings -- Kyle Busch isn't leading. An array of problems at NHMS knocked Busch from his perch atop the championship ladder, dropping him all the way to eighth while his two toughest competitors (Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards) stepped up to share the points lead he'd owned for the better part of the last four months. But Busch shouldn't panic, as there's still a long way to go until the champion is crowned. To see who looks primed to make a run at the championship -- and who's already primed to bow out of the running -- check out this week's edition of Who's Hot/Who's Not in Sprint Cup.

As we’ve seen in the past, it can sometimes be difficult to sort out playoff contenders from the pretenders. But on paper, who’s entering this year’s Chase with an edge over the competition? Read on below to find out Who’s Hot and Who’s Not heading into the final 10-race stretch.

With his win Sunday night, Jimmie Johnson proved he belongs in the same breath as Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch as championship contenders, but if you want a sleeper for the title, look no further than another driver from Johnson's home state of California. To find out who, check out this week's edition of Who's Hot/Who's Not in Sprint Cup.

Boy. is this shaping to be one heck of a Chase! The media have been trying to generate some sort of rivalry between Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch for weeks, but this week that media-generated rivalry finally came to fruition. Neither driver backed up on post-race opinions of how clean Edwards' pass of Busch was for the win, and it appears that the feud could carry over to California this week. To see who is on the verge of breaking into the win column and who could simply go for a solid finish, check out this week's edition of Who's Hot/Who's Not in Sprint Cup.

There's been no better time to drive a Blue Oval in the Cup Series this year. Carl Edwards is just one of the five Roush Fenway drivers who make either the HOT or WARM lists this week, and Travis Kvapil, David Gilliland, and even the Wood Brothers have been impressive during at least one of the last two races. But while the Ford camp has found the magic touch, other teams and manufacturers are struggling with just three weeks to go until the playoffs. To see who could really go for a win -- and who's left to challenge Busch and Edwards for the title -- check out this week's edition of Who's Hot/Who's Not in Sprint Cup.

It doesn't matter what type of track the Sprint Cup Series is on these days; if Kyle Busch is racing, he's got a good chance at picking up the win. With his eighth victory of the season coming this week at Watkins Glen, Busch again showed why is the favorite for this year's Sprint Cup title -- but with two finishes outside of the top 10 in his previous two races, he's not among this week's HOT contenders. To see who else is among the hottest drivers on the circuit or who needs to step up their game to make the Chase or Top 35, check out this week's edition of Who's Hot/Who's Not in Sprint Cup.

After a bout with Mother Nature forced a bizarre finish at Pocono -- the second straight week of strange results for NASCAR -- there was plenty of heating up and cooling off throughout the sport's top levels. So, without further ado let's get right to the list of Who's Hot and Who's Not with just five races left to go in the regular season.

Tire problems provided an interesting twist to this week's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, allowing a number of teams to utilize pit strategy to capture unexpectedly strong finishes. One of those teams, the No. 84 of AJ Allmendinger, came home 10th, giving him his first top 10 and the best two-race stretch of his career. Up front, the suspense was far less dramatic. Jimmie Johnson was the strongest car and took home his second win of the season -- becoming just the second man to win a stock car race at Indy from the pole. But behind the No. 48, who else had good runs? And with Chase bids on the line, who fell victim to tire problems out of their control? Check out this week's edition of Who's Hot/Who's Not in Sprint Cup to find out how things are shaping up with just six races left until the playoffs.