Hot 20 over the past 10 — Kenseth leads heading to Talladega, Junior will lead leaving it

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]If you were tuning in to NASCAR as of late for the excitement, for the thrills, and the spills, you would had better results finding all that by trying to barbecue in the nude. For fans who closely follow the sport, it was more than a bunch of guys turning left, but for those who are not…that pretty much sums it up. That changes on Sunday.

Junior will win to end his long slump and take over top spot in the standings after ten races. There, I said it. Now it only needs to happen. No biggy.

Here is a look at our hottest drivers over the past ten events…

1. Matt Kenseth – 369 pts – (1 Win, 6 Top Fives, 6 Top Tens)
Best over past ten at Talladega is 14th. Well, it was fun up here while it lasted.

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr – 366 pts (0-4-6)
2nd in the standings, 2nd at Kansas, 1st at Talladega

3. Denny Hamlin – 364 pts (2-4-6)
Be it a family celebration or a NASCAR race, nothing beats good Grubb.

4. Martin Truex Jr – 358 pts (0-4-7)
Like brother Ryan and Wally Dallenbach, he is a real Jersey Boy.

5. Tony Stewart – 354 pts (3-4-5)
It is better to give than receive. Yah, right.

6. Kevin Harvick – 350 pts (0-2-6)
I become an uncle again next week, while Delana is about ten weeks away.

7. Greg Biffle – 348 pts (1-5-6)
Staying with the same theme, little Emma turns one in July.

8. Carl Edwards – 331 pts (0-3-7)
It’s the restarts, stupid.

9. Jimmie Johnson – 327 pts (0-4-7)
Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, keep them tires rollin’…

10. Ryan Newman – 310 pts (1-2-3)
Did you know that half of the Rocket Man’s 12 poles came a decade ago?

11. Clint Bowyer – 302 pts (0-1-5)
Hoping to ride a Crimson Tide to victory.

12. Kyle Busch – 287 pts (1-2-4)
To whomever tossed that plastic bottle at Kansas…thanks!

13. Brad Keselowski – 277 pts (1-2-4)
If he sees Carl just ahead as they come to the line, what will he do this time?

14. Paul Menard – 277 pts (0-0-3)
You would think a man named Slugger would be okay with a little pushing in the pits.

15. Joey Logano – 266 pts (0-0-2)
He is 6 inches taller than me, and a hundred pounds lighter. What the hell?

16. Jeff Gordon – 261 pts (0-2-3)
Worst season since 1992, but he only ran one race in 1992.

17. Juan Pablo Montoya – 253 pts (0-0-1)
Gentlemen, hide your blow driers.

18. Jamie McMurray – 250 pts (0-0-2)
30 months after he won at Talladega, a trip down memory lane would be nice.

19. Jeff Burton – 249 pts (0-1-3)
One of the most articulate in the garage hasn’t had much opportunity to say much lately.

20. Kasey Kahne – 242 pts (0-1-4)
Went from the good hands people to having to provide Farmers Insurance assurance.

21. A.J. Allmendinger – 242 pts (0-1-1)
Talladega puts the dinger in Allmendinger.