Grading the top 10 after Dover

Here's our weekly grading of the top 10 drivers in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series points standings. All race and performance references are from Monday's Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway.

1. Jeff Gordon, B; 2,059 points. The No. 24 team was never able to zero in on the car's setup. Jeff Gordon is a master at turning those kinds of days into decent outings, which he did with a ninth-place finish. He summed it up best after the race: "It was a good points day for us. We'll take it."

2. Jimmie Johnson, B; 1,907. Johnson was in second and challenging for the lead when his right rear tire went flat with less than 20 laps to go. He finished 15th, which obscured an otherwise fine day. Johnson charged from the back of the field - he qualified 27th, then had a pit-road mishap with Kyle Petty on Lap 30 that dropped him to 36th - and had the most green-flag passes (79) and third-most fastest laps (35).

3. Matt Kenseth, A; 1,869. Matt Kenseth never led a lap and not one of his laps was the fastest. But he did spend 396 of 400 laps in the top 15 and finished fifth. Kids, DO try this at your home track.

4. Denny Hamlin, A; 1,842. Denny Hamlin moved up four spots in the last 10 percent of the race (40 laps) to finish fourth. It was his sixth top five in 13 races this season. He had eight all of last year. Next stop, victory lane.

5. Jeff Burton, B; 1,704. Unlike Hamlin, Jeff Burton did not move forward in the final 40 laps. He was 12th and finished 12th. Since winning at Texas, Jeff Burton has an average finish of 22.7 in the past six races. In the first seven it was 5.0.

6. Carl Edwards, A; 1,584. Edwards posted his best finish, third, since finishing second in the fall 2006 Dover race. Edwards was strong throughout and was one of three drivers to spend the entire 400 laps in the top 15. He now has third- and fifth-place finishes in the past two Car of Tomorrow races.

7. Tony Stewart, F; 1,573. Smoke got in his eyes. As in smoke from Tony Stewart's ears. Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch went at it just long enough to irritate each other into a wreck. We've seen this before. At Daytona, the two tangled and Tony Stewart finished 43rd and Busch finished 41st. This time Tony Stewart finished 40th and Busch 42nd. I guess that makes them even.

8. Clint Bowyer, A; 1,525. Bowyer also spent all 400 laps in the top 15 (the third driver was Ryan Newman) and was strong all day. His 5.6 average running position was fourth best, and he finished eighth.

9. Kevin Harvick, D; 1,518. If you didn't see the No. 29 on TV Monday, there was a reason for it. He never once made it into the top 15, his average running position was 27.7 and he finished 20th.

10. Kyle Busch, C; 1,471. Kyle Busch was the good Busch on Monday, playing nice with the other 42 boys in the field. But he had other problems. Shock problems. The team pitted on laps 65 through 70 to replace the right shock. On Lap 135 that replacement shock fell out (a bump stop problem), and he hit the wall. Three laps later, Kyle Busch was back on the track in 43rd. But he battled to a 17th-place finish. Nicely done.

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