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Big NASCAR names face crucial race

A number of big names risk losing their guaranteed starts in forthcoming NASCAR Sprint Cup races if they do not score a good finish at Bristol this weekend

Following Sunday's fifth round of the championship, the current owner standing will dictate which drivers are locked in the field for the following race regardless of their qualifying speed, as per NASCAR rules.

Those in the top 35 will automatically make the field, while a few remaining spots will be available for the fastest qualifiers at every event from the sixth round of the year onwards.

For the first four races of the season, last season's final car-owner standings are used to determine which drivers are locked in the field.

One of the highest-profile entries in jeopardy is the No.39 car from Tony Stewart's new Stewart Haas operation, driven by his team-mate Ryan Newman. While Stewart has enjoyed a solid start to his season, Newman has had a series of misfortunes and risks losing his current guaranteed status.

"So far, it's been a challenging time," said Newman. "To be honest we've had fast cars. We know where we're at performance wise and it's a lot better than what our finishing results show. We've just had too many hiccups and unforced problems that have stalled our momentum."

Rookie Joey Logano, who has endured a difficult start to his debut season as well, is not in a comfortable position either. His Joe Gibbs entry is currently 33rd in the car owner standings, just 36 points off from falling outside the top 35.

But even in a more difficult situation is veteran Mark Martin, whose Mary Hendrick-owned No.5 car ranks 35th in the standings following two consecutive retirements due to engine failures, plus a tyre blow-up that left him only 31st at the flag at Atlanta, after starting from pole position.

Behind him is another entry that is still guaranteed the start under last year's points. The No.8 car owned by Chip Ganassi and driven by Aric Almirola is currently in 36th place. He, like Martin, has only finished half the races this season and besides being at risk in the standing, his team only has funding for a handful more races.

Scott Speed is also out of the top 35, his No.82 car owned by Red Bull's Dietrich Mateschitz currently showing in 37th place, following retirements at Fontana and Atlanta, the first due to an engine failure, the second due to an incident.

Speed's entry finished inside the cut last year, driven by AJ Allmendinger for the majority of the season. Now at Richard Petty Motorsports, Allmendinger's entry currently ranks a comfortable 20th.

Travis Kvapil, who had finished inside the cut last year but had to give up his status to new Yates driver Paul Menard for this season, is outside the top 35 at present and right behind Menard's entry in the car owner standings. While the latter has his season guaranteed thanks to family funding, Kvapil's future remains uncertain.

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