There are not many guarantees in sports, especially in NASCAR.

But the most important guarantee in  the sport — a spot in the Sprint Cup Series field each week — takes on new meaning beginning this weekend in Martinsville, Va.

                That’s because for the rest of the                  season, NASCAR will utilize 2009 car                  owner points to determine which 35 teams               are locked in the field each week. And             following last weekend’s race at Bristol,          Tenn., some teams improved their position,       some are in serious trouble and some others are    teetering on the edge.

      One of the most prominent names who was in serious         trouble of dropping out of the Top 35, Mark Martin, rallied   for a season’s best sixthplace finish last Sunday which has moved him to 31st in owner points and out of danger for now.

“We started the race and we really weren’t very good. And one little change and on the long run, that car was on fire,” said Martin, who finished 31st or worse in three of his first four races with Hendrick Motorsports.

“It is just great for this team to get some forward                 momentum.” One of the biggest surprises to earn a                      spot in the field for Sunday’s Goody’s 500 is the                          No. 71 Chevrolet driven by David Gilliland and                            owned by TRG Motorsports. After the first                              five races, the team — which was hastily                                put together right before the season                                 started — is 35th in owner points.

                              “That has been our original goal and we                               got it,” TRG principal owner Kevin Buckler                             said of moving into the Top 35. “You have to                            persevere through the tough weekends. It is                          just as important to do that as it is to celebrate                      the good weekends.

          “This team has a lot of character. We will be ready       for next weekend.” In his four races with the team thus         far, twice Gilliland has finished 24th or better, including a          season’s best 14th at Las Vegas

        Some who started the year in the Top 35, such as         rookie Scott Speed, now find themselves on the outside         looking in.

Speed, who drives the No. 82 Toyota for Red Bull Racing, hasn’t finished better than 21st in his first five races of the season and has dropped to 36th in owner points, 21 points behind TRG’s No. 71 Chevy. Several fulltime Cup teams are already in trouble in owner points.

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s Aric Almirola has dropped to 37th; Yates Racing’s Paul Menard is 38th. Both will need to make Sunday’s race on speed.

Several others are hovering just above the “bubble.” Joe Gibbs Racing upstart Joey Logano, a rookie, ran into trouble at Bristol with a blown engine and fell to 34th, just 35 points in the clear.

“Many times Joey has been at someplace where he’s never had a lap in a Cup car,” said JGR owner Joe Gibbs. “I think it’s been a struggle for us.

“He’s had two wrecks — other people caused them. Then we blow a motor. It’s been disheartening, but I think we’re locked in a battle. We’re going to go for it hard.”