Take 5: Five Things Worth Mentioning Heading Into Phoenix

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Props to the smaller teams out there.

It might be only three races into the season but some of the smaller teams in NASCAR certainly deserve some praise for their performances. Below is a quick look at some of the impressive drivers that run for smaller Sprint Cup Series programs.

• Martin Truex Jr. – Truex is 4th in the point standings after his second-place finish in Las Vegas. Truex has been the most impressive of this group having finished in the top-10 in all three races thus far in 2015.
• AJ Allmendinger – ‘The Dinger’ is right behind Truex in the standings in 5th place. After finishing 20th in Daytona, Allmendinger has consecutive top-10 finishes in the last two races.
• Casey Mears – Mears is 9th in the standings and has looked impressive at times this season. The curious thing here is that each race he has finished worse than the previous, hopefully that not a trend for him.
• Aric Almirola – Almirola is coming off of a 26th-place finish in Las Vegas. This comes on the heels on consecutive top-15 finishes to open the season. He now sits 15th in the point standings.