Five races into the 2009 Sprint Cup Series schedule and the ’09 owner points are now in effect.  For the first five events, NASCAR relied on last year’s top-35 in owner points to determine what teams were required to make the race on speed and which were locked into the show.  This weekend at the Martinsville Speedway, NASCAR has made the switch to the 2009 owner standings, putting a few teams on the outside looking in.

After an impressive start to the season, David Gilliland and the No. 71 TRG Motorsports team are locked in the show this weekend after leaving Bristol 35th in owner standings.  Despite not attempting the Daytona 500, this team has been able to climb up the standings and lock themselves in the show.

Just fourteen points ahead of Gilliland, rookie Joey Logano is secure for this weekend at least.  The kid that entered the season with so much hype has struggled to say the least.  After blowing a motor with only a handful of laps remaining in last Sunday’s Food City 500, the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 dropped one spot to 34th heading into this weekend’s race at Martinsville.

On the other side of the coin is Logano’s competition for Rookie of the Year, Scott Speed.  The former open-wheel driver is twenty-one points behind Gilliland and will be forced to make his way into the field for Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500.  Like Logano, Speed has two DNFs already in 2009, but has yet to score a top-20 finish.  Heading to Martinsville this brash rookie needs to keep the nose clean on his No. 82 Red Bull Toyota.  

Tied with Speed twenty-one points on the wrong side of the top-35 is Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s Aric Almirola.  The driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet has also struggled in the first five weeks of the season.  Reports are beginning to surface that this team may be in danger of shutting down if further sponsorship funding is not found.  

The Yates Racings organization takes up the next two spots below the top-35 line, with Paul Menard thirty points behind Gilliland and Travis Kvapil thirty-three out.  While Menard has secure sponsorship from Menards, Kvapil’s story is much different.  Despite partial sponsorship from companies such as Golden Corral, the team was forced to close shop after last week’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Qualifying for Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at the Martinsville Speedway is scheduled for 3:40pm E.T. later this afternoon, however weather appears to be threatening most on-track action.  Be sure to stay tuned to HardcoreRaceFans.com to find out who makes the big show and who heads home premature.