This weekend the Sprint Cup Series rolls into Fort Worth, Texas for the Samsung 500 at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway.  The seventh race of the 2009 season, the action around the top-35 in owner points is beginning to heat up.  With only thirty-five guaranteed starting spots, the battle for the top-35 is starting to whittle away the teams that can survive this tough economy and those that simply cannot.

Following a 25^th-place finish at Martinsville last Sunday, Paul Menard and his Yates Racing No. 98 has jumped three spots in the owner points, locking him into the show in 35^th.  Only three points ahead of TRG Motorsports’ David Gilliland, Menard and his Larry Carter-led crew understand the importance of a strong run again this weekend in Texas.

"Last weekend the goal of the No. 98 team was to get back into the top 35 in the points,” Menard explained. “We had a decent run in Martinsville, all things considering, and were able to secure a spot back in the points.  This weekend we head to Texas and try to improve our position in the points. We've had good cars all season, just had a little bit of bad luck that we are now having to dig ourselves out of.  Larry (Carter) and all the guys on the No. 98 have done a great job this season with making sure the cars are fast when we unload.”

In five previous starts at the Texas Motor Speedway, Menard’s best finish came after starting in the rear of the field.  During this race in 2007, Menard rolled off from the 42^nd-spot only to work his way through the field and finish in 15^th.  This weekend the team is looking to repeat that impressive performance.

With his strong run at Martinsville, Menard was able to bump Gilliland out of the top-35.  The No. 71 TRG Motorsports team has worked their tails off in the early part of 2009 to put themselves in the position they are now. The team did not attempt the season-opening Daytona 500 and have one less race under their belts than most teams around them in the owner standings. Only three marks behind the No. 98 in the standings, expect these two teams to be keeping a close eye on one another throughout the weekend.

Twenty-seven points out of the top-35, the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing No. 8 driven by Aric Almirola is reportedly in danger of ceasing operations. A lack of sufficient sponsorship dollars and lackluster performances thus far in 2009 has many looking at the 8 team and wondering if they will be able to survive the next couple of weeks.

Behind Almirola in 37^th in owner points is rookie Scott Speed. The former open-wheel sensation has struggled to find luck over the first six weeks of the season. A great call by crew chief Jimmy Elledge last weekend at Martinsville put Speed out front early, but an incident with Kyle Busch only a handful of laps later ruined the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota’s day.

On the other side of the coin is Speed’s fellow Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender Joey Logano. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has also struggled a bit in the early going this year, but has been able to put himself twenty-three points ahead of Menard in 35^th.

Anything can change in a given weekend, and with only fifty-one points separating Logano in 34^th and Speed in 37^th, the action is sure to heat up this weekend in Texas. There are forty-eight cars on the entry list for Sunday’s Samsung 500, meaning a number of teams will be bumped during Coors Light Qualifying later this afternoon.  Be sure to check back to HardcoreRaceFans.com for all the latest from Texas and to see who makes the show and who heads home in vain.