ESPN Sprint Cup

Jeff Gordon is outside the Chase and winless. The over-40 guy -- Jeff Burton -- is leading the standings.

Toyota is an instant contender with Joe Gibbs Racing. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the happiest non-winner in NASCAR.

All those things are surprisingly true at the quarter pole of the 2008 Sprint Cup season.

The Cup teams have a week off after completing eight of the 36 events, almost a third of the way to the start of the Chase. Here are a few things that stand out after two months of racing:

• Kyle Busch and Toyota could win it all -- Moving to Joe Gibbs Racing will go down as a career-defining moment for Busch. His talent is shining through and he's a contender to win every week. Here's the key: The more he matures, the better his chances of winning the championship.

And JGR is the best thing that ever happened to Toyota. Good teams win and bring the manufacturer with them. Toyota is enjoying the ride.

• Junior is a contender again -- If you're upset that Dale Earnhardt Jr. still hasn't won a race in 2008, you're missing the big picture. Earnhardt is third in the standings (the best of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers) and has six top-10s in eight races.

When you run like that, the wins will come, and Earnhardt knows it. He is thrilled with how things have gone for the No. 88 Chevy team.

And about that win thing, the upcoming race at Talladega, his personal paradise, looks like the place.

But one question remains: Can he win a championship with Tony Eury Jr. as his crew chief?

• Inconsistency hurting Gordon -- Jeff Gordon has three top-5s this season. He also has three finishes of 35th or worse. Something isn't quite right for the No. 24 Chevy team.

Gordon's car at Texas was the worst piece of equipment he ever raced in his Cup career. He was a misleading 13th at Phoenix, one lap down in a car that was way off the pace at the start of the race. And he won that race one year ago.

The good news is that Gordon is only eight points outside the Chase cutoff and has plenty of time to get things worked out. But he isn't close to where he was at this point in 2007 when he topped the standings with six finishes of fourth or better.

• Forty is the new 30 for Burton -- Jeff Burton, who turns 41 on June 29, can become the first over-40 driver to win the title since Dale Jarrett did it in 1999 at 42.

And Burton is doing it the old-fashioned way, avoiding mistakes and getting the most out of the No. 31 Chevrolet every week. His worst finish this year was 13th at Daytona.

Burton has a victory and six consecutive top-10s, including four in a row of sixth or better. That's how you win championships.

• Chip Ganassi Racing is struggling -- Ganassi was furious two weeks ago when rookie Dario Franchitti was one of only two drivers who failed to qualify at Texas.

Ganassi wasn't mad at Franchitti; he was angry that his team didn't give Franchitti a car capable of making the race.

This organization isn't getting the job done. Reed Sorenson, now in his third Cup season, ranks 31st in points with five finishes of 31st or worse.

Juan Pablo Montoya is a respectable 17th without a top-10 finish, which probably means he's driving to the limits of his equipment.

Ganassi said he could make changes and he proved it Tuesday. Crew chiefs Donnie Wingo and Jimmy Elledge are swapping spots. Wingo moves to the No. 41 Dodge with Sorenson, and Elledge will join Montoya on the No. 42 Charger team.

• Robert Yates Racing is hanging in there -- It may seem crazy to say two drivers ranked outside the top 20 are racing well, but David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil deserve some praise for what they've done this season.

Gilliland is 21st and Kvapil is 24th for an organization that doesn't have any full-time sponsors. The RYR guys are giving it all they have and racing their tails off in hopes that some company will see their potential.

• Yeley and the No. 96 Toyota going backward -- Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel, the new owners of Hall of Fame Racing, haven't gotten what they hoped for out of J.J. Yeley.

This team finished 26th in owner points in 2006, its first season in Cup, and 25th last year with Tony Raines driving in most of the events. But the 96 Camry is outside the top 35 in owner points now, meaning Yeley will have to qualify on speed at Talladega.

Comparisons don't do Yeley any favors. Kyle Busch is second in the standings for the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team that finished 21st last year with Yeley as the driver.

Terry Blount covers motorsports for ESPN.com. He can be reached at terry@blountspeak.com.