10 to watch at Bristol: Kyle Busch's top competition could be teammates

So … Kyle Busch … he's pretty good.

Busch, a Joe Gibbs Racing driver and defending Sprint Cup champ, has been all the talk this week. And for good reason: He won both races at Texas ^[1] one week after doing the same at Martinsville. Now, the Sprint Cup series heads to Bristol, where Busch has dominated as well.

MORE: Bristol schedule | Entries | Logano's mindset | 10 things to know ^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

UPDATE: Busch and his teammates were among the top 11 in speed during Friday's morning practice at Bristol. Denny Hamlin was fastest, just ahead of fellow Toyota driver and ally Martin Truex Jr.

Busch has five Sprint Cup wins at the Tennessee track, three in the spring Food City 500. He also has eight Xfinity Series wins there, tied for the most with Charlotte. In the Camping World Truck Series, he has 10 wins, second only to Texas, where he has 12.

So who will stand in Busch's way on Sunday? How about his Gibbs teammates? Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin have eight wins, 23 top fives and 39 top 10s at the 0.533-mile track.

MORE: Junior's sandwich fund-raiser | Kenseth's 2015 victory | Wow, Danica in top 10 ^[6]^[7]^[8]

Busch won the past four NASCAR races (trucks and Sprint Cup at Martinsville, Xfinity and Cup at Texas). Since his return from injury last season, Busch won eight of 32 Sprint Cup races.

NASCAR has had its share of interesting streaks lately.

— Busch won three consecutive Cup races and four of five last year as he charged into the Chase and, eventually, won the title.
— Joey Logano won three races in a row in last fall's Chase before Kenseth put an end to that at Martinsville in the "wreck heard 'round the world."
— Kevin Harvick saw his four-race win streak end at Phoenix during the Chase last season before winning there a few weeks ago in a photo finish with Edwards.
— Last week, Jimmie Johnson went into Texas having won the past three races there, four of the past five and five of the past seven.

Here are the other drivers we think can win at Bristol, along with Busch. Practice began Friday morning in Thunder Valley ^[9], followed by qualifying for Sunday's Food City 500. That race begins about 1 p.m. ET Sunday.

Points standings rank: Points leader, 259 points

Last race: Led race-high 352 laps, won at Texas

Last spring at Bristol: Did not race because of injury

MORE: Bristol crashes ^[10]

Overall at the track: Five wins, eight top fives and 13 top 10s in 21 career races

As we've noted, Busch is on quite a roll and Bristol is one of the tracks he loves. His 12.0 average finish is second only to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in his six career races. Then again, it seems Busch loves just about every track he's raced at lately. It won't really matter if he qualifies well at Bristol or not; he'll quickly find a way to get to the front.

Points standings rank: 7th place, 208 points (51 behind leader)

Last race: Finished 13th at Texas

Last spring at Bristol: Led race-high 98 laps, finished 15th

Overall at the track: Five wins, eight top fives and 15 top 10s in 30 career races

He had much of his Bristol success early in his career, winning three in a row from 2003-04 along with a win in 2002 and 2006. Lately, the best he's done is a third in 2010, fourth in 2013 and fifth in 2014. He led 98 laps in last spring's race and has been consistent so far this season. A win would only enhance that.

Points standings rank: 12th place, 171 points (88 behind leader)

Last race: Led 45 laps, finished 15th at Texas

Last spring at Bristol: Led 47 laps, won Food City 500

Overall at the track: Four wins, 13 top fives and 20 top 10s in 32 career races

Kenseth's 2015 victory got him into the Chase and boosted his place in the standings. This year, Kenseth finds himself in a similar situation. Since falling to 20th after a crash at Vegas, he slowly inched up to 12th. A win would mean a lot.

Points standings rank: fourth place, 241 points (18 behind leader)

Last race: Finished sixth at Texas

Last spring at Bristol: Led 86 laps, finished 24th

Overall at the track: Three wins, five top fives and 10 top 10s in 23 career races

Edwards has been dominant at times at Bristol, leading 182 laps in winning the 2007 fall race and racking up 119 laps led in the 2013 fall race before engine problems regulated him to 39th. His third career win at the track came in the 2014 spring race when he was still with Jack Roush but he led 160 laps in the two races there last season under JGR.

Points standings rank: Fifth place, 234 points (25 behind leader)

Last race: Led 21 laps, finished 11th at Texas

Last spring at Bristol: Crashed on lap 452, finished 40th

Overall at the track: Two wins, three top fives and four top 10s in 14 career races

It's not his favorite track but two wins says a lot. Then again, so does a finish of 40th in the 2015 spring race. Much of Logano's struggles at the track came early in his career but he figured out how to win two of the previous three races in Thunder Valley.

Points standings rank: Tied for eighth place, 201 points (58 behind leader)

Last race: Finished fifth at Texas

Last spring at Bristol: Finished 22 laps down in 35th place

Overall at the track: Two wins, four top fives and five top 10s in 12 career races

He finished in the top 10 in nearly half of his career races at the track, which is no easy task when you consider how much goes in (and comes out) of a race at Bristol. But he was inconsistent in recent races, with finishes of third (2013 spring race), second (2014 fall race) and sixth (2015 fall race) sandwiched between two 30th-place finishes (2012 and 2013 fall races) and a 35th-place finish in last spring's race.

Points standings rank: Tied for eighth place (201 points (58 behind leader)

Last race: Crashed on Lap 221, finished 38th

Last spring at Bristol: Finished six laps down in 26th place

Overall at the track: One win, five top fives and nine top 10s in 20 career races

Hamlin has success at Martinsville and Richmond, both in his home state of Virginia tracks, but he comes up short at Bristol too many times. Of those top-five career finishes there, he had a second and two thirds since 2008. Since winning the 2012 fall race, he led 226 laps but has finished 23rd or worse in four of the past six races.

Points standings rank: Third place, 252 points (7 behind leader)

Last race: Led 72 laps, finished 17th at Texas

Last spring at Bristol: Led race-high 184 laps before crash, finished 38th, 43 laps down

Overall at the track: One win, 10 top fives, 13 top 10s in 30 career races

You can call this Bristol stat odd, to say the least. Outside his 2005 spring race win, where Harvick led 109 laps, he actually performed better (four top-15 finishes including second in last fall's race) when he didn't lead a lap than when he did. He led 294 laps in races at Bristol from 2013-15 but had finishes of 34th, 39th, 11th and 38th.

Points standings rank: Second place, 253 points (6 behind leader)

Last race: Finished ninth at Texas

Last spring at Bristol: Finished second

Overall at the track: One win, 10 top fives and 16 top 10s in 28 career races

Except for three races between 2013 and 2014, he had seven top-10 finishes at the track since his 2010 spring race win. That includes a fourth, second and fourth in the past three races.

Points standings rank: Sixth place, 211 points (48 behind leader)

Last race: Finished 14th at Texas

Last spring at Bristol: Finished 16th

Overall at the track: One win, seven top fives and 15 to 10s in 32 career races

We can't leave Junior out of the mix. While he has had success at the track, including his win in the 2004 fall race, he is more prone to average finishes at best. Before his ninth-place finish in last fall's race, he had two top-10 finishes since 2010. He finished two laps down in last spring's race.