Truex emerging as DEI's new No. 1; Gordon slipping?

	It took 58 races for Martin Truex Jr. to win his first checkered flag in Cup. DEI hopes that his next win comes a lot sooner. Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR

Here are five pressing questions as the NASCAR circuits rolls into Pocono (Pa.) Raceway for the Pocono 500:

1. Can Martin Truex Jr. keep his momentum going?

Last Monday in Dover Truex won his first race in his two years of Cup racing. He had a thoroughly dominating performance, as he led a race-high 216 laps and was pulling away from the field when he took the checkered flag.

Over the last seven races, Truex has climbed from 25th in the standings to 13th -- largely as a result of the massive changes that have been going on at Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) since Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced that he was leaving the team at the end of the season. Since then, DEI has formed an engine alliance with Richard Childress Racing, they've created a team that is solely dedicated to testing during the week, and they plan to soon buy a seven-post shaker rid -- a machine that costs about $5 million and essentially allows teams to conduct tests while in the race shop.

Truex is now the future of that company, and it appears that a lot of resources at DEI are being poured into getting him into the Chase. Expect him to be very fast this weekend at Pocono, where last summer he finished 10th.

2. Is Jeff Gordon starting to come back to the field?

After winning three races in four weeks, Gordon has slowed. He finished 41st at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 27 and last Monday in Dover he wound up ninth. It was a solid effort, but not what the garage has come to expect this season from Gordon, who has finished in the top-four in nine of the 13 events and still holds a 152-point lead in the standings over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson.

In the spring Pocono race a year ago, Gordon suffered one of the worst crashes that I've ever seen. His brakes went out near the end of the frontstretch -- the longest straightaway on the Cup circuit -- and slammed viciously hard into the Turn 1 wall. The impact, as measured by safety experts, was actually harder than the crash that killed Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 2001 at Daytona. But Gordon was able to walk away thanks to all the safety advances such as the Hans Device and the SAFER barriers, and when he returned to Pocono later in the summer he finished third. He'd be thrilled with a similar outcome on Sunday in Long Pond, Pa., where he hasn't won in his last 16 starts.

3. Will Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart tangle once again?

The feud between Busch and Stewart, which has been festering since Daytona, is coming to a head. They made contact late in the race at Dover, and when both drivers limped to pit road Busch stopped in front of Stewart's pit stall, causing one of Stewart's crew guys to leap for his life and not get hit. If there's one thing that Stewart won't forget, it's when another driver puts one of his guys in harm's way. It may not happen this week or even the next, but mark it down: Stewart will get revenge on Busch.

4. Can Ryan Newman continue to gain speed?

As I wrote in the magazine this week, Newman is benefiting from an overhaul at Penske Racing, which began last year and has covered everything from the setups on the cars to the level of communication between the two Penske teams. On Monday he finished second, which was his fifth top-10 run in the last six races. After struggling mightily early in the season, he's now 16th in the standings and is starting to look like a solid bet to qualify for the Chase.

5. Will Mark Martin continue to be a serious contender to make the Chase?

Though he's missed three races this season, Martin, improbably, is in 12th place in the standings, which is the last spot that advances to the Chase. Martin will be in the driver's seat this weekend at Pocono, where in 40 career starts he's earned more than $2 million over the years but has never won.