Freefallin': Burton, McMurray, Stremme

A few weeks ago, you could find each of these drivers in the Top 10 in NASCAR Nextel Cup Standings. For two of them, that is no more, and for one, two more weeks of horrendous finishes would make the three 3 for 3. Here's how it happened -- and cue the Tom Petty.

Jeff Burton
Following his win four races ago at Texas, Burton sat just 8 points behind point leader Jeff Gordon and looking poised to continue his surge to the top. The next week at Phoenix, Burton's team never got a good handle on his Impala, but managed a 13th-place finish. At Talladega, a crash took Burton out of the race after qualifying 42nd and then Sunday at Richmond, the team blew a motor.

Result: Burton now sits 5th in points, 339 points behind Gordon.Jamie McMurray
Falling back or not, McMurray has had a splendid season to this point compared to last year. McMurray has been up and down as of late. Suspension problems knocked him back to a 41st place finish Sunday at Richmond, leaving the 26 car treading into dangerous water in the points. A 5th place at Talladega was a nice run for this team, but McMurray now sits outside the Chase -- with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, and Greg Biffle all in the same area fighting for the 12th spot.

Result: Jamie Mac is 13th in points, 592 out of first and 19 behind Dale Jr. for 12th.

David Stremme
A top 10 run at Texas was his first ever in the Nextel Cup series and it found Stremme sitting pretty in the Nextel Cup Top 10. A dead-last finish at Phoenix combined with Kasey Kahne's stupidity on the frontstretch at Richmond left Reutimann seeing impact and a drop in driver standings. A string of good luck will have Stremme back in contention, but past years for the Ganassi camp have shown the consistency might still be lacking.

Result: Stremme sits 17th in points, 682 behind the leader and 109 points out of the Chase.