Sprint Cup Chase 2015: NASCAR Standings and Schedule After Toyota Owners 400

The rest of the competition got a leg up on Kurt Busch to start the 2015 Sprint Cup season after NASCAR suspended the 2004 points champion for the first three races of the year.   

On Sunday, Busch made up for lost time. He led 291 laps of the Toyota Owners 400 en route to a checkered flag, which cements his place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup title. His 222 points would only be good enough for 19th, but the win supersedes everything. The 36-year-old immediately vaulted into seventh.

The win left Busch speechless on social media:

Kevin Harvick, meanwhile, maintains his lead over Jimmie Johnson.

Here's a look at how things stand after Sunday's race, courtesy of ESPN.com:

You can view the remaining Sprint Cup schedule below, courtesy of NASCAR.com:

Busch's victory could easily devolve into a discussion as to the fairness and efficacy of NASCAR's Chase structure, which values wins ahead of anything else. In this case, you have a driver who has only competed in six out of nine races already locked into the Challenger Round.

However, since returning to Sprint Cup, Busch has been on a tear, finishing around ninth on average in his first six races. ESPN's Marty Smith seemed to imply that a win was on the way sooner or later:

Really, any sort of talk that Busch is somehow undeserving of a Chase place is unfounded. He is one of the hottest drivers on the circuit, and Sunday's win was his just reward.

One extremely in-form driver who's still searching for his first win in 2015 is Martin Truex Jr. His 29th-place finish at the Bristol Motor Speedway last week is the lone blemish on his campaign so far. Sunday's race made it eight top-10 finishes in nine races.

Truex has amassed the second most points of any driver, but because he still hasn't won, he's only eighth in the standings.

It's very possible that the 34-year-old could qualify for the Chase without winning a race—it happened for Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman last year. Still, it would be a massive load off of Truex's shoulders if he can get into Victory Lane at least once. Having his hot start ultimately prove fruitless by the time the Chase rolls around would be a shame.

At least Truex is in the Chase right now, which can't be said of a large number of drivers. Biffle, Danica Patrick, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart are among the more notable stars who sit 17th or below. Patrick and Edwards are both within six points of 16th-place Ryan Newman, while Biffle and Stewart have a little more work to do.

Stewart's slow start is particularly baffling. He finished in the top 10 of the points standings every year from 2007 to 2012. The last two years weren't as successful, but Stewart missed a combined 18 races during that stretch.

Through nine races in 2015, the 43-year-old is in 29th with 148 points. Sunday didn't help matters, as he spun out following contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Stewart unleashed some expletives on his crew during the accident, per NBC Sports' Dustin Long:

He was also in no mood to speak to the media, per Jeff Gluck of USA Today:

You expect Stewart to put it together because he's Tony Stewart, but all of the good vibes from his sixth-place finish at Bristol last week feel like a distant memory.

Luckily for Stewart, there's more than enough time to turn things around. It's still way too early to panic about not making the Chase. One win could make all the difference for the No. 14 car.