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HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS
Last year: Won 18 of 36 races and last Nextel Cup crown; three of four drivers made the Chase
Big Team Ranking from 2007: First.
Drivers: Four Time (Car No. 24), Two Time (48), Not Roger Mears (from the 25 to the 5), Junior (from DEI/88)
Outlook: Can the Hendrick gang do any better in 2008? Probably not, unless they add wins in the 500, the All-Star race and Indy. The odds are against JJ winning his third straight title, but the smart money is on Gordon. Guy would run over his mother to win a Cup crown, and I think the idea that he's losing to a guy driving the car he owns has got him fired up. I'm not convinced that Junior will tear it up this season. Sure, he looked good in the Shootout, and that was great to see, but he's still the new guy who hasn't won since 2006. The guy who's due a breakout season is Mears. The top line on his resume needs to be better than "BFFs with JJ." My prediction: Hendrick again. No one's got an answer for these guys.

RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING
Last year: Won three races, including Daytona 500 (Harvick); all three drivers made the Chase
BTR: Second
Drivers: Burton (31), Harvick (29) and Bowyer (07) are all back.
Outlook: It's hard to tell with this crew. RCR put all three drivers in the Chase (and all three in the top 10 of the final season standings), but they combined for only three wins, and it's hard to pick out highlights after they crossed the finish line (Harvick in first, Bowyer upside down) at Daytona last February. Burton's career revival is a great story, and Harvick has built himself a nice little racing business with his Trucks and Nationwide teams. Bowyer's got the biggest upside - he's young and hungry and has good equipment. True story: I was at the Busch race at Martinsville in 2006 and sat in on Bowyer's short post-race session with reporters. He had just finished second to Harvick and had spent most of the last part of the race banging on Harvick's bumper. His mouth said he was happy with second, but his eyes and short, clipped sentences suggested that he would have put Harvick in the wall had Boss Richard not told him to back off. Me likey.

JOE GIBBS RACING
Last year: Won four races (including Indy) and put two drivers (Stewart and Hamlin in the Chase)
BTR: Third
Drivers: Stewart (20) and Hamlin (11) return; KyBu (18) comes over from Hendrick to replace J.J. Yeley (Hall of Fame/96)
Outlook: I think this crew with be fine with Toyota. (Waltrip, Bill Davis and Red Cow aren't a real gauge of how good Toyota might or might not be.) The real story with this Gibbs is how well these three drivers can get along. Stewart has his fans, sure, but lots of folks hate his hairy guts. KyBu has no fans, best I can tell, and Hamlin appears to be a graduate of the Tony Stewart School of Human Relations. But all three guys can drive the wheels off their cars, and Baby Busch is a major upgrade over Yeley. I think Papa Joe Gibbs can hold this dysfunctional crew together. If he can survive Danny Snyder in DC, Stewart and the rest of them are cake.

ROUSH FENWAY RACING
Last year: Seven wins; two of five drivers (Edwards and Kenseth) made the Chase.
BTR: Fourth
Drivers: All five are back -- Raygun (6), Biff (16), Kenseth (17), Mac-Murray (26) and Smiley McFakepuncher (99)
Outlook: In 2005, Roush ruled the world. All five drivers made the Chase that year, and Roush had won the two previous Cup titles. But since KuBu lost his stuff with a sheriff's deputy in Phoenix at the end of the season, Roush has lost it. Matt Kenseth has been his usual steady self -- he hasn't finished a season lower than eighth in six years -- but the rest of the team is a slow-motion disaster. Edwards' fake punch of Kenseth caused a lot of people (including me) to take a second look at him, and I'm not sure I like what I see there. (Every time I see him in an Office Depot commercial, for instance, I can't help thinking "Don't hit me, bro!") Biffle has missed the Chase the past two years, and you get the sense that he's done at Roush after this year. Jamie Mac showed signs of life last year, but he has never become a star. And that guy driving the No. 6 is embarrassing the ride that Mark Martin made famous. You figure that Kenseth is a shoo-in for the Chase, even if Robbie Reiser is no longer atop the 17's pit box. I don't know about the rest of them.

DALE EARNHARDT INC.
Last year: One win and one driver in the Chase (Truex Jr.)
BTR: Fifth
Drivers: Truex Jr. (01) and Soul Patch (15) are back; Martin switches to the 8 and will split time with Almirola; Regan Smith takes over the 01.
Outlook: Truex was the big success story of last year -- wins his first race, steps out of Junior's shadow, etc. etc. It was about time -- guy ruled the Busch Series for two years, so you can't say he wasn't due. (Think Kenseth, Harvick, Junior and Bowyer, all guys who prepped for Cup by tearing up the Busch-now-Nationwide Series.) But it'll be weird seeing someone else (not Junior) driving the 8. Having the Junior saga in the team's rear-view mirror has to help, and having Martin in the mix will help. But this is a young team, and Martin's counting the days until he retires. DEI has hired a lot of new folks. If they're smart, they're writing off this season and building for 2009 and beyond.

CHIP GANASSI RACING
Last year: One win (Montoya, no drivers in the Chase)
BTR: Sixth
Drivers: Montoya (42) and Sorenson (41) are back; Franchitti replaces the luckless David Stremme (40).
Outlook: I love me some Juan Pablo. Dude can drive, and he refuses to take any crap from the knuckleheads in the garage. I'll go out on the limb (and take my saw with me) that Montoya will make the Chase. I don't know about the other two. I figure Franchitti and Hornish will take turns running over the Waltrip drivers. This is Year 3 for Sorenson. He better win, or Ganassi will hire himself yet another open-wheel refugee.

GILLETTE-EVERNHAM MOTORSPORTS
Last year: Terrible. No wins, no one in the Chase.
BTR: Seventh
Drivers: Kahne (9) and Sadler (19) return; Patrick Car-pahn-tee-ay takes over the 10 from the Pride of Bahama, N.C. Scott Riggs (Hall of Fame/66).
Outlook: Everyone's going to be watching this team not because they're good or because Evernham is some genius or because Kahne will start winning races again. No, it's because Kahne will drive the Red Bud car, and his No. 9 is one digit off the 8 of the guy who drove it last year. Because of that, folks will actually see how bad this team has become. They were invisible last year, despite Kahne's terminal cuteness, because they weren't running up front. Sadler can't win, and Riggs was so awful he couldn't stay in the top 35 of owner points. The thing that made Evernham so good with Four Time was his laser-like focus on results, which is what you see with Chad Knaus. Evernham, meanwhile, sells half of the company to a soccer and hockey guy last year and takes a part-time gig with ESPN this year. Oh, yeah, Erin Crocker. That wasn't distracting at all.

MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING
Last year: "Awful" doesn't begin to describe this team. No wins, no one inside the top 35.
BTR: Eighth
Drivers: Waltrip is back (55); so is Jarrett, who will start in the 44 and turn it over to the returning Reutimann, who will return to the 00 but turn it over to Michael McDowell when Jarrett leaves the 44 after six races. Got that?
Outlook: Getting any of these guys in the top 35 in owners points will be an improvement. Where did they find this McDowell kid anyway? Anyone know if he can drive?

PENSKE RACING
Last year: Two wins, one driver in the Chase (KuBu)
BTR: Not ranked; won the Small Team Rankings
Drivers: KuBu (2) and Newman (12) return; Sam Hornish Jr. trades his 2006 Indy 500 trophy for the keys to the 77.
Outlook: It's Penske, so you figure they won't stink. Older Busch is another Chase-caliber driver. Newman should make it, too, after he won five poles and had five top 10s in the 10 Chase races last year. Hornish's problem is his car number: Every time I think of the 77, I see Travis Kvapil getting lapped. True fact: The No. 77 hasn't won a race since 1959. Don't expect that winless streak to be snapped this year. Other than that, this is a solid team that can definitely hang with the big boys.

Coming Friday: Small Teams Review (I hope)