Reed Sorenson’s two top-five finishes to start the season have him atop the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings for the second consecutive week. He has a five-point advantage over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. which, along with Danica Patrick’s fourth-place standing, may be one of the biggest surprises of the early going.

Many thought Stenhouse was performing his way out of the series during the first quarter of the 2010 season before rebounding to earn Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. But his two top-10 finishes out of the gate suggest he’s still navigating the first full-season waters of the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ new car just as he did during its race debuts last year.

In the first four races for the new car, Stenhouse was immediately comfortable. He posted an average finish of 8.5, including his career-best finish of third at Daytona last July in its debut race. His average finish thus far is 7.5. Sorenson is no slouch in the new car either. His average finish in the four races last year was 10.5; this year he’s improved significantly with an average finish of 5.0

Stenhouse is looking to duplicate the feat of his Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Greg Biffle, who was the last NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year to win series championship the following season. “The Biff” won the rookie honor in 2001 then captured the series championship in 2002.