The comforting term “It’s still early” doesn’t really apply anymore – not when discussing opportunities to lock into the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Thirteen down, 13 to go. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular season officially reached its midpoint as the checkered flag dropped at Dover to give Jimmie Johnson his series-leading fourth victory of the season.

It was a storyline-rich first half…

· Nine different drivers have won a race, all but locking up a spot in the Chase.

· Kevin Harvick opened the season with five consecutive finishes of second or better. Dating to the end of the 2014 season, Harvick cobbled together a string of eight consecutive top-two finishes, the longest streak since 1975.

· Johnson is closing in on a hallowed NASCAR number – 76. That’s Dale Earnhardt’s career win total, which currently is good for seventh on the all-time list. Johnson’s four wins thus far puts his career total at 74.

· After a rough 2014, Martin Truex Jr. is in the midst of a career-year. Though still searching for his first victory, Truex is second in the points and is on pace to obliterate his career-high of 19 top-10 finishes. He currently has 12.

· Through 13 races, there have been a total of 55,701 green flag passes, the second-highest total through 13 races since the inception of loop data in 2005.

Each manufacturer – Chevrolet, Toyota and Ford – has at least two victories.