BALTIMORE (Map, News) - What a difference a few weeks have made for Hendrick Motorsports.

Amid speculation the organization had lost its edge this season, the Hendrick team erased any doubt at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, as all four of its cars raced to a top-10 finish.

Leading the way were Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, who had been languishing outside the top-12 in the standings, but by virtue of their second and fourth place finishes, both of NASCAR’s biggest stars are back in the Chase picture.

Yet, while Hendrick’s display on the track during the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 was impressive, it certainly was not out of the ordinary for one of the sport’s most successful teams.

In fact, it was a relatively typical performance based on what we’ve seen the past few weeks: Roush Racing took the win and three of the top-10 spots three races ago at Las Vegas, Gibbs Racing finished one-two the next weekend in Atlanta, and Childress Racing followed up by sweeping the top three positions at Bristol.

If it seems like a different organization is dominating every weekend, well, that’s pretty much been the case.

Last year, Hendrick Motorsports started the season by winning four of the first six races as Chevrolet dominated victory lane. This year, though, we have seen all four manufacturers take at least one checkered flag, and Hendrick has yet to win.

What is the difference? It appears to be the Car of Tomorrow.

“Now, more than I’ve ever seen in the sport,” Johnson said a few weeks ago, “the cars — and the makes of cars — are more equal than I’ve ever seen.”

The COT may not be leveling the playing field for everyone, but it sure looks like it has done the job for the sport’s top organizations.

That may be bad news if you are a Hendrick Motorsports fan, but it is good news if you love to see a great race every weekend. With all of NASCAR’s top teams performing on a similar level, 16 legitimate candidates already have emerged to fight for only 12 spots in the Chase.

“Those are the teams to beat right now in this sport,” Gordon said after Sunday’s race. “And they’re all — no matter what the circumstances — going to be tough… [Competition] is just something you are going to see a lot of. Those are the ones you are probably going to see battle it out each and every weekend, and for the championship.”

The result is hard racing, and a better show for the fans. We saw it this weekend at Martinsville, with Gordon fighting his way from outside the top 30 to his second place finish, and Denny Hamlin holding off the field on older tires to take the win.

“We know everyone is going to step it up,” Jeff Burton, who is atop the point standings, said. “If we continue to run the way we’re running come July, we will be running 20th, so we’ve got to find a way to be better.”

With all of NASCAR’s top teams on a level playing field, the race to make the Chase this year should be more exciting than ever, and if you’re favorite driver starts to struggle, no need to worry.

As Hendrick Motorsports showed everyone Sunday, a few weeks can change everything.

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