One of the biggest storylines of the 2022 NASCAR season continues to be the ascendance of Trackhouse Racing Team. The organization, which debuted last year with Daniel Suarez, purchased Chip Ganassi’s NASCAR team over the offseason and added a second car for Ross Chastain. Taking full advantage of the Next Gen car and a pair of drivers with something to prove, Trackhouse had an excellent regular season. Both drivers scored their first wins at the Cup Series level. Chastain picked up an additional victory and climbed as high as second in overall points. With two cars in the playoffs, Trackhouse has already surpassed most people’s preseason expectations for 2022.
However, the road only gets more difficult from here. As strong as Trackhouse has been this season, sustaining the same level of performance that propelled Chastain and Suarez into the postseason is going to be a massive challenge. It might be impossible. Trackhouse may have a lot going for it in 2022, but, compared to its competition, the team lacks one major weapon in its arsenal – playoff experience.
Through its first eight years in the Cup Series, the elimination-style playoffs have usually produced champions and strong contenders who have a lot of experience racing at NASCAR’s highest level. Newcomers don’t stay in the title hunt for very long.
Consider that, from 2014-2021, the least-experienced driver to reach the championship race was Chase Elliott in 2020. Elliott was in his fifth full-time season at that point and wound up winning the title in a minor upset. Yet, aside from Elliott the last two years, Kyle Larson in 2021 (another champion) and Joey Logano in 2014, nobody else has reached the championship race without at least seven previous years of full-time Cup Series experience. Chastain is only in his fourth season running the majority of the Cup Series schedule, while Suarez is in his sixth year. Based on past trends, getting either driver to the championship race will be a tall task.
Not to mention that Elliott, Larson and Logano all made their championship race appearances with organizations like Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske. Even though the drivers themselves might have been inexperienced, Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske have been mainstays in the NASCAR garage for decades. Championship battles are old hat for both teams.
Trackhouse, on the other hand, is at a double disadvantage. The organization has never raced for a championship before, and its drivers…
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