Did You Notice? … That if the Round of 16 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs ended now, 10 of the 12 remaining spots would be filled by Team Penske, Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing?
Of course, there are two races left, and anything can change. But these are the unquestioned leaders atop the food chain at Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota, respectively — the three manufacturers whose presence keeps NASCAR afloat. In the last nine years, they’ve combined to win eight titles, and their 666 all-time wins combined make them the most successful trio in the sport’s history.
It’s a consolidation of power at the top that’s been difficult to challenge. The only outlier, Furniture Row Racing, no longer exists. Its sponsorship for what was a two-car team dried up within 12 months of Martin Truex Jr. reaching the top in 2017.
Cup Championships Won Since 2015
Two years ago, when the Next Gen car debuted in Cup, it seemed unlikely this run of dominance would continue. A car designed for parity within the garage delivered in the form of 19 different winners, the most in any season since 2001. A driver from one of these Big Three teams missed the playoffs (Truex) and the Championship 4 delivered an underdog contender: Ross Chastain from Trackhouse Racing.
Further down the list, small successes from mid-tier organizations seemed to indicate a power shift was coming. Erik Jones won for Richard Petty‘s team in the Southern 500. AJ Allmendinger won at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course Kaulig Racing in its first full-time season of Cup competition.
Chase Briscoe won his first race for Stewart-Haas Racing. Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch won for 23XI Racing. RFK Racing made the playoffs with Brad Keselowski and built momentum, culminating in a three-win season and Round of 8 appearance for Chris Buescher the following year.
Not surprisingly, NASCAR ratings went up and a whole crop of new fans came to the table. The playoffs were a bit underwhelming in terms of viewership, but overall, the Cup Series made gains in popularity against increasing competition and a decade of declines. We’ve seen that upswing continue ever since, with the sport stabilizing its fan base or increasing it, at least on television.
But the wave of parity that swept over the sport is in peril.
So far this year, the Big Three of Penske, Hendrick and Gibbs have won 20 of 27 races…
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