MRN’s Pete Pistone ranks the top 10 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams after the first six races of the 2018 season.
Stewart-Haas Racing – Maybe the biggest surprise of the new campaign has been the rise to power by the SHR organization, which has won four of the first half dozen races of the season. Kevin Harvick’s three-in-a-row and Clint Bowyer’s Martinsville win captured the headlines but the solid effort by newcomer Aric Almirola and holdover Kurt Busch should also not go unnoticed. Pre-Season Ranking: 6th
Furniture Row Racing – Defending series champion Martin Truex Jr. is carrying the mail alone for FRR this year with Erik Jones’ departure to the Joe Gibbs Racing Mother Ship. A dominating win at Auto Club Speedway and top-five finishes in the first six races of the schedule shows Truex Jr. and the Denver-based team has not missed a beat from its 2017 performance.
Pre-Season Ranking: 1st
Joe Gibbs Racing – Still looking for its first win but it’s certainly not from a lack of effort by Kyle Busch. He’s finished second in three of the first six races, a mark only nine other drivers in NASCAR history have been able to knock down. He’d much rather be in Victory Lane but Busch has still been one of the most impressive drivers of 2018. His teams Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez have been pretty consistent overall as JGR hones in on Cup win number one of the season.
Pre-Season Ranking: 2nd
Team Penske – There was concern around the Ford camp coming into the season after Brad Keselowski’s comments during the winter months. But led by Stewart-Haas Racing and the consistent efforts of Roger Penske’s group, those concerns were greatly exaggerated. This now three-car team with the addition of Ryan Blaney along with Keselowski and Joey Logano appears poised to win soon and has been a near constant fixture inside the top 10 so far all year.
Pre-Season Ranking: 3rd
Chip Ganassi Racing – No doubt Kyle Larson has been the one carrying this team in the opening six races. His high water mark of second at Auto Club Speedway was a reminder of how strong Larson and the No. 42 team can be when things are running smoothly. He has a pair of top-five and three top-10 performances in the book. However, it’s been a struggle for teammate Jamie McMurray, who so far hasn’t shown any of the consistency of the last two playoff years.
Pre-Season Ranking: 4th
Richard Childress Racing – The year couldn’t have started better for RCR than with Austin Dillon’s exciting Daytona 500 win. While he dropped off some in subsequent weeks, Dillon has improved in recent outings. His in-house teammate Ryan Newman has shown flashes of consistency and has put one top-10 finish on the board so far this season.
Pre-Season Ranking: 7th
Hendrick Motorsports – The Hendrick quartet of Jimmie Johnson, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and William Byron is finding its way in the early going. Whether it’s the switch from Chevrolet’s SS model to the Camaro ZL1 or there addition of two younger drivers in Bowman and Byron to the full-time fold or a combination of many things, so far in 2018 this is not the Hendrick Motorsports we’ve been accustomed to in recent years.
Pre-Season Ranking: 5th
Wood Brothers Racing – Same single-car effort but a different driver in Paul Menard, who took over for Ryan Blaney in the aftermath of his move to Penske. Menard has put himself 15th in the Cup point standings with consistent finishes and a pair of top-10 runs.
Pre-Season Ranking: 9th
JTG Daugherty Racing – Hoping to erase the struggle of 2017, this two car tandem has made some strides forward in the early going of this season. It’s been baby steps to be sure but AJ Allmendinger’s two top-10 finishes along with one from Chris Buescher are steps in the right direction.
Pre-Season Ranking: NR
Roush-Fenway Racing – Barely able to maintain a spot in the rankings, the Roush organization has fallen behind last year’s performance and pace. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has had a rough start to the year including a pair of crashes in practice while Trevor Bayne’s 29th spot in the point standings speaks for itself. Major improvement is needed from RFR in the next wave of the schedule.
Pre-Season Ranking: 8th
Dropped Out: Germain Racing
