Posted on by David Smith

Kyle Larson’s 2018 has not been what many expected. Some regression from a career-best four-win season last year could have been assumed, but 31 winless races and, now, on the brink of playoff elimination would’ve made skeptics out of wide-eyed optimists.

Larson had choice words for his team following a disappointing 11th-place finish last week at Talladega, lamenting the lack of competitiveness this season on drafting tracks.

Considering the track type distribution of horsepower from his No. 42 Chevrolet this year, his frustration seems warranted. He ranks sixth in Central Speed, down from third last year. His speed ranks 13th on the drafting tracks of Daytona and Talladega specifically, and just 10th on short tracks. It’s the intermediate facilities — the 1.5-mile tracks most prevalent in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series — on which Larson has excelled, and this weekend’s race at Kansas Speedway, a track fitting the 1.5-mile description, can’t get here soon enough.

RELATED: No. 42 team penalized

Larson ranks second in Central Speed on intermediates, trailing only Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Ford, and that singular strength may rescue him from elimination. He sits 36 points out of the eighth-place cutoff spot and likely is in need of a race win in order to advance to the Round of 8. He profiles as a driver capable of pulling off the feat.

On moderate intermediates, Larson ranks as the most efficient passer in the series. In all, he’s accumulated an adjusted pass differential of plus-97 positions on the track type, which is 77 spots more than expected from a driver with a similar running position. While restarts certainly helped steady that number — he’s netted 60 positions on restarts across all tracks — he’s also a reliable long-run passer. He earned a single-race pass differential of plus-35 after starting from the rear of the field at Kansas in the spring (due to an unapproved tire change), despite the event having less than the average number of restarts. He finished fourth.

It’s appropriate that the very track type that has defined Larson’s season may also be the one that saves it.

Larson isn’t alone among bubble drivers hoping Kansas magnifies primary strengths.

RELATED: Kansas clinch scenarios

Martin Truex Jr. Kansas 2017 win
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

Martin Truex Jr. (18 points above the cutoff)

An atypical finish at Dover (15th) and a predictably bad outing on a drafting track (the fifth consecutive Talladega race in which they finished 23rd or worse) place Furniture Row Racing in a precarious position this weekend, but they should be counted on to defend their position above the cutoff line. Truex flashed the fastest car of the opening round of the playoffs and, across the last two seasons, made his bones on moderate intermediates like Kansas. In fact, Truex hasn’t finished worse than second at Kansas since the fall of 2016.

Matt Sullivan | Getty Images
Matt Sullivan | Getty Images

Brad Keselowski (18 points below the cutoff)

Keselowski’s late-race heroics during his recent three-race win streak dazzled, but considering his lack of dominant speed in the three outings — his car failed to rank as the fastest in any of those events and ranked as the 11th-fastest at Indianapolis — there was nothing to suggest he’d overcome the Big Three’s yearlong stranglehold on the competition.

KESELOWSKI BLOG: My three wins

He rolls into Kansas ranked eighth in Central Speed and despite his clear penchant for late-race restarts, he fares well with fewer restart attempts. His average finish in races with less than the average number of restarts (12.6) is more than five spots better than his usual result on races heavy on restarts (17.7). A Kansas race light on cautions would suit him and allow crew chief Paul Wolfe to flex some muscle on green-flag stops.

Ryan Blaney
Brian Lawdermilk | Getty Images

Ryan Blaney (22 points below the cutoff)

Blaney’s No. 12 Ford ranks as the fastest among Team Penske’s stable, both overall and on 1.5-mile tracks. For as good as Blaney has been in 2018 — he already has surpassed his career high in top-five finishes in a single season (7) — it could have been better if he’d closed out a few of his empty performances in the early part of the year, namely his 37th-place finish at Kansas this past spring. In that race, he led 54 laps and claimed a Stage victory with the second-fastest car. Omitting Kansas, Blaney’s average finish on the remaining moderate intermediates (7.5) ranks sixth among all drivers.

RELATED: ‘No reason to panic’

David Smith is the Founder of MotorsportsAnalytics.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DavidSmithMA

Posted on by RJ Kraft

Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will see the NASCAR Playoffs field trimmed from 12 drivers to eight at the end of the race. The stakes are raised in an elimination line with drivers fighting for their postseason lives.

Entering Kansas, Brad Keselowski (-18), Ryan Blaney (-22), Kyle Larson (-36) and Alex Bowman (-68) are on the outside looking in. Bowman certainly is in a win or go home spot, and Larson likely is as well. Keselowski and Blaney could get in on points — with some help — but a win is the surest way of advancing.

Which playoff driver currently on the outside looking in has the best shot to advance? NASCAR.com’s RJ Kraft and Pat DeCola make their case for two different drivers on the playoff chopping block.

RELATED: How Talladega shaped the playoff picture | Standings entering Kansas

KRAFT: Blaney has the better stats of late at Kansas, but I am taking his Team Penske teammate Keselowski as the driver that finds his way through and advances to the Round of 8. Keselowski won the most recent 1.5-mile race — which was the playoff opener at Las Vegas. He has the fourth-most stage points this season and scoring those will be a must Sunday for the 2012 champion to keep his championship dreams alive.

There are two other major factors for me. First, the No. 2 crew has faced playoff adversity before and has come out just fine. In the 2014 elimination race at Talladega, Keselowski was on the outside looking in and won to make his way into the next round.

The biggest reason I like the Michigan native to advance, though, comes down to who is atop his pit box in Paul Wolfe. Keselowski’s crew chief has no fear of zagging while others zig and he will do something outside of the box to put his driver in the best position to advance. Case in point: In all three of Keselowski’s 2018 wins, he did not lead the most laps, but Wolfe, Keselowski and his pit crew got him in advantageous positions to strike late.

RELATED: Clinching scenarios for Kansas | Full schedule for Kansas 

DECOLA: This particular head-to-head is especially interesting, because I can’t disagree with anything you just said. Keselowski has shown a tendency — arguably more than any other driver — to rise to the occasion and conquer the insurmountable. I think this weekend, however, is when we see Kyle Larson elevate himself to that category.

For starters, if it weren’t for Blaney initiating contact with Larson in the closing laps of the spring Kansas race, it’s likely we’d be looking at the No. 42 Chevrolet as the most recent track-winner and favorite to win this weekend. He dominated that night (race-high 101 laps led) but came up just a bit short, in fourth, after contact with the No. 12 derailed him.

The knock on Larson has been that he can’t seem to win on a 1.5-mile, intermediate-length track. While that’s true so far (his five wins have come at Michigan, Auto Club and Richmond), the notion that he’s sub-optimal at the 1.5-milers simply isn’t true. Every driver seems to acknowledge that he’s head and shoulders above the field at Miami whether he’s in the Championship 4 or not, and his average finish in eight intermediate races this year is a pristine 9.0. Take out a 36th-place result following a wreck at Texas — when, by the way, he was running fourth after starting from the back — and that number shrinks to a microscopic 5.1 average finish on 1.5-mile tracks in 2018.

Larson not only is capable at these type of layouts, he’s secretly one of the best.

KRAFT: Larson has been solid at the 1.5-milers — earning the fourth-most points this year. However, after Wednesday’s L1-penalty, he is essentially in a must-win spot at Kansas. Despite the good numbers at 1.5-mile tracks, he has as many wins as I do on that track type in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition — ZERO. Yes, he may have been snakebitten in certain instances in those races but that is still a major red flag, especially when the race is at a 1.5-mile track with his season on the line.

DECOLA: I mean, you’ve got me there. That donut in the wins column speaks louder than any ancillary stats he’s piled up on the intermediates.

Now in his fifth (!) full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, we’ve all been waiting on Larson to round into championship-contender form for awhile. He’s shown flashes of brilliance — like his four-win 2017 campaign — and at times this season it appeared he was set to slide into that next-driver-to-beat-after-the-Big-3 role.

MORE: No. 42 team issued L1 penalty

But the time is now for the No. 42 team and Kyle Larson. The group can’t afford to let this weekend slip from their grasp — it would leave them with more questions than answers heading into the offseason after yet another campaign that didn’t meet their pre-Daytona expectations. They’ll get it done on Sunday.

(Or maybe it’ll be Kes, Blaney or Alex Bowman — who knows!)

Tune in this weekend to find out. The drama is guaranteed.

Posted on by Sponsored Content

Speed, coverage and control are critical elements of online racing. NASCAR executives and drivers discuss innovations in online racing that help create the best virtual competition experience in the video series “Xfinity Presents: Technology that Defines NASCAR.”

“It’s amazing. The technology is taking off,” Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney said of online racing.

Drivers now can use online racing to learn about different race tracks, how setups affect cars and more, as they have complete control of their simulated cars.

William Byron, a rising Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series star with Hendrick Motorpsorts, even got his start in online racing.

“For me, gaming and iRacing was the first thing I started in before I got into real cars,” Byron said, adding that he continues to use the sim world to learn. “There are some tracks like Watkins Glen that I have been to maybe once that I want more laps on before we go there.”

Experiences like Byron’s are a product of the vast coverage online racing offers, says NASCAR VP for Consumer Innovation Blake Davidson. “It allows us to really find talent anywhere.”

All that talent and complete driver control come together for what all racers and fans want: more speed.

Xfinity delivers reliably fast speeds built for gamers, so they can take their game to the next level.

More playing, more streaming, more of everything you love about gaming. With Xfinity xFi, you can get the speed, coverage and control you need to dominate the competition. Learn more at xfinity.com/gaming.

Xfinity. The Future of Awesome.

Posted on by Staff Report

Bubba Wallace has been named to the EBONY Power 100 list published by Ebony Magazine.

Wallace was listed as an “MVP” and joins athletes such as Stephen Curry, Antonio Brown, Venus Williams and former President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama.

The list recognizes and celebrates the most inspiring and influential leaders of color who are impacting and shaping the world.

“This is quite an honor to be recognized with others in the African-American community,” Wallace said in a release. “It’s humbling to join a list of the other star athletes, artists and community and national leaders. I’m just trying to be the best driver that I can be and focus on winning races for Richard Petty Motorsports and our partners. To be recognized for some of our accomplishments this season is an honor and I’d like to thank EBONY for the recognition.”

Wallace started his rookie Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season with a bang, finishing second in the season-opening Daytona 500. He has two top 10s this season, and has led laps at Bristol, Pocono and Talladega.

Wallace has also been named as one of the top 50 Most Influential People in Sports Culture by Bleacher Report and one of the World’s Most Marketable athletes named by SportsPro.

“We are proud of what Bubba is doing both on and off the track for our race team and our partners,” said Brian Moffitt, chief executive officer, Richard Petty Motorsports. “We know that we have something very special with him and he continues to break barriers outside our sport to be a first-class athlete, spokesperson and inspiration to many.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series received an L1-level penalty for an infraction found following Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, according to the NASCAR penalty report.

The team was in violation of Section 10.9.9.d of the NASCAR Rule Book, which covers the Damaged Vehicle Policy and mechanical repair. That rule states that regardless of how damage to a car occurs, the team only is permitted to reattach original body parts of the car to their original locations with fasteners and/or tape only. The No. 42 team reattached parts via metal tabs following an on-track incident.

WATCH: Larson spins at Talladega | Analysis: What it means for Larson

As a result, team driver Kyle Larson will lose 10 driver points, and owner Chip Ganassi will lose 10 owner points. Crew chief Chad Johnston is fined $25,000, and car chief David Bryant is suspended from the next Monster Energy Series event this weekend at Kansas Speedway.

The L1 penalty is a blow to Larson’s playoff chances. Entering the Round of 12 finale at Kansas Speedway, Larson now is 36 points behind the cutoff line to advance once Wednesday’s 10-point penalty is deducted.

Also on Wednesday’s penalty report:

• The race-winning No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was found to have one lug nut not properly installed during post-race inspection. As a result, crew chief John Klausmeier has been fined $10,000.

• Three teams in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series were issued L1-level penalties for issues found during pre-race inspection — specifically violating Section 20.4 of the rule book that states air is not allowed to pass from one area of the interior of the vehicle to another or to the outside of the vehicle.

The teams in violation are the No. 02 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet, the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet and the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet. Crew chiefs Chad Kendrick (No. 02), Joel Shear Jr. (No. 21) and Graham Bruce (No. 52) all were fined $5,000.

Posted on by

The 10-point penalty handed to the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team and driver Kyle Larson on Wednesday following an infraction at Talladega Superspeedway sets up one, and only one, scenario at Kansas Speedway — Larson must win to advance to the next round of the playoffs.

Larson left Sunday’s race at Talladega 26 points below the cutline. While challenging, he may have been able to advance to the Round of 8 on points — and a little help from fellow playoff drivers’ race circumstances.

The penalty, which subtracted 10 points from the driver and 10 points from the owner after NASCAR deemed the team violated the Damaged Vehicle Policy, puts the No. 42 in a different situation.

RELATED: Read more on the penalty

Now entering Kansas 36 points below the cutline, Larson must win at a track where he’s never won before.

He’s come close, though. Larson’s last trip to the 1.5-mile Kansas resulted in a fourth-place finish after leading 101 laps, and he finished a career-best second in 2014. His most recent playoff run at Kansas, however, resulted in heartbreak for the No. 42 team, as his engine expired less than 100 laps into the race resulting in his elimination from the playoffs.

Larson will have his shot at NASCAR’s version of a buzzer-beater win on Sunday, when the series takes on Kansas for the Round of 12 finale (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Heartbreak at Kansas

Posted on by Staff Report

Postseason eligibility is at stake in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (1 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM), the final race in the second round of the Monster Energy Series Playoffs. The postseason field will be whittled from 12 drivers to 8 after the race at Kansas Speedway.

Only two drivers have clinched automatic berths in the Round of 8: Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola, on the basis of their wins earlier in the round.

RELATED: Playoff standings | Full schedule for Kansas

With the remaining nine spots up for grabs, here’s what drivers who haven’t clinched need to do to avoid elimination and advance to the next round (drivers listed in order of their points ranking):

  • Kevin Harvick – Harvick would clinch on points with 11 points and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer or Martin Truex Jr.), he would clinch regardless of finish.
  • Kyle Busch – Busch would clinch on points with 28 points and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer or Martin Truex Jr.), he would clinch with 10 points. 
  • Joey Logano – Logano would clinch on points with 35 points and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer or Martin Truex Jr.), he would clinch on points with 17 points. 
  • Kurt Busch – Busch would clinch on points with 44 points and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer or Martin Truex Jr.), he would clinch on points with 26 points.
  • Clint Bowyer – Bowyer would clinch on points with 52 points and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch or Martin Truex Jr.), he would clinch on points with 35 points.
  • Martin Truex Jr. – If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch or Clint Bowyer), Truex would clinch on points with 38 points.  Could clinch on points with a new winner and help.
  • Brad Keselowski – With a win, Keselowski would clinch a next round spot on wins.  Could clinch on points with help.
  • Ryan Blaney – With a win, Blaney would clinch a next round spot on wins.  Could clinch on points with help.
  • Kyle Larson – With a win, Larson would clinch a next round spot on wins.  Could clinch on points with help.
  • Alex Bowman – With a win, Bowman would clinch a next round spot on wins.
Posted on by Zack Albert

Facing an imposing 22-point deficit, Ryan Blaney and his Team Penske No. 12 bunch might be excused for being slightly on edge for this weekend’s elimination race in the Monster Energy Series playoffs. To hear crew chief Jeremy Bullins describe the team’s current vibe, they’re not.

“No, there’s no reason to panic,” Bullins said Tuesday, ahead of this weekend’s Round of 12 finale at Kansas Speedway. “I’m a firm believer that you’re never at the mercy of one week if you look at the playoff format. The only round where one week dictates what happens is Homestead. Obviously, we had opportunities to get points the last two weeks and we’re in the situation that we’re in and there’s no reason to panic.

“We’re not out of it by any means and we couldn’t be going to a better track for the 12 car, so for us it’s just a matter of preparing the same way we do every week and doing our jobs, and if it’s good enough, great, and if not, we’ll move on and try to win some races before the end of the year.”

A shortage of fuel before an overtime finish last weekend at Talladega left Blaney, Bullins and Co. staring at a 29th-place finish that pushed them below the provisional cut-off line for advancement in the 10-race postseason. They’re joined outside the bubble by teammate Brad Keselowski (-18 points), Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson (-26) and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman (-68).

RELATED: Playoffs standings | Full schedule for Kansas

Though Blaney and Bullins aren’t facing a must-win plight, they likely will have to make up ground in the early stages of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM) and then rely on a strong finish relative to their fellow playoff hopefuls. Though there might be temptation to employ an alternate strategy to target either stage points or a win, Bullins says the No. 12 crew won’t deviate from its standard game plan.

“I think it’s the same as it’s been every other week, honestly,” Bullins said. “I mean, if you look at our approach this season, we’ve led a lot of laps, won some stages and tried to put ourselves in position to win races. It’s no different an approach than any other week for us, to be honest. I know what the situation is and I know people probably expect different, but our approach is how we’re going to prepare for this week (and) is how we prepared for every other week before this one.”

Joey Logano is the only Team Penske driver currently above the cut, holding a moderately comfortable 39-point cushion. Though the spirit of teamwork may not be as evident at Kansas as it is with the assistance of aerodynamic drafting at Talladega, Bullins expects that the three-team effort will collaborate through the weekend, leaning on their practice and qualifying data, plus the help from its alliance with Wood Brothers Racing and driver Paul Menard.

“I think if you look at how we all work together as a team, everybody’s aware of what everybody’s doing from a set-up standpoint,” Bullins said. “Everybody will pay attention to things that their teammates learn. We’ll do all those things like we normally do every week, and just like every other week, when it’s time to go racing, we’ll respect each other and race each other hard but clean and fair. At the end of the day, we’ve all got a job to do and everybody understands that.”

If there’s another advantage, it’s the venue. Blaney made his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut at the Kansas City track in 2014, and he’s taken a liking to it ever since. Blaney finished in the top five in three of his last five Kansas starts, and he’s started from the front row in two of the last three Kansas events.

While Blaney has performed well at the 1.5-mile track, this year’s “Big 3” drivers — Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. — have swept the last five Kansas victories, with Harvick and Truex each winning twice and Busch once. Still, Bullins says there’s cause for the No. 12 team’s optimism that goes beyond the 140 total laps that Blaney has led in his last three Kansas efforts.

“I think our intermediate program is really strong. I think we’ve developed some really good set-up information for there,” Bullins said. “I think the track fits Ryan’s driving style and he likes the fastest intermediates — Kansas, Michigan and places like that, we tend to be strong at, places where you’re in the throttle a lot and get to run really fast and can move around the race track. It all just kind of works together to become successful there. Given the situation, there’s no other track I would rather go to this week than Kansas.”

Posted on by Team Release

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 16, 2018) — DGR-Crosley announced Tuesday that newly crowned NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Champion Tyler Ankrum will drive for the team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Ankrum will pilot the No. 54 May’s Hawaii Toyota Tundra in his NCWTS debut.

The San Bernadino, Calif. native will be making his Truck Series debut just three weeks after being crowned the 2018 K&N East Champion. In his rookie season, the 17-year-old scored four wins, nine top fives and finished outside of the top-10 in only two races. Ankrum and his No. 17 Modern Meat Co. team led nearly 300 laps during the 2018 season and had an average finish of 4.8.

RELATED: Ankrum crowned at Dover

Ankrum will have a team of familiar faces with him as he takes on the 0.526-mile track of Martinsville. His crew chief, Seth Smith, and many other members of his K&N East Championship team will work on Ankrum’s No. 54 truck next weekend.

“Making my Truck Series debut at Martinsville is huge. So many big names in the sport have made their national series debut at Martinsville,” said Ankrum. “I’ve been dreaming of this day for so long now, I can’t believe it’s actually happening. It’s going to be really cool having Seth [Smith] and my K&N guys there with me.”

Ankrum has one previous start at the paperclip shaped track which occurred in 2014 when he raced a Late Model Stock Car in the MDCU 300.

“Martinsville is an aggressive track, I’ve raced there one other time in a late model. I think that little bit of experience will be an advantage and help with the transition. I’ve already been racing on the simulator and practicing live pit stops with the 54 pit crew because this will actually be the first live pit stop for me. There’s a little bit of pressure, but I’m ready for it. I know the DGR-Crosley guys are going to bring me a fast truck, and hopefully we’ll be able to get them a solid finish.”

Aside from having his K&N East team coaching him along, Ankrum will also have veteran Cup Series driver and team co-owner David Gilliland at Martinsville to lean on for advice.

“We are extremely excited to have Tyler in the truck at Martinsville,” said Gilliland. “He’s been such an important part of our team this year, and it’s been awesome to watch him progress and learn each race in the K&N Series. He’s proven that he’s ready for the next step and I’m glad that everyone at DGR-Crosley is going to be a part of his Truck Series debut.”

Qualifying for the Texas Roadhouse 200 will take place on Saturday, Oct. 27, at 10 a.m. ET with racing action beginning at 1 p.m. ET. Both qualifying and the Texas Roadhouse 200 will be broadcast live on FS1.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

With Aric Almirola’s last-lap pass for the win Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, Stewart-Haas Racing drivers have racked up 11 wins through 31 races. Almirola is locked into the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Playoffs, while Kevin Harvick is as close as possible to advancing to the next round. Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch are above the cutline and in position to advance.

Should all four Stewart-Haas Racing drivers advance, they will be the first to see its entire four-car organization move into the Round of 8 under the elimination format since Joe Gibbs Racing did so in 2016. That begs the question: Is the 2018 edition of Stewart-Haas Racing with past champions in Harvick (2014), Busch (2004) and resurgent seasons from Bowyer and Almirola among the best single-season organizations of all time?

NASCAR.com’s RJ Kraft and Zack Albert debate the possibility.

MORE: Where do all SHR drivers stand in playoffs? | SHR just short of ‘Dega perfection

KRAFT: SHR certainly is in the conversation for the most successful single season by an organization, and how the end of the season plays out remains to be seen. A season capped off with a championship for one of their drivers and an additional driver reaching the Championship 4 would certainly elevate their status in the conversation — frankly, it is a must to reach the same heights as the best single season for an organization in my view, the 2007 Hendrick Motorsports quartet.

The Hendrick group of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Casey Mears — a fleet that included a 2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee and two sure-fire Hall of Famers when their careers end — saw all four drivers win races, and the organization as a whole won half of the season’s races (18 of 36). Johnson and Gordon were in a season-long battle for the championship that would result in Jimmie’s second of five straight titles while the driver of the No. 24 came home second in the standings. Busch finished fifth in his final season with the organization before moving to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008.

That Hendrick group was a little more top heavy with Johnson and Gordon, while this SHR has a clear-cut favorite in Harvick. The big difference is this SHR squad is deeper as a whole since its remaining drivers reached the postseason and are still alive in the postseason hunt.

ALBERT: Not to diminish what Stewart-Haas Racing has been able to do this season, but let’s feather the brakes just a little before making an all-time comparison. Five races remain in an unpredictable playoff format with no guarantees. Should another driver break through in the championship finale (Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. raise their hands), SHR’s season of dominance would be missing its coronation, a glaring omission that would stick out like a typo on a job application.

The 2007 Hendrick example RJ provides is an apt one, but here’s a tip of the cap to the 2015 Joe Gibbs Racing lineup. That roster was stacked with four future NASCAR Hall of Famers in Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth. Each driver scored multiple victories that year, and Busch sped to his first series title at Homestead. And if we’re truly talking “all time,” there’s an argument to be made for the revolutionary vision of Raymond Parks and Carl Kiekhaefer, who were ahead of their time with successful multi-car teams in NASCAR’s pioneer days.

This is a discussion worth having, but the full context for Stewart-Haas Racing won’t be revealed until the final checkered flag at Homestead. If SHR manages to make a four-car march to the championship round, such a sweep would make it safe to include them on a very short list.