Part 2: The Teams
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If 2022 was a year of change in the Cup Series, then what will 2023 be? Will it see former contenders return to contention? Will we see those teams who took great leaps forward in 2022 stay on top? That’s what I aim to figure out. Here’s the teams of Nascar ranked and graded based on three things: Strength (performance the past few years), Stability (lack of change, amount of sponsorship/funding), and size (how big the team is overall)
Ranking, Car #s, TEAM NAME
Chevy, Ford, Toyota
All logos courtesy Wikipedia and are the property of their respective teams
1. 5,9,24,48 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS
Size: A+
HMS has it all—four championship-contending drivers signed to long-term deals, four cars that never go without sponsorship, and a pipeline of talent both on and off the track via their partial ownership of JR Motorsports. About the only demerit is the in-house sponsorship of the 5 car, but hey—Rick Hendrick likes what Rick Hendrick provides, even if he is a tough negotiator.
2. 2,12,21,22 TEAM PENSKE (& WOOD BROS.)
Size: B+
They won the championship last year, so why aren’t they number one? Well, the team is top-heavy—the 22 and 12 are championship caliber teams, but the 2 and 21 seem to be a year or two away. By the way, the 21 is prepared out of the Team Penske race shop, so yeah, its like a fourth team—don’t @ me.
3. 11,19,20,54 JOE GIBBS RACING
Size: A+
JGR is definitely a team in transition—Christopher Bell asserted himself as a championship contender last year along with Denny Hamlin, while Martin Truex Jr. put in a disappointing campaign by his standards. Ty Gibbs joins the former 18 team in a car that might have Toyota logos on it more than they’d like. Surely there’s a brighter future ahead, however, with Xfinity and Truck Series prospects and a secure spot as Toyota’s top team. And don’t call me Shirley.
4. 4,10,14,41 STEWART-HAAS RACING
Strength: B-
Stability: B-
Size: B+
Last year saw Chase Briscoe break through to become a bona-fide Playoff contender, while the 4 and 10 cars continued to struggle mid-pack. Regardless, expect Ryan Preece to be a significant upgrade over Cole Custer, who returns to their Xfinity Series team with The Human Spinning Machine, Riley Herbst.
5. 1,99,91 TRACKHOUSE RACE TEAM
Size: C
Last year was a breakthrough year for Trackhouse, with the 1 car making the Championship 4 and the 99 visiting victory lane. While they still may have an open race or two on the hoods of the cars, they’ve improved by leaps and bounds. The only real knock against them is their reliance on Hendrick Engines, which keeps them in “Satellite Team” mode for the near future. And no, they’re not going to move to Dodge.
6. 23,45 23XI RACING
Size: C
Say what you want about Bubba Wallace, but he’s a sponsor magnet who keeps this team fully-funded AND can contend for a win or two. The addition of Tyler Reddick is great for the future of the team, but they’re likely stuck playing second-fiddle to JGR as long as Denny Hamlin is an active driver. But hey—better to be second-fiddle than to not even be in the band.
Stability: C
Size: B-
Last year’s progress might be stanched by the departure of Tyler Reddick, but the arrival of Kyle Busch could prove to be the shot in the arm this team has needed for over a decade to return to championship contention. They still have a nice development system in Xfinity, now augmented by their new alliance with KBM in Trucks. Oh, and Austin Dillon is there.
8. 16,31 KAULIG RACING
Strength: C-
Stability: C-
Size: C+
Kaulig Racing would’ve had a solid if not spectacular 2022, if not for the raised expectations compared to Trackhouse. The move to two full-time drivers will likely help, and the Xfinity team could provide additional reinforcements in the future. Regardless of what happens, you know they’ll be doing what they do best off the track—filtering leaves.
Stability: C-
Size: D
I think we were all hoping that the arrival of Brad Keselowski as both a driver and co-owner could “stop the bleeding” at the old Roush Fenway organization, but that didn’t happen, with a single win by Chris Buescher being the lone highlight. Barring even MORE investment this team could be stuck in midfield limbo for years, despite all those random social media awards they always win.
Honestly, you could throw a blanket over teams 8, 9 & 10 here—all of them are satellite operations that could either become the next Trackhouse in the coming years or just stay where they are. This team remains in flux with the arrival of Jimmie Johnson as a co-owner and part-time driver and Noah Gragson as a full-time driver and part-time wrecker.
11. 34,38 FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS
Strength: D+
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Stability: C
Size: D
While they’ve staked their claim as an occasional threat to win at plate tracks, that’s about all you can say for Front Row. On the plus side they do seem to have a solid base of sponsorship for about 2/3rds the season, and their Truck Series team is successful. I mean, we can just assume Zane Smith is in one of these rides in 2024, right?
12. 47 JTG-DAUGHERTY RACING
Strength: D-
Stability: C+
Size: D-
We were saying that single-car teams couldn’t survive twenty years ago. JTG-D does have pretty steady sponsorship thanks to their relationship with Kroger, but that’s really about the only good thing you can say about this team. Now watch me be wrong and Stenhouse make the Playoffs.
Stability: D
Size: D+
It remains to be seen if Spire is slowly building into becoming a team that can legitimately contend for wins or if they’re just biding their time till someone wants to buy their Charters. And why have they yet to run a Jasper Motorsports throwback scheme?!?
Stability: D
Size: D-
They don’t contend for wins, but they do manage to survive. And they tend to have sponsorship most weekends. That’s good enough to get them out of last place for me.
Stability: D-
Size: D
I’m not saying I could do a better job—heck, I’d probably do much worse. But you’d be hard-pressed to find anything positive to say about RWR other than “they still exist”.
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