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NASCAR: Which Four-Car Team is Downsizing?

By Matt Lovisa

RICHMOND, VA - APRIL 29: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, talks with Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 Code 3 Associates Ford, during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 29, 2017 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
RICHMOND, VA - APRIL 29: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, talks with Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 Code 3 Associates Ford, during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 29, 2017 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – MAY 09: (L-R) Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 BRANDT Chevrolet, William Byron, driver of the #9 Liberty University Chevrolet, and Michael Annett, driver of the #5 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet pose for a picture in front of the #1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet outside of Reading Terminal Market during the 2nd Annual XFINITY Takeover on May 9, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – MAY 09: (L-R) Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 BRANDT Chevrolet, William Byron, driver of the #9 Liberty University Chevrolet, and Michael Annett, driver of the #5 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet pose for a picture in front of the #1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet outside of Reading Terminal Market during the 2nd Annual XFINITY Takeover on May 9, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

XFINITY: JR Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing

JR Motorsports fields four full-time teams in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Elliott Sadler, Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier and William Byron. Byron is the only two-time winner this season and Sadler and Allgaier are proverbial title contenders. Michael Annett has not performed as well as his teammates so far but brings sponsorship with him to the table.

There are two scenarios for this team. William Byron moves up to the Cup Series and his car is eliminated or Michael Annett leaves JR Motorsports and the No. 5 team shuts down.

It’s not a matter of if Byron moves to the Cup Series but more a matter of when. For Annett, if his performance on the track isn’t up to par with his teammates, it might be time for him to move on even after just one season.

Richard Childress Racing fields four full-time teams, three of which have the same drivers for the entire season and are running for the championship. Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones and Brendan Gaughan are the drivers running the full schedule and the fourth car is split between Austin Dillon, Paul Menard and Ben Kennedy. There is also a fifth car that runs a partial schedule with Ty Dillon, Scott Lagasse, Jr. and Brian Scott.

This team is a little bit harder to predict. Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones both aren’t quite ready to move up to the Cup Series yet but if any sponsorship falls through for either, they could each be without a ride.

Brendan Gaughan has been with RCR since 2012 and full-time with the team since 2014. It seems unlikely Gaughan would depart RCR for another team at this point in his career so unless he retires, he would be back in 2018.

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That leaves the full-time team split between three drivers, two of which are Cup Series regulars. Sponsorship for Cup Series drivers racing in the Xfinity Series is not difficult to secure, so the only plausible scenario would be that they reduce the amount of races, thus making RCR not a four-car team but a three-car team with two teams running part-time.

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