With one playoff race down and nine remaining in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, how do the sport’s 15 teams rank against one another?
Team Penske entered the opening race, the South Point 400, of the opening round, the round of 16, of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as the hottest team in the Cup Series given the fact that Brad Keselowski tripled the team’s season win total by winning the final two races of the regular season at Darlington Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Prior to Keselowski’s victories in these two races, Team Penske’s only victory this season was Joey Logano’s victory in the April race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Now Team Penske’s 2018 win total has been quadrupled over the course of the last three races, as Keselowski won the 272-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval in Las Vegas, Nevada to deliver the team their third consecutive victory.
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In the matter of just over two weeks, Team Penske have gone from a fourth place tie on the 2018 wins list with two other teams with one victory to a third place tie on that same list with Furniture Row Racing, one of the “big three” teams, with four victories.
Team Penske now trail only Stewart-Haas Racing (10 victories) and Joe Gibbs Racing (seven) on the wins list this season, and they are by far the hottest team in the sport. With the playoffs having just gotten underway, they have undoubtedly gotten hot at the right time. If they can keep up their momentum, they will be hard to stop down the stretch.
How did Team Penske’s fourth victory of the season and third consecutive victory affect the NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings? Here are the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings and the non-formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings following the first of three round of 16 races and the first of 10 playoff races in 2018.
To see how the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings are calculated, click here.
Formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings
| Rank | Team | Manufacturer | Last Rank | Trend |
| 1 | Team Penske | Ford | 3 | +2 |
| 2 | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 | -1 |
| 3 | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 | -1 |
| 4 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 5 | +1 |
| 5 | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 4 | -1 |
| 6 | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 7 | 0 |
| 8 | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 9 | 0 |
| 10 | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 10 | 0 |
| 11 | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 11 | 0 |
| 12 | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 12 | 0 |
| 13 | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 13 | 0 |
| 14 | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14 | 0 |
| 15 | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 15 | 0 |
Biggest Movers
Up: Team Penske (+2)
Down: Joe Gibbs Racing, Furniture Row Racing (-1)
Non-formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings
| Rank | Team | Manufacturer | Last Rank | Trend |
| 1 | Team Penske | Ford | 3 | +2 |
| 2 | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 4 | +2 |
| 3 | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 | -2 |
| 4 | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 | -2 |
| 5 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 7 | 0 |
| 8 | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 9 | 0 |
| 10 | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 10 | 0 |
| 11 | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 11 | 0 |
| 12 | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 12 | 0 |
| 13 | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 13 | 0 |
| 14 | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14 | 0 |
| 15 | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 15 | 0 |
Biggest Movers
Up: Team Penske, Furniture Row Racing (+2)
Down: Stewart-Haas Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing (-2)
Formulated rankings predictions for after next race
The calculation used to calculate the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings predicts that the formulated set of rankings will look like this after this weekend’s race, the Federated Auto Parts 400, at Richmond Raceway.
| Formulated Rankings Predictions |
| 1st – Team Penske (-) |
| 2nd – Chip Ganassi Racing (+2) |
| 3rd – Stewart-Haas Racing (-1) |
| 4th – Joe Gibbs Racing (-1) |
| 5th – Furniture Row Racing (-) |
| 6th – Hendrick Motorsports (-) |
| 7th – Richard Childress Racing (-) |
| 8th – Wood Brothers Racing (-) |
| 9th – Roush Fenway Racing (-) |
| 10th – JTG Daugherty Racing (-) |
| 11th – Front Row Motorsports (-) |
| 12th – Germain Racing (+1) |
| 13th – Leavine Family Racing (-1) |
| 14th – Richard Petty Motorsports (-) |
| 15th – Go Fas Racing (-) |
The Federated Auto Parts 400 is the second race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. This race is scheduled to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network from Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 22.