NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings after 2018 Hollywood Casino 400
By Asher Fair
With the Hollywood Casino 400 and the entire 2018 round of 12 in the books, how do the 14 full-time NASCAR Cup Series teams stack up against one another?
Chase Elliott delivered Hendrick Motorsports their third victory of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, which was their third victory in the last 11 races and their second victory in the last three races, in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, which was the season’s 32nd race, sixth playoff race and third and final round of 12 race.
Heading into the round of 12, the second of four rounds in the 10-race playoffs, Hendrick Motorsports had earned only one victory this season. Elliott earned this victory for the team by earning his first career victory in the race at Watkins Glen International in early August.
Just a few weeks later, Hendrick Motorsports’ win total is now three in what has been somewhat of a down year for the team, and a case could be made that they are currently the hottest team in the sport.
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Elliott’s victory in the 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Kansas Speedway oval in Kansas City, Kansas made Hendrick Motorsports the fifth team to earn at least three victories this season.
The other four teams that have done so are Stewart-Haas Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske and Furniture Row Racing. They have earned 11, seven, five and four victories so far in 2018, respectively. Richard Childress Racing are the only team that have won a race but not won at least three races this season, and they are still the only team aside of these five teams that have won at all in 2018. They have not done so since Austin Dillon won the season opener, the Daytona 500, at Daytona International Speedway.
How did Hendrick Motorsports’ third victory of the 2018 season 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 heading into the third round of the playoffs, the round of 8.
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)]
1st – Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [3rd (+2)]
2nd – Furniture Row Racing, Toyota – [1st (-1)]
3rd – Team Penske, Ford – [2nd (-1)]
4th – Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [4th (0)]
5th – Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – [6th (+1)]
6th – Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet – [5th (-1)]
7th – Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet – [7th (0)]
8th – Roush Fenway Racing, Ford – [9th (+1)]
9th – Wood Brothers Racing, Ford – [8th (-1)]
10th – JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet – [10th (0)]
11th – Front Row Motorsports, Ford – [11th (0)]
12th – Germain Racing, Chevrolet – [12th (0)]
13th – Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet – [13th (0)]
14th – Go Fas Racing, Ford – [14th (0)]
Biggest Movers
Up: Stewart-Haas Racing (+2)
Down: Furniture Row Racing, Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing, Wood Brothers Racing (-1)
Because of the fact that the Hollywood Casino 400 was the final race of the round of 12, the point totals of the 12 round of 12 drivers, including the eight who advanced to the round of 8 and the four who did not, had their point totals changed after the race.
As a result, several variables involved in the calculation for the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings changed, which changed the outcome of these rankings. Here are the updated formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings following these changes.
NOTE: The changes reflected in the “Last Rank” category are the changes from the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings shown above to the updated formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings shown below.
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)]
1st – Furniture Row Racing, Toyota – [2nd (+1)]
2nd – Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [1st (-1)]
3rd – Team Penske, Ford – [3rd (0)]
4th – Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [4th (0)]
5th – Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – [5th (0)]
6th – Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet – [6th (0)]
7th – Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet – [7th (0)]
8th – Roush Fenway Racing, Ford – [8th (0)]
9th – Wood Brothers Racing, Ford – [9th (0)]
10th – JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet – [10th (0)]
11th – Front Row Motorsports, Ford – [11th (0)]
12th – Germain Racing, Chevrolet – [12th (0)]
13th – Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet – [13th (0)]
14th – Go Fas Racing, Ford – [14th (0)]
Biggest Movers
Up: Furniture Row Racing (+1)
Down: Stewart-Haas Racing (-1)
Non-formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings
Rank – Team, Manufacturer – [Last Rank (Trend)]
1st – Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [1st (0)]
2nd – Team Penske, Ford – [2nd (0)]
3rd – Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [3rd (0)]
4th – Furniture Row Racing, Toyota – [4th (0)]
5th – Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – [5th (0)]
6th – Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet – [6th (0)]
7th – Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet – [7th (0)]
8th – Roush Fenway Racing, Ford – [8th (0)]
9th – Wood Brothers Racing, Ford – [9th (0)]
10th – JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet – [10th (0)]
11th – Front Row Motorsports, Ford – [11th (0)]
12th – Germain Racing, Chevrolet – [12th (0)]
13th – Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet – [13th (0)]
14th – Go Fas Racing, Ford – [14th (0)]
Biggest Movers
Up: N/A (-)
Down: N/A (-)
Formulated rankings predictions for after next race
The calculation used to calculate the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings predicts that the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings will look like this after this Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway, the First Data 500.
Rank – Team (Trend)
1st – Stewart-Haas Racing (+1)
2nd – Team Penske (+1)
3rd – Furniture Row Racing (-2)
4th – Joe Gibbs Racing (-)
5th – Hendrick Motorsports (-)
6th – Chip Ganassi Racing (-)
7th – Richard Childress Racing (-)
8th – Roush Fenway Racing (-)
9th – JTG Daugherty Racing (+1)
10th – Wood Brothers Racing (-1)
11th – Germain Racing (+1)
12th – Front Row Motorsports (-1)
13th – Richard Petty Motorsports (-)
14th – Go Fas Racing (-)
Biggest Movers
Up: Stewart-Haas Racing, Team Penske, JTG Daugherty Racing, Germain Racing (+1)
Down: Furniture Row Racing (-2)
Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark. Next
The First Data 500 is the next race on the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoff schedule. This race is set to kick off the round of 8 on Sunday, October 28. It is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network from Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, so be sure not to miss it.