The “Big Three” have headline the majority of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season. But with four races remaining in the playoffs, have they dissipated?
Through the first 23 races of the 36-race 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, the group that very quickly became known as the “Big Three” were dominant.
The three drivers in this group were Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., the three drivers who have combined to win three of the last four Cup Series championships and three of the four drivers who competed in last season’s Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
These three drivers combined to win 17 of the first 23 races of the season.
Harvick won the races at Atlanta Motor Speedway (February), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March), ISM Raceway (March), Dover International Speedway (May), Kansas Speedway (May), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July) and Michigan International Speedway (August) in his #4 Ford.
Meanwhile, Busch won the races at Texas Motor Speedway (April), Bristol Motor Speedway (April), Richmond Raceway (April), Charlotte Motor Speedway (May), Chicagoland Speedway (July) and Pocono Raceway (July). Finally, Truex Jr. won the races at Auto Club Speedway (March), Pocono Raceway (June), Sonoma Raceway (June) and Kentucky Speedway (July).
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Five other drivers combined to win the other six races during this span. Only Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer won more than one of these six races, as he won two of them.
But since Harvick’s victory in the August race at Michigan International Speedway, the “Big Three” have not been the same. In fact, just one of the nine races that have taken place since then has been won by a member of the “Big Three”.
Until Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kurt Busch won the 24th race of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway in August, two non-“Big Three” drivers had not won two races in a three-race span all season long (Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott won the 22nd race of the season at Watkins Glen International).
Until Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski won the 25th race of the season at Darlington Raceway, two consecutive races had not been won by non-“Big Three” drivers all season long.
But now non-“Big Three” drivers have won eight of the last nine and nine of the last 11 races. Kyle Busch, who won the round of 16 playoff race at Richmond Raceway, is the only “Big Three” driver to win a race since Harvick earned his seventh victory of the season in the August race at Michigan International Speedway.
Harvick has earned just two victories since mid-May and none since mid-August. Busch has earned just one victory since late July. Perhaps most notably, Truex Jr. hasn’t earned any since mid-July. With all of this in mind, does the concept of the “Big Three” still exist in the NASCAR Cup Series?
Do you believe that the “Big Three” have dissipated over the course of the last several NASCAR Cup Series races? Will one of them still end up winning the 2018 championship? If so, will the champion be Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch or Martin Truex Jr.?