With one race remaining before the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4, how do the sport’s 14 full-time teams stack up against one another?
Kevin Harvick delivered Stewart-Haas Racing their 12th victory of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season by winning the second of three races in the round of 8, the AAA Texas 500, at Texas Motor Speedway.
Harvick has been responsible for eight of those 12 victories. His three teammates have combined to earn the other four, as Clint Bowyer has earned two of them while Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola have each earned one of them.
Heading into the 337-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Texas Motor Speedway oval in Fort Worth, Texas, which was scheduled to be a 334-lap race but went into overtime as a result of a late caution flag period, Stewart-Haas Racing held a three-win lead over Joe Gibbs Racing, which sat in second place in the wins category through the first 33 races of the 36-race 2018 season.
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With three races remaining on the 2018 schedule, Joe Gibbs Racing were the only team that stood a chance to catch Stewart-Haas Racing’s wins mark. Their only chance to do so was by winning each of the the three remaining races on the schedule.
However, Harvick’s victory, which was Stewart-Haas Racing’s second victory of the playoffs, as Almirola won the round of 12 race at Talladega Superspeedway, solidified Stewart-Haas Racing’s spot atop the wins list for 2018.
No matter what happens in the remaining two races of the season, Stewart-Haas Racing will end up with more victories than any other team in the sport this year. They have not trailed a team on the wins list since after the season opener, the Daytona 500, at Daytona International Speedway back in mid-February. This race was won by Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon.
In fact, Stewart-Haas Racing have not even had to share the lead of the wins list since after the second race of the season, the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in late February. Harvick won this race before going on to win both of the next two races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway, respectively.
How did Stewart-Haas Racing’s 12th victory of the 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 following the round of 8 playoff action from the high banks of Texas Motor Speedway.
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 – Team Penske, Ford – [2nd (+1)]
2nd – Furniture Row Racing, Toyota – [1st (-1)]
3rd – Stewart-Haas Racing, 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 – [10th (+1)]
10th – JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet – [9th (-1)]
11th – Germain Racing, Chevrolet – [11th (0)]
12th – Front Row Motorsports, Ford – [12th (0)]
13th – Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet – [13th (0)]
14th – Go Fas Racing, Ford – [14th (0)]
Biggest Movers
Up: Team Penske, Wood Brothers Racing (+1)
Down: Furniture Row Racing, JTG Daugherty Racing (-1)
Non-formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings
Rank – Team, Manufacturer – [Last Rank (Trend)]
1st – Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [4th (+3)]
2nd – Team Penske, Ford – [1st (-1)]
3rd – Furniture Row Racing, Toyota – [2nd (-1)]
4th – Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [3rd (-1)]
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: Stewart-Haas Racing (+3)
Down: Team Penske, Furniture Row Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing (-1)
Formulated rankings predictions for after next race
The calculation used to calculate the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings predicts that after this Sunday’s race, the Can-Am 500, at ISM Raceway, the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings will look like the following list.
Rank – Team (Trend)
1st – Team Penske (-)
2nd – Furniture Row Racing (-)
3rd – Stewart-Haas Racing (-)
4th – Joe Gibbs Racing (-)
5th – Hendrick Motorsports (-)
6th – Chip Ganassi Racing (-)
7th – Richard Childress Racing (-)
8th – Roush Fenway Racing (-)
9th – Wood Brothers Racing (-)
10th – JTG Daugherty Racing (-)
11th – Germain Racing (-)
12th – Front Row Motorsports (-)
13th – Richard Petty Motorsports (-)
14th – Go Fas Racing (-)
Biggest Movers
Up: N/A (-)
Down: N/A (-)
Round of 8 NASCAR Cup Series playoff action is scheduled to continue on Sunday, November 10 at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona with the Can-Am 500. This race is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET, so be sure not to miss it, as the Championship 4 field will be set upon its conclusion.