NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings after 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400
By Asher Fair
After Spire Motorsports’ shocking victory at Daytona International Speedway, where do things stand in the NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings?
Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske, Hendrick Motorsports and Spire Motorsports all have one thing in common halfway through the 36-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season.
They have all been victorious.
The first three teams on this list are not surprising whatsoever. But nobody saw Spire Motorsports as a potential addition to this list or any list like it in the future.
Not this weekend, not this month, not this season, not…ever.
In just the third start of his Cup Series career in Sunday’s rain-shortened Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, full-time Xfinity Series driver Justin Haley turned what practically nobody saw coming into a reality with a shocking victory thanks to a gamble based on the impending inclement weather.
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Haley’s victory in this 127-lap (scheduled 160-lap) race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona International Speedway oval in Daytona Beach, Florida was the first victory of his Cup Series career, and it was the first victory in Spire Motorsports history.
Spire Motorsports entered the Cup Series ahead of the 2019 season and had not recorded better than a 22nd place finish (in a race that their 22nd place driver didn’t even finish) in 17 races entering the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Their best actual finish was 28th.
Ever since Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott won the season’s 10th race at Talladega Superspeedway back in late April to make Hendrick Motorsports just the third different team to win a race this season, there had been a debate about which team would be the fourth team to earn their first victory of 2019.
Stewart-Haas Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing headlined this debate with the two primary dark horse contenders being Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Childress Racing.
I can all but guarantee that nobody said Spire Motorsports.
Spire Motorsports are not even classified in these rankings since they do not have a full-time driver despite the fact that they are a full-time team, as Haley is one of six drivers who have driven for them so far this season, but it goes without saying that this victory is quite the Cinderella story for the team and for NASCAR as a whole.
How did the action from the high banks of Daytona International Speedway 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 Spire Motorsports’ first ever Cup Series victory.
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 – Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [2nd (+1)]
2nd – Team Penske, Ford – [1st (-1)]
3rd – Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet – [4th (+1)]
4th – Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – [3rd (-1)]
5th – Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [5th (0)]
6th – Roush Fenway Racing, Ford – [6th (0)]
7th – Wood Brothers Racing, Ford – [7th (0)]
8th – Leavine Family Racing, Toyota – [10th (+2)]
9th – Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet – [9th (0)]
10th – JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet – [8th (-2)]
11th – Germain Racing, Chevrolet – [11th (0)]
12th – Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet – [13th (+1)]
13th – Go Fas Racing, Ford – [14th (+1)]
14th – Front Row Motorsports, Ford – [12th (-2)]
Biggest Movers
Up: Leavine Family Racing (+2)
Down: JTG Daugherty Racing, Front Row Motorsports (-2)
Non-formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings
Rank – Team, Manufacturer – [Last Rank (Trend)]
1st – Team Penske, Ford – [1st (0)]
2nd – Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [2nd (0)]
3rd – Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – [3rd (0)]
4th – Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet – [4th (0)]
5th – Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [5th (0)]
6th – Roush Fenway Racing, Ford – [6th (0)]
7th – Wood Brothers Racing, Ford – [7th (0)]
8th – Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet – [8th (0)]
9th – Germain Racing, Chevrolet – [11th (+2)]
10th – JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet – [9th (-1)]
11th – Leavine Family Racing, Toyota – [10th (-1)]
12th – Go Fas Racing, Ford – [14th (+2)]
13th – Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet – [13th (0)]
14th – Front Row Motorsports, Ford – [12th (-2)]
Biggest Movers
Up: Germain Racing, Go Fas Racing (+2)
Down: Front Row Motorsports (-2)
The next race on the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Quaker State 400, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 13. This race is set to be broadcast live from Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.