NASCAR: Top 5 Cup Series teams in 2022
How much different would the NASCAR Cup Series be if the focus was more on teams rather than drivers? Now at the one-third mark, let’s break down the top performing teams of the 2022 season.
What if the NASCAR Cup Series focused more on team points rather than having different teams within the same organization working independently? We see this in Formula 1, where the constructors’ cup is one of the most sought-after trophies, if not the most sought-after trophy, in the series.
Unlike in Formula 1, teams can field different amounts of cars in the Cup Series. Cup Series teams can have between one and four cars. This would make team championships tough to manage because teams such as Stewart Haas Racing would have an advantage over teams such as Trackhouse Racing Team, thanks to a two-car advantage.
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To counteract this, let’s explore a very simple way to show how strong a team is: average points per full-time driver. This is a great way to compare teams that are having good years to those that may not have had the best start to the 2022 season, regardless of how many cars they field. Let’s have a look at the top teams at the one-third mark, following the season’s 12th race.
Top NASCAR teams of 2022: Just missed the top 5 – Stewart-Haas Racing
Just outside of the top five, we have our first four-car team, Stewart Haas Racing. Although they are not nearly as strong as they have been in past years, they still almost cracked the top five on this list. The highlight of the year so far for this team has been Chase Briscoe’s win at Phoenix Raceway, the first of his Cup Series career.
A driver who has flown under the radar for the most part this year is Aric Almirola in the #10 Ford. If there was one word to describe his season so far, it would be clean. He has finished every race he has started in 2022, something only two other drivers have done.
Series veteran Kevin Harvick has raced his way to five top 10 finishes so far this year. His best finish of the year came at Richmond Raceway, where he finished in second place and was close to bringing home his first win since September 2020.
Cole Custer has had nothing short of a frustrating year. The driver of the #41 Ford has yet to finish a race in the top 10, and he has four DNFs. There was a very promising opportunity for Custer at the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt race after he captured the pole position during his qualifying heat race, but due to mud build-up and an unfortunate caution early on, he finished in 13th place.
Points per driver: 277.75
Now let’s get into the top five.