On Sunday, Brad Keselowski provided a break from what has become the norm in the 2024 Cup Series season. He won in Darlington halting the dominance of Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) and Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), who’d both combined to win 10 of the first 12 twelve races this year. The race also saw these teams power down in another key aspect of performance.
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Such was the superiority of HMS and JGR in the season’s first third that the two teams, together, led more than 50% of the laps in every non-superspeedway race. Darlington was the first race, on a non-superspeedway track, in which the rest of the field combined to lead more than these two teams did.
% of laps led by Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing vs everyone else (The Field) in non-superspeedway races in 2024
Darlington was the first non-SS race this season that “The Field” led over 50% of the laps. pic.twitter.com/zSRVkFQn7U
— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) May 14, 2024
23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick played a big part in the revolt as he led a staggering 174 laps on Sunday. Race winner Keselowski led 37 laps in his Ford Mustang while his RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher led 21 laps. Put together, the rest of the field led 82.25% of the total laps in the track too tough to tame.
Kyle Larson (HMS) and Ty Gibbs (JGR) played point in 15 and 34 laps respectively, putting their teams in the lead for 17.75% of the race. Gibbs showcased strong running throughout the race and ultimately finished runner-up. For HMS, William Byron placed the highest position coming in at sixth place.
Could Keselowski and Ford continue to threaten the dominance of HMS and JGR?
By winning in Darlington, Keselowski broke his 110-race winless streak and gave Ford its first victory lane visit of 2024. Naturally, the fear in the camps of HMS and JGR would be if the driver could continue displaying the level of speed that he did on Sunday. Speaking on his podcast, JGR superstar Denny Hamlin opened up on the same.
He said, “So, now you would say, ‘Man, these could be guys that contend on a more regular basis for wins, because they’ve figured something out, to get a little bit better.’ I know a lot of the talk in the garage is that they’ve gotten some engine upgrades, and that has helped things.”
“I think that there was a few Fords that caught my eye, that seemed to be stronger,” he continued. “But they executed. They stayed up front the entire race. Pit crew kept them up there, when they needed to, to let the driver do his job, and race for the win. Ended with just an amazing, big win for that whole No. 6 team.”
Wariness of the possibility that Keselowski and Ford can do more damage to his team appears to have Hamlin feeling cautious. Fortunately for him, every team will have the chance to take a breather this weekend before heading to the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte. That means going back to the drawing board to try and figure out the reason for Ford’s resurgence.
