One step past the 2024 Cup Series regular season’s halfway mark, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) are still going strong. Coach Gibbs’ man Christopher Bell won the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday and handed his team its fifth victory of the year. Rick Hendrick’s outfit, on the other end, has secured six victories thus far. Going forward, can the duo withstand the rising pressure from competition?
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Ford-backed teams began the current campaign on a weaker foot. However, they’ve been gaining strength with every race and even secured a couple of victories. Team Penske’s Joey Logano won the All-Star race and RFK Racing superstar Brad Keselowski saw victory lane in Darlington. On a recent show on NBC, former crew chief Steve Letarte spoke about the chances of teams, including Fords, catching up to JGR or HMS.
He said, “I hate to make it that simple but it’s just a numbers game. You know why they win so much? Well, because when you eliminate one Joe Gibbs Racing car there’s another one right behind it. Or if you eliminate one Hendrick Motorsports car there’s another one right behind it.” With the firepower that these two teams have in their arsenal, Letarte believes that they will end up with the most trophies.
A proper example of his contention unfolded at Darlington with RFK Racing. Chris Buescher was leading the race near the end when he was wrecked by Tyler Reddick. His teammate Brad Keselowski quickly picked up the torch and carried it to the victory lane. This kind of perfection is what JGR and HMS have mastered and do race after race.
Jeff Burton backs the rest of the field to catch up to JGR and HMS
Contrasting Letarte’s opinion, racing icon Burton believes that most of the teams aren’t very much behind the top two dogs. Should they find that last piece to solve their respective puzzles, they can still find it in them to provide stiffer competition. He says, “Most of the good teams aren’t a mile off. So, there’s a small amount to gain and you’re there. Is it easy? No.”
“But the same way we saw two drivers and teams get hot and cold in the playoffs, you can also get hot in the regular season. So, can it happen? Yeah, it can happen.” As things stand, either JGR or HMS has won 11 of the first 14 races. Meanwhile, the next contest will be at the Worldwide Technology Raceway on June 2.
