NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Ranking the Top 10 Teams for 2015
The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season is only a month away. As fans begin to get ready for what should be an exciting season, it is never too early to look at which teams are the teams to beat.
It is easy to say that the teams that dominated last season will be the same teams to dominate in 2015. In NASCAR, though, it rarely works out that way.
Many rule changes and personnel changes will result in some teams having more success in 2015, while other may not live up to expectations.
One rule change that should play an important role in which teams are successful is the reduction in horsepower from 850 to 725. The teams that can figure out how to make fast cars with reduced horsepower will be the teams to beat in 2015.
Here is a list of the top 10 teams going into the 2015 season.
10. Furniture Row Racing
1 of 10
Driver for 2015: Martin Truex Jr.
Stats from 2014: 0 Wins, 1 Top-5 (3 percent), 5 Top-10s (14 percent), 0 Poles
*Percentages based upon 36 races competed in during 2014
The competition for the 10th spot on this list came down to JTG Daugherty Racing and Furniture Row Racing. Although AJ Allmendinger was able to win a race and make the Chase for the Sprint Cup last season, Martin Truex Jr. earns his organization the spot because expectations for his team are higher this season.
Todd Berrier left his crew chief duties at the No. 78 team to work at Joe Gibbs Racing. He will be replaced by Cole Pearn who served as the team engineer last season. This was the only major change at Furniture Row Racing during the offseason.
Truex got off to a slow start last season but started to figure things out once the Chase began. He finished eight of the 10 Chase races in the top 20. A single-car team should not expect to be able to compete with the large organizations in the sport. If the No. 78 team can finish inside the top 20 each week, the organization should consider the season a success.
9. Richard Petty Motorsports
2 of 10
Drivers for 2015: Aric Almirola and Sam Hornish Jr.
Stats from 2014: 1 Win (1 percent), 5 Top-5s (7 percent), 14 Top-10s (19 percent), 0 Poles
*Percentages based upon 72 races competed in during 2014
Richard Petty Motorsports was one of the surprise teams in 2014. Aric Almirola won his first race at Daytona last July to earn a spot in the Chase. Very few people expected Richard Petty Motorsports to be in the Chase, unless Marcos Ambrose won one of the road-course races.
The major change this season at RPM came with the No. 9 team. Ambrose went back to Australia to race for Team Penske in the SuperV8 Series. He will be replaced by former Indianapolis 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr.
Hornish has competed in 131 races in the Sprint Cup Series and has only nine top-10 finishes. He will not be much of an upgrade from Ambrose last season.
Almirola, meanwhile, is one of the most underrated drivers in the series. He does not win many races, but he is able to get the most out of the cars he is provided. It would be fun to see what this young driver could do at one of the top teams.
Richard Petty Motorsports will have a tough time making it back to the Chase this season. If the team can find a way to duplicate last season’s results, though, it should be a happy organization.
8. Michael Waltrip Racing
3 of 10
Drivers for 2015: Brian Vickers and Clint Bowyer
Stats from 2014: 0 Wins, 8 Top-5s (11 percent), 24 Top-10s (33 percent), 1 Pole (1 percent)
*Percentages based upon 72 races competed in during 2014
Michael Waltrip Racing failed to win a race in 2014. Brian Vickers and Clint Bowyer are skilled drivers, but they will need better cars in order to compete in 2015.
MWR could benefit from having an affiliation with Joe Gibbs Racing. Instead of having two cars compete against the Hendrick Motorsports/Stewart-Haas Racing conglomeration, it would have six cars. Michael Waltrip Racing needs all the help it can get this season.
Vickers will once again be sidelined for the early part of the 2015 season due to health issues. The team has not yet announced who will replace him in the No. 55 Toyota. Vickers' absence from the car will eliminate him from Chase contention.
Meanwhile, Bowyer had a disappointing season in 2014. It has been 78 races since he last visited Victory Lane. He will have to improve this year, or he will again miss the Chase.
Michael Waltrip Racing looks like an organization heading in the wrong direction. It needs a bounce-back season in 2015 to prove it's still relevant in the Sprint Cup Series.
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7. Roush Fenway Racing
4 of 10
Drivers for 2015: Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne
Stats from 2014: 2 Wins (2 percent), 11 Top-5s (10 percent), 30 Top-10s (28 percent), 0 Poles
*Percentages based upon 108 races competed in during 2014
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. It was not long ago when Roush Fenway Racing was considered one of the best teams in NASCAR. However, the departures of top drivers (Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth) to Joe Gibbs Racing the past two seasons has diminished the outlook on this organization for the 2015 season.
RFR will look much different this season. Trevor Bayne will drive the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford after driving for Roush Fenway Racing in the Xfinity Series. Bayne’s only success in the Sprint Cup Series was his 2011 Daytona 500 win. Crew chief Bob Osborne will look to get his young driver back to Victory Lane this season.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won back-to-back championships in the Xfinity Series in 2011 and 2012. That success has not translated to the Sprint Cup Series. The reduced horsepower in the 2015 package should help Stenhouse since the cars will drive similarly to the Xfinity cars he won eight races in.
Greg Biffle will have a lot of responsibility this season trying to lead Roush Fenway Racing to the championship. He has won only three races in the last four seasons and will need to perform much better to make RFR relevant.
The organization won just two races last season, along with 11 top-five finishes. Both wins came from a driver who is no longer on the team, Carl Edwards. Edwards also scored seven of the team's 11 top-five finishes.
The chances of Roush Fenway Racing winning the championship in 2015 do not look good. This team needs to work on building for the future, and hopefully luck will bring it a spot in the Chase.
6. Richard Childress Racing
5 of 10
Drivers for 2015: Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Austin Dillon
Stats from 2014: 0 Wins, 11 Top-5s (10 percent), 33 Top-10s (31 percent), 1 Pole (1 percent)
*Percentages based upon 108 races competed in during 2014
Richard Childress Racing had unexpected results in 2014. Most people expected the team to be competitive, but very few expected Ryan Newman to be racing for a championship in the last laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The only notable change for RCR in 2015 will be with the No. 27 team. Veteran crew chief Slugger Labbe will move into a role in research and development, while Justin Alexander will continue as the crew chief after he took over the role at Talladega in October.
There are two questions that must be answered at Richard Childress Racing in 2015: Was Newman’s 2014 season a fluke? And will Paul Menard and Austin Dillon be able to improve enough to make their way into the Chase?
Do not be surprised to see Newman continue to race up front each week and Dillon to make improvements in his sophomore season. But Menard must prove he deserves a spot on this team, because Ty Dillon will be waiting to take over if the organization does not expand to four drivers in 2016.
Richard Childress Racing will have at least one team in the 2015 Chase, but it will be hard for the organization to repeat its second-place finish of 2014.
5. Chip Ganassi Racing
6 of 10
Drivers for 2015: Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson
Stats from 2014: 0 Wins, 15 Top-5s (21 percent), 30 Top-10s (42 percent), 3 Poles (4 percent)
*Percentages based upon 72 races competed in during 2014
Chip Ganassi Racing had a great season in 2014 and could easily be ranked higher on this list. Kyle Larson is a star in the making, while Jamie McMurray has proved to be a competitive driver in the No. 1 car. Will the organization be able to have the same success in 2015?
The only major change at Chip Ganassi Racing in 2015 is the crew chief change for the No. 1 car. Keith Rodden left the team to take over the crew chief duties for Kasey Kahne, and Matt McCall has been brought over from Richard Childress Racing. McCall is a former driver and should be able to keep McMurray competitive in 2015.
One of the biggest surprises in 2014 was that Larson was unable to win a race. He did win Rookie of the Year and finished in the top 10 in 17 races, however. Larson will be a threat to win multiple races in 2015.
CGR will not dominate the 2015 season, but it's an organization to watch. McMurray and Larson should find their way to Victory Lane this year and earn a spot in the Chase. Do not be surprised to see Larson racing in one of the final four spots at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
4. Stewart-Haas Racing
7 of 10
Drivers for 2015: Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Danica Patrick
Stats from 2014: 6 Wins (4 percent), 23 Top-5s (16 percent), 41 Top-10s (29 percent), 9 Poles (6 percent)
*Percentages based upon 144 races competed in during 2014
How can the organization with the defending Sprint Cup champion be ranked behind three other organizations? Because Kevin Harvick was the only driver who raced well the entire season for Stewart-Haas Racing.
There are many questions facing this organization heading into the 2015 season. Will Harvick be able to follow up his championship season with another run for the title? How will Tony Stewart bounce back from his off-track problems? Will Kurt Busch be suspended if he is convicted of assault/domestic abuse? Will Danica Patrick ever live up to the hype that brought her to NASCAR?
Harvick will lead SHR again in 2015. If Stewart and Busch are able to drive without off-track distractions, this team could easily move up this list.
Patrick had more success when Stewart-Haas Racing made the move to have Daniel Knost take over as her crew chief in November. Knost will continue to lead the No. 10 team in 2015 and could help Patrick finish more races up front.
Stewart-Haas Racing is one of the organizations to watch during the 2015 season.
3. Joe Gibbs Racing
8 of 10
Drivers for 2015: Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch
Stats from 2014: 2 Wins (2 percent), 29 Top-5s (27 percent), 55 Top-10s (51 percent), 8 Poles (7 percent)
*Percentages based upon 108 races competed in during 2014
The driver lineup for the 2015 season at Joe Gibbs Racing could be considered the strongest in the sport. The addition of Carl Edwards will provide the organization another resource to help it compete for the Sprint Cup championship.
The 2014 season could be considered a major disappointment for JGR. While Denny Hamlin was able to make it to the Championship Round of the Chase, winning only two races is unacceptable for the organization.
The problem is not with the drivers or crew chiefs, but rather with the cars provided by Toyota Racing Development (TRD).
If Toyota can figure out how to make faster cars, this organization could be unstoppable. Joe Gibbs Racing started to become more competitive at the end of the 2014 season, but no one knows how TRD will respond to the new rules package in 2015.
JGR will win more races this season, but if it doesn't get all of its drivers into the Chase, the season will be another disappointment.
2. Team Penske
9 of 10
Drivers for 2015: Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano
Stats from 2014: 11 Wins (15 percent), 33 Top-5s (45 percent), 42 Top-10s (58 percent), 6 Poles (8 percent)
*Percentages based upon 72 races competed in during 2014
Which organization was the best in 2014? Although Team Penske did not win the championship, it could arguably be considered the best organization last season.
Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were the first two drivers to figure out the new qualifying rules in 2014. They consistently made it to the final round of qualifying, which allowed their cars to start up front each week. It will be interesting to see if Team Penske can bring the same speed to the race track under the new horsepower package for the 2015 season.
Almost everything will be the same at Team Penske this season. The organization did not make any changes to its driver lineup or crew chiefs. The only change will be the alliance with the Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford. Ryan Blaney will drive the car, and Jeremy Bullins will move up from Team Penske’s Xfinity Series group to be the crew chief. This alliance will provide more resources this season for the organization.
Team Penske is the team in the best position to overtake Hendrick Motorsports as the top team in NASCAR. Its engineering department has provided fast cars, and Keselowski and Logano have the attitude to fight for the championship.
The 2014 season was no fluke. Team Penske will be one of the organizations to beat in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for many years to come.
1. Hendrick Motorsports
10 of 10
Drivers for 2015: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne
Stats from 2014: 13 wins (11 percent), 40 Top-5s (27 percent), 74 Top-10s (51 percent), 4 Poles (3 percent)
*Percentages based on 144 races competed in during 2014
Hendrick Motorsports is still the top team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but the gap between this team and some of the others is closing fast. What sets Hendrick Motorsports apart from its competition is its talent in the garage. No team has a stable of better drivers and more knowledgeable engineers.
The rule changes for the 2015 season should provide Hendrick Motorsports an advantage over the competition. The last two times NASCAR made drastic changes to the car, Jimmie Johnson added another championship to his resume. He won the championship in both 2007, when the Car of Tomorrow made its debut, and in 2013, when NASCAR introduced the new Generation-6 car. The new horsepower package should play right into the hands of the No. 48 team this season.
HMS made only one major change in the offseason. Greg Ives will replace Steve Letarte as the crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ives spent five years working as a race engineer for the No. 48 and has experience working with Earnhardt in the Xfinity Series. Although losing Letarte to the broadcast booth hurts, do not expect a significant drop-off for the No. 88 team.
All of the pieces are in place for Hendrick Motorsports to win multiple races this year and take home its 12th Sprint Cup championship.
Note: Stats via DriverAverages.com and career stats from Racing-Reference.com.
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