Dale Earnhardt Jr. thinks everybody can agree that the NASCAR Cup Sequence runs by way of Chevrolet’s Hendrick Motorsports, Ford’s Workforce Penske and Toyota’s Joe Gibbs Racing proper now however he struggles to rank precisely what order to place them in.
He articulated why on Tuesday’s Dale Jr Obtain.
“I feel Hendrick up till this race [Kansas], that is my opinion earlier than the race, Penske was the quickest, which is odd as a result of normally that’s them on the finish of the yr. I don’t know what which means on the finish of this yr as a result of they’re not often this fast early within the season. Hendrick is essentially the most constant and really boring,” Earnhardt stated. “Now, Larson‘s kicking ass, having an incredible yr, bought nice pace and statistics. … His common mile-and-a-half end is like 4.5. The subsequent highest driver is tenth.
“… Excluding Larson, HMS has been monotonous, simply prodding. So, I might say they’re sort of the No. 2 workforce to me and Gibbs — I do know Christopher Bell has been superior however they’re up and down. Right here, recently, they’ve sort of been extra down than up. They’re all very shut, I’m not saying there’s an enormous benefit for one over the opposite [but] they’re the three groups that I take a look at. You’ll have a Trackhouse pop off and get a top-five or possibly win a race. 23XI is similar factor however they’re the B-teams. They’re second-tier groups to me.”
It’s price noting that Larson is the factors chief and shares the league wins lead with Christopher Bell of JGR. Denny Hamlin of JGR has two wins. Penske affiliated driver Joey Logano, Austin Cindric and Josh Berry have gained.
The opposite Hendrick drivers William Byron, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman haven’t gained however are second, fourth and eighth within the standings.
So how does Earnhardt interpret that information now?
“After this race, I bought to say it’s about even now,” Earnhardt stated. “I do know it’s one rattling race and this sport ebbs and flows week-to-week, however that’s a enjoyable dialog to me to rank the groups, decide the organizations as a result of this Subsequent Gen automobile and the way it’s a package automobile, has made that dialog related. I assume after the top of the race and even throughout the center of the race, when Chase Elliott drove by way of the center of the sphere, I’m like, ‘That is fucking spectacular.’ I haven’t seen the pace out of his automobile, haven’t seen this sort of pace out of lots of the HMS vehicles outdoors of Larson.
“However Bowman drove as much as the entrance of the sphere earlier within the race, Byron was most likely going to be a contender had the tire not blown. They had been robust. And I feel that appears good for them [Hendrick] going into Charlotte. I actually do. I feel we’ll see considerably related speeds and efficiency from these organizations on the subsequent race.”
