NASCAR Cup Series: Top-tier teams loaded with winless drivers

By Asher Fair | Jun 17, 2018

MARTINSVILLE, VA - MARCH 26: William Byron, driver of the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images) /

Only three of the eight drivers who drive for Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing have won at least one race in each of their NASCAR Cup Series careers.

Last season, three of Hendrick Motorsports’ four drivers had won at least one race in each of their NASCAR Cup Series careers. The same thing was the case for Joe Gibbs Racing. Now, however, those two teams combined have just three drivers with at least one career victory.

Hendrick Motorsports replaced Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won 26 races, with Alex Bowman, who is winless, in the #88 Chevrolet, and they replaced Kasey Kahne, who has won 18 races, with rookie William Byron, who is also winless, in the #5-turned-#24 Chevrolet. They retained Chase Elliott, who is also winless, in the #24-turned-#9 Chevrolet.

Joe Gibbs Racing replaced Matt Kenseth, who has won 39 races, with Erik Jones, who is winless, in the #20 Toyota. They retained Daniel Suarez, who is also winless, in the #19 Toyota.

The only three drivers who drive for either Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing who have at least one career NASCAR Cup Series race victory are Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson, who has won 83 races, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, who has won 47 races, and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who has won 31 races.

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The other five drivers who drive for either of those two top-tier teams have no career NASCAR Cup Series victories in a combined 309 career Cup Series starts. A total of 238 of those starts have been made by those five drivers during their time driving for either one of those top-tier teams. Which of those five drivers will earn his first career victory in the Cup Series first?

Bowman’s career-high finish in 96 Cup Series starts is fifth place. Byron’s career-high finish in 15 Cup Series starts is 10th. Elliott has finished in a career-high second a total of eight times in 92 Cup Series starts. Jones’s career-high finish in 54 Cup Series starts is also second. Suarez has finished in a career-high third twice in 51 Cup Series starts.

Given the fact that Hendrick Motorsports have struggled mightily through 15 races so far this season while Joe Gibbs Racing have four victories in 2018, with all four of those victories having been earned by Busch, the likelihood that either Jones or Suarez earn a victory first is higher than the likelihood that Bowman, Byron or Elliott earn a victory first unless Hendrick Motorsports, and really all of the Chevrolet teams, can turn things around quickly.

That said, Elliott has had the best season out of all of these drivers so far this season. He currently sits in 13th place in the championship standings with three podium finishes. The other drivers have just one podium finish combined, with that lone podium finish being a career-high third place finish for Daniel Suarez at Dover International Speedway.

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Which of the following five drivers will earn his first NASCAR Cup Series victory first? Will it be Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones or Daniel Suarez? Will one or more than one of those drivers earn their first career Cup Series victories before the 2018 season reaches its conclusion in November with the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida?

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