We're a quarter of the way through the 2019 NASCAR season and here are few of my observations.
Kyle Busch is the class of the field at the quarter post of the season, no questions asked. After nine races Kyle has 3 wins, 9 top tens and his average finish is an amazing 3.9, those are world class numbers. You can love him or be a hater but everyone else is looking at his rear bumper.
Team Penske and Joe Gibbs are seemingly untouchable at the moment, they have ALL nine wins and five of the top ten teams at this points. I'm thinking that Stewart-Haas Racing could break through but that leaves a precious little for anyone else.
The Chevrolet Teams are in big trouble but you already knew that. A fourth of the way through the season they have zero wins and just two cars in the top ten. Kurt Busch is a surprising 7th and Chase Elliott is currently in 10th. This slump goes all the way to last year when Chevy collected only 4 checkered flags.
I don't want to pound on the negative but the facts are that Hendrick Motorsports is in a major funk. Nine races in and they have no wins and only two teams in the top ten. Jimmie Johnson has shown some life lately but he's still riding a nearly 2 year winless streak. His fellow Chevy drivers all live outside the top 15 in the person of Larson, Byron and Bowman.
The new package has helped the racing somewhat, the Texas race was easily the best one at that facility ever. NASCAR still has work to do, aero is still to dominant and I'm tired of hearing about it. The other issue it that these cars never spin-out. Even the less talented drivers never spin out, yes some drivers are better than others.
The 2020 schedule was a nice step forward, it certainly moved the chess pieces around on the board. In summation on 2019 so far, Kyle Busch is very good, Gibbs and Penske have everyone else lapped, Chevy is still in the garage, the new package is not a savior but better. Take care and would love to hear from you, see you at the races.