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Sprint Cup
CUP: JGR Heads Victory List
Joe Gibbs Racing won the most NASCAR Sprint Cup races in 2010...
Kyle Busch (Left) and Denny Hamlin (Right) were frequent visitors to victory lane lane in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
In terms of individual race victories, Joe Gibbs Racing was the most successful team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, winning 11 times, thanks to Denny Hamlin's season-high eight victories and three more from Kyle Busch.
A total of 13 drivers from eight different Sprint Cup teams visited victory lane in 2010, a number that’s down slightly from the average number of winners from 2000-09, which was 15.1.
Interestingly, Hamlin’s individual total of eight victories was more than any other team achieved all season. Other than JGR, Hendrick Motorsports (six) and Richard Childress Racing (five) were the only other teams with at least five victories. And while multi-car teams continue to be all the rage, not a single Cup organization had more than two of its drivers win races in 2010
Here’s how the year broke down in terms of victories:
JOE GIBBS RACING, 11 victories — In the first five races of 2010, Hamlin didn’t post a single top-10 finish and Busch didn’t have a top five. But after that, the team was dynamite. In a torrid 10-race spring stretch, Hamlin won at Martinsville, Texas, Darlington, Pocono and Michigan. He won the last NASCAR regular-season race at Richmond, then repeated his Martinsville and Texas victories in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Busch, meanwhile, won the spring Dover and Richmond races and at Bristol in August. Add it up and it was an impressive year for the team.
“This is the big leagues,” said team owner and former NFL coach Joe Gibbs. “This is where truly the best people in the world that race cars are doing this at this level in NASCAR. ... For Denny, too, this year and in past years, the difference has been he's been able to win races. He's put together — he's been able to finish things. So I think it's just a maturing process for him.”
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, 6 victories — Was 2010 a season where the glass was half full or half empty for the powerhouse Hendrick team? It could be argued both ways. Jimmie Johnson won a fifth consecutive championship and a bunch of races, including three of the first five of the season — Auto Club, Las Vegas and Bristol. He would go back-to-back at Infineon and New Hampshire in June, but his Dover triumph in September was his only victory in the final 19 races of the season.
As for Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr.., none of them won a race and Gordon was the only other Hendrick driver to make the Chase, finishing a disappointing ninth. That led to a wholesale shuffle of crew chiefs for 2011, with Steve Letarte working with Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of the newly rechristened 48/88 shop, while the pairings in the 5/24 shop will be Jeff Gordon/Alan Gustafson and Mark Martin/Lance McGrew.
“The proof will be in the performance next year,” said team owner Rick Hendrick. “But I’m excited about making all four teams better. We need to be better across the board. We’re going to get better; we’re going to work harder. We are not going to leave any stone unturned, that’s the attitude and the fire that’s in the whole organization now. It was a move to make all four better.”
A total of 13 drivers from eight different Sprint Cup teams visited victory lane in 2010, a number that’s down slightly from the average number of winners from 2000-09, which was 15.1.
Interestingly, Hamlin’s individual total of eight victories was more than any other team achieved all season. Other than JGR, Hendrick Motorsports (six) and Richard Childress Racing (five) were the only other teams with at least five victories. And while multi-car teams continue to be all the rage, not a single Cup organization had more than two of its drivers win races in 2010
Here’s how the year broke down in terms of victories:
JOE GIBBS RACING, 11 victories — In the first five races of 2010, Hamlin didn’t post a single top-10 finish and Busch didn’t have a top five. But after that, the team was dynamite. In a torrid 10-race spring stretch, Hamlin won at Martinsville, Texas, Darlington, Pocono and Michigan. He won the last NASCAR regular-season race at Richmond, then repeated his Martinsville and Texas victories in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Busch, meanwhile, won the spring Dover and Richmond races and at Bristol in August. Add it up and it was an impressive year for the team.
“This is the big leagues,” said team owner and former NFL coach Joe Gibbs. “This is where truly the best people in the world that race cars are doing this at this level in NASCAR. ... For Denny, too, this year and in past years, the difference has been he's been able to win races. He's put together — he's been able to finish things. So I think it's just a maturing process for him.”
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, 6 victories — Was 2010 a season where the glass was half full or half empty for the powerhouse Hendrick team? It could be argued both ways. Jimmie Johnson won a fifth consecutive championship and a bunch of races, including three of the first five of the season — Auto Club, Las Vegas and Bristol. He would go back-to-back at Infineon and New Hampshire in June, but his Dover triumph in September was his only victory in the final 19 races of the season.
As for Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr.., none of them won a race and Gordon was the only other Hendrick driver to make the Chase, finishing a disappointing ninth. That led to a wholesale shuffle of crew chiefs for 2011, with Steve Letarte working with Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of the newly rechristened 48/88 shop, while the pairings in the 5/24 shop will be Jeff Gordon/Alan Gustafson and Mark Martin/Lance McGrew.
“The proof will be in the performance next year,” said team owner Rick Hendrick. “But I’m excited about making all four teams better. We need to be better across the board. We’re going to get better; we’re going to work harder. We are not going to leave any stone unturned, that’s the attitude and the fire that’s in the whole organization now. It was a move to make all four better.”
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