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Sprint Cup
CUP: Spoiler Alert - Reversal Of Fortunes
The rear spoiler may be changing NASCAR’s balance of power...
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch (Left) and Denny Hamlim (Right) have flourished since the return of the spoiler in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. (Photo: Getty Images)
The numbers are nothing short of shocking.
In the first five NASCAR Sprint Cup races of 2010, Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch produced results that flat stunk: Hamlin’s best finish was 17th, his average finish 21st. Busch had a best finish of ninth and an average of 15.6.
Then things turned around in a hurry.
In the last six races, Hamlin has three victories and an average finish of 8th, with only one finish worse than 11th. Busch’s average finish in the last six races has been 8.33, with one victory, two top-five and five top-10 finishes.
Conversely, things have been very different at Hendrick Motorsports, where four-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson won three of the first five races and had an average finish of 8.33. Since then, he’s gone winless and his finish average has slumped to 15.17.
Also at Hendrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s first five races of 2010 produced an average finish of 14.4. The last six? 16.3.
The surprise turnaround in the respective results of the Hendrick and Gibbs cars has certainly changed the perception of who’s hot and who’s not in recent weeks.
Asked if Joe Gibbs and his team had caught Hendrick Motorsports, team owner Rick Hendrick told SceneDaily.com, “I don’t know if he’s caught me. He’s lapped me.”
So why the sudden reversal of fortune?
The common denominator is that in the first five races of 2010, NASCAR Sprint Cup cars all carried the ungainly rear wing that was introduced with the new-generation race car in 2007. In the last six races, the cars have all carried a traditional blade spoiler.
The big question, which probably cannot yet be answered is this: Are the relative changing fortunes cause and effect due to the return of the rear spoiler or mere coincidence? Opinions are mixed.
In the first five NASCAR Sprint Cup races of 2010, Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch produced results that flat stunk: Hamlin’s best finish was 17th, his average finish 21st. Busch had a best finish of ninth and an average of 15.6.
Then things turned around in a hurry.
In the last six races, Hamlin has three victories and an average finish of 8th, with only one finish worse than 11th. Busch’s average finish in the last six races has been 8.33, with one victory, two top-five and five top-10 finishes.
Conversely, things have been very different at Hendrick Motorsports, where four-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson won three of the first five races and had an average finish of 8.33. Since then, he’s gone winless and his finish average has slumped to 15.17.
Also at Hendrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s first five races of 2010 produced an average finish of 14.4. The last six? 16.3.
The surprise turnaround in the respective results of the Hendrick and Gibbs cars has certainly changed the perception of who’s hot and who’s not in recent weeks.
Asked if Joe Gibbs and his team had caught Hendrick Motorsports, team owner Rick Hendrick told SceneDaily.com, “I don’t know if he’s caught me. He’s lapped me.”
So why the sudden reversal of fortune?
The common denominator is that in the first five races of 2010, NASCAR Sprint Cup cars all carried the ungainly rear wing that was introduced with the new-generation race car in 2007. In the last six races, the cars have all carried a traditional blade spoiler.
The big question, which probably cannot yet be answered is this: Are the relative changing fortunes cause and effect due to the return of the rear spoiler or mere coincidence? Opinions are mixed.
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