dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
Interesting look @ Pete Pistone's report card on the NASCAR teams. Quite an extensive look at the different organizations and worth the read if you have time. Do you agree with his assessment? How do you grade the teams from this past season?
The 2014 Sprint Cup Series season is over and here’s how each team fared on their "report cards."
Team PenskeOverall Grade: A
Brad Keselowski: A
Joey Logano: A
Only one team made this year’s honor roll and that was Roger Penske’s crew. Both Keselowski and Logano turned in strong seasons, combining to lead the series with 11 victories. Both made the Chase and although they came up short in delivering "The Captain" a second Sprint Cup crown, they were impressive throughout the entire campaign.
Joe Gibbs RacingOverall Grade: B+
Denny Hamlin: A
Matt Kenseth: B
Kyle Busch: B
Coach Gibbs saw all three of his entries qualify for the Chase and one went down to the wire in delivering a championship. That was Hamlin, who came within one strategic pit-stop call at Homestead of winning his first title. Somehow, Kenseth followed up his seven-win season of a year ago shut out of Victory Lane in 2014. But he was his usual consistent self to stay in the championship conversation. Busch rebounded from a late regular-season tailspin to start the Chase strong, only to be knocked out of the playoffs as a victim of Talladega's "big one."
Hendrick MotorsportsOverall Grade: B
Jeff Gordon: A
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: A
Jimmie Johnson: B
Kasey Kahne: C
The Hendrick quartet all made the Chase, but each ultimately experienced disappointment in the playoff season. Gordon enjoyed a renaissance year and was poised to challenge for a fifth Sprint Cup championship until Texas and Phoenix in the Eliminator Round delivered a one-two punch to knock him from contention. Earnhardt had his best year in Sprint Cup since the DEI days and racked up four wins, including an emotional Martinsville victory after he was eliminated from the title picture. Johnson had his worst year since moving to Cup, a relative term - to be sure - with four wins and an 11th-place finish in the standings. Kahne got into the Chase in dramatic fashion with a win in the next-to-last race of the regular season in Atlanta but quickly reverted back to mediocre performances.
JTG/Daugherty RacingOverall Grade: B
AJ Allmendinger: B
The solo-car effort outperformed most everyone’s expectations with a stellar season that included the team’s first Sprint Cup win at Watkins Glen International, where Allmendinger outdueled Marcos Ambrose in a classic finish to score an emotional, popular win.
Chip Ganassi Racing With Felix SabatesOverall Grade: B-
Kyle Larson: A
Jamie McMurray: B
Larson’s Rookie of the Year campaign was a direct shot at doubters (my hand’s up) that felt he was being taken to the Sprint Cup Series too soon. The phenom proved those naysayers wrong and came within a whisker of winning at least a couple races on his way to a memorable freshman campaign. McMurray’s performance was also impressive with an All-Star Race win thrown in for good measure, although he was shut out of a regular-season victory and a spot in the Chase.
Richard Petty MotorsportsOverall Grade: B-
Aric Almirola: B
Marcos Ambrose: C
Almirola surprised the NASCAR world with his first career Sprint Cup win at the July Daytona race and a spot in the Chase. He went into the playoffs as a heavy underdog and a blown engine at the Chicagoland opener ruined his day, ending any hopes of a Cinderella story. Ambrose’s farewell NASCAR season again included a stellar run at Watkins Glen but overall, there was not enough to make a serious charge at an oval-track win or a Chase berth.
Stewart-Haas RacingOverall Grade: C+
Kevin Harvick: A+
Kurt Busch: C
Tony Stewart: C
Danica Patrick: D
You can’t earn a higher grade than Harvick did by capturing his first Sprint Cup Series championship. What he and crew chief Rodney Childers accomplished in their first year working together was nothing short of spectacular. However, the rest of the SHR crew’s performance weighed down the organization’s overall grade. Busch made the Chase thanks to a March win at Martinsville but was rarely in contention for more wins and suffered through an abysmal stretch in the regular season. Tragedy and personal issues that kept him out of action for several weeks marked Stewart’s year. But even leading up to horrible events in August, his performance was subpar. Patrick’s year was not much better than 2013. She made minimal, if any, progress with the exception of being somewhat formidable at restrictor-plates races.
Richard Childress RacingOverall Grade: C
Ryan Newman: A
Austin Dillon: C
Paul Menard: C
Newman came within a half-second of winning the season finale at Homestead and taking home the Sprint Cup trophy. He did it through consistency and although he wadded up some by being in title contention despite not winning a race, Newman performed impressively. Dillon’s rookie campaign was full of promise and he got the year off to a notable start by winning the Daytona 500 pole. His year was by no means terrible but compared to what Kyle Larson delivered in his rookie season, Dillon's effort seemed ordinary. Menard had a year that was also middle-of-the-road and wound up one spot behind Dillon in the point standings (21st).
Roush Fenway RacingOverall Grade: C
Carl Edwards: B
Greg Biffle: C
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: D
The trials and tribulations of RFR were well-documented this season, but the fact remains the organization put two drivers in the Chase. Edwards scored a pair of victories at Bristol and Sonoma, and actually stayed in the playoff hunt a lot longer than most expected. Biffle made it to the Chase through the point system and went winless for the first time since 2011. Stenhouse’s sophomore season was off from his 2013 effort and he also missed a race thanks to a qualifying miscalculation at Talladega Superspeedway. But the bottom line for Jack Roush’s group is the need to step things up in a number of areas to become more competitive with the rest of the Cup garage.
Michael Waltrip RacingOverall Grade: D
Clint Bowyer: D
Brian Vickers: D
Whether it was a hangover from the Richmond "Spingate" scandal of 2013 or simply just being "off," 2014 was not a memorable season for MWR. Bowyer went winless and struggled to be competitive on nearly a weekly basis. Vickers only managed three top-five finishes. MWR’s team co-owners made more headlines with Rob Kaufman’s role in the RTA and Waltrip’s appearance on "Dancing With The Stars."
Furniture Row RacingOverall Grade: D
Martin Truex Jr.: D
It was a long way from what Kurt Busch did with the team in 2013. An outside-front-row starting spot in the Daytona 500 was about the only highlight for this team, which struggled to find any of the magic from the previous year when Busch made the Chase.
Germain Racing: C
H. Scott Motorsports: C
Front Row Motorsports: C
BK Racing: D
Tommy Baldwin Racing: D
Phil Parsons Racing: D
from here
The 2014 Sprint Cup Series season is over and here’s how each team fared on their "report cards."
Team PenskeOverall Grade: A
Brad Keselowski: A
Joey Logano: A
Only one team made this year’s honor roll and that was Roger Penske’s crew. Both Keselowski and Logano turned in strong seasons, combining to lead the series with 11 victories. Both made the Chase and although they came up short in delivering "The Captain" a second Sprint Cup crown, they were impressive throughout the entire campaign.
Joe Gibbs RacingOverall Grade: B+
Denny Hamlin: A
Matt Kenseth: B
Kyle Busch: B
Coach Gibbs saw all three of his entries qualify for the Chase and one went down to the wire in delivering a championship. That was Hamlin, who came within one strategic pit-stop call at Homestead of winning his first title. Somehow, Kenseth followed up his seven-win season of a year ago shut out of Victory Lane in 2014. But he was his usual consistent self to stay in the championship conversation. Busch rebounded from a late regular-season tailspin to start the Chase strong, only to be knocked out of the playoffs as a victim of Talladega's "big one."
Hendrick MotorsportsOverall Grade: B
Jeff Gordon: A
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: A
Jimmie Johnson: B
Kasey Kahne: C
The Hendrick quartet all made the Chase, but each ultimately experienced disappointment in the playoff season. Gordon enjoyed a renaissance year and was poised to challenge for a fifth Sprint Cup championship until Texas and Phoenix in the Eliminator Round delivered a one-two punch to knock him from contention. Earnhardt had his best year in Sprint Cup since the DEI days and racked up four wins, including an emotional Martinsville victory after he was eliminated from the title picture. Johnson had his worst year since moving to Cup, a relative term - to be sure - with four wins and an 11th-place finish in the standings. Kahne got into the Chase in dramatic fashion with a win in the next-to-last race of the regular season in Atlanta but quickly reverted back to mediocre performances.
JTG/Daugherty RacingOverall Grade: B
AJ Allmendinger: B
The solo-car effort outperformed most everyone’s expectations with a stellar season that included the team’s first Sprint Cup win at Watkins Glen International, where Allmendinger outdueled Marcos Ambrose in a classic finish to score an emotional, popular win.
Chip Ganassi Racing With Felix SabatesOverall Grade: B-
Kyle Larson: A
Jamie McMurray: B
Larson’s Rookie of the Year campaign was a direct shot at doubters (my hand’s up) that felt he was being taken to the Sprint Cup Series too soon. The phenom proved those naysayers wrong and came within a whisker of winning at least a couple races on his way to a memorable freshman campaign. McMurray’s performance was also impressive with an All-Star Race win thrown in for good measure, although he was shut out of a regular-season victory and a spot in the Chase.
Richard Petty MotorsportsOverall Grade: B-
Aric Almirola: B
Marcos Ambrose: C
Almirola surprised the NASCAR world with his first career Sprint Cup win at the July Daytona race and a spot in the Chase. He went into the playoffs as a heavy underdog and a blown engine at the Chicagoland opener ruined his day, ending any hopes of a Cinderella story. Ambrose’s farewell NASCAR season again included a stellar run at Watkins Glen but overall, there was not enough to make a serious charge at an oval-track win or a Chase berth.
Stewart-Haas RacingOverall Grade: C+
Kevin Harvick: A+
Kurt Busch: C
Tony Stewart: C
Danica Patrick: D
You can’t earn a higher grade than Harvick did by capturing his first Sprint Cup Series championship. What he and crew chief Rodney Childers accomplished in their first year working together was nothing short of spectacular. However, the rest of the SHR crew’s performance weighed down the organization’s overall grade. Busch made the Chase thanks to a March win at Martinsville but was rarely in contention for more wins and suffered through an abysmal stretch in the regular season. Tragedy and personal issues that kept him out of action for several weeks marked Stewart’s year. But even leading up to horrible events in August, his performance was subpar. Patrick’s year was not much better than 2013. She made minimal, if any, progress with the exception of being somewhat formidable at restrictor-plates races.
Richard Childress RacingOverall Grade: C
Ryan Newman: A
Austin Dillon: C
Paul Menard: C
Newman came within a half-second of winning the season finale at Homestead and taking home the Sprint Cup trophy. He did it through consistency and although he wadded up some by being in title contention despite not winning a race, Newman performed impressively. Dillon’s rookie campaign was full of promise and he got the year off to a notable start by winning the Daytona 500 pole. His year was by no means terrible but compared to what Kyle Larson delivered in his rookie season, Dillon's effort seemed ordinary. Menard had a year that was also middle-of-the-road and wound up one spot behind Dillon in the point standings (21st).
Roush Fenway RacingOverall Grade: C
Carl Edwards: B
Greg Biffle: C
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: D
The trials and tribulations of RFR were well-documented this season, but the fact remains the organization put two drivers in the Chase. Edwards scored a pair of victories at Bristol and Sonoma, and actually stayed in the playoff hunt a lot longer than most expected. Biffle made it to the Chase through the point system and went winless for the first time since 2011. Stenhouse’s sophomore season was off from his 2013 effort and he also missed a race thanks to a qualifying miscalculation at Talladega Superspeedway. But the bottom line for Jack Roush’s group is the need to step things up in a number of areas to become more competitive with the rest of the Cup garage.
Michael Waltrip RacingOverall Grade: D
Clint Bowyer: D
Brian Vickers: D
Whether it was a hangover from the Richmond "Spingate" scandal of 2013 or simply just being "off," 2014 was not a memorable season for MWR. Bowyer went winless and struggled to be competitive on nearly a weekly basis. Vickers only managed three top-five finishes. MWR’s team co-owners made more headlines with Rob Kaufman’s role in the RTA and Waltrip’s appearance on "Dancing With The Stars."
Furniture Row RacingOverall Grade: D
Martin Truex Jr.: D
It was a long way from what Kurt Busch did with the team in 2013. An outside-front-row starting spot in the Daytona 500 was about the only highlight for this team, which struggled to find any of the magic from the previous year when Busch made the Chase.
Germain Racing: C
H. Scott Motorsports: C
Front Row Motorsports: C
BK Racing: D
Tommy Baldwin Racing: D
Phil Parsons Racing: D
from here
