NASCAR’s Power Shift
Photo Courtesy NASCAR Media
McMurray’s Indy Win Shows NASCAR’s Shift of Power.
Jamie McMurray’s win Sunday at the Brickyard was a popular one among NASCAR fans and drivers.
Many of McMurray’s on track competitors stopped by at the end of the race to congratulate him. And race fans that would normally be pulling for Dale Earnhardt Jr, or Kyle Busch, or Jeff Gordon were happy to see McMurray win if their driver could not.
That was McMurray’s 2nd big win this year. The first being the Daytona 500.
But beyond that, McMurray’s win signals a fundamental shift in power among NASCAR teams. Hendrick Motorsports is not what it used to be. And neither is Roush Racing.
McMurray gave Roush their last victory, and that was at Talladega last year.
Even the Joe Gibbs Racing hot streak seems to have cooled off.
But McMurray’s team has rallied. Not long ago both Chip Ganassi and Teresa Earnhardt were almost out of business. Instead they merged their two teams to form Earnhardt Ganassi racing. Now they are poised to be the next big thing.
Richard Childress Racing has also seen a resurgence this year. And it doesn’t hurt that Childress has partnered with Ganassi and Earnhardt to form ECR Engines which produces engines for both teams. Judging by the performance of the Earnhardt Ganassi teams and the RCR teams the ECR engine shop produced the most reliable and most powerful engines for Indy.
McMurray wasn’t the only fast car powered by ECR engines. His teammate Juan Pablo Montoya led the most laps. Kevin Harvick finished 2nd with an engine from the same shop. 4 of the top 6 finishers were powered by ECR engines.
And don’t forget that David Reutimann scored a win for Michael Waltrip Racing not long ago at Chicago.
The competition level has evened out lately. The powerhouse teams have fell off – and the guys who used to be underdogs are now contenders. And I am not sure exactly what to attribute it to. What about you?