Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports are the only teams in the NASCAR Cup Series to field four entries. They are also the most successful teams in the sport and are strong favorites to get at least one of their drivers to the championship finale every season. But what are the chances that they get all four drivers there?
Dave Alpern, the president of Joe Gibbs Racing, discussed this in a video for his team media recently. He said, “There are only two organizations that could happen, and that’s Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing, because we are the only ones with four. We are the only ones that have ever put three in. I can tell you one thing. It’s really stressful.”
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He likened it to having multiple children participating in the same thing, knowing that more than one of them is going to lose. As stressful as such a scenario would be, he recognizes that it would be an amazing problem to have. “I would love to try it one year. I am sure our friends down the road will love that as well,” he added.
The logistics and the sheer workload that would go into such a setting would be massive, to say the least. Moreover, the current format will require three of the cars to each win a race in the playoffs’ Round of 8, and then the final car to qualify on points for this to happen. So, technically, it could happen. Alpern hopes it does happen. But the question is if it ever will.
He expressed his hope, “In some ways, it’d be great because you’d clinch the championship the week before. But it sounds like the playoff format might change. So, we may never get to find out.” NASCAR is on the verge of announcing key changes to the existing playoff format. Word around town is that a multi-race championship round is on the cards instead of a single race.
Speculations will have to wait until official word comes from Daytona. Until then, Joe Gibbs Racing fans can look back at the historic 2019 season, when the team put three drivers in the Championship 4. Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Denny Hamlin had competed for the title alongside Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick for the title, with Busch ultimately winning it.
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