Parity is the story of season as NASCAR heads to COTA, leaving Austin win up for grabs
It's the age-old question in sports: Is it better to have a few superstars dominate or spread out the winning among the pack?
Parity is the play in the NASCAR Cup Series so far this season as the stock cars arrive at Circuit of the Americas for Sunday's EchoPark Texas Grand Prix.
Seven different drivers won the first seven races and that stretched to 10 of 11 before multiple winners clicked the last two weeks. Toyota's Martin Truex Jr., the 2017 Cup champion, has reeled off three wins, and Chevrolet's Alex Bowman notched his second last week.
"The margin is so razor thin," said No. 18 Toyota driver Kyle Busch, the two-time Cup champ who won at Kansas in early May. "It's that way for the manufacturers, as well."
Toyota owns five wins, Ford and Chevy each have four.
"You like to have superstars for the buzz they generate, but it's hard to argue with parity," Busch said. "You truly have no idea who's going to win when you watch one of our races."
Drivers said the flurry of new venues on the 2021 schedule and lack of practice, or even qualifying, because of COVID protocols contribute to that.
"There's such variety, we're being thrown something different almost every week," Brad Keselowski said. "The learning curve increases, the game of adjustments grows."
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Erik Jones, driving for Richard Petty Motorsports, said, "no practice is a big part of it, guys not having a chance to dial in the car. We're relying on simulation. There's a 50/50 shot when you take the green flag whether the car is gonna be good or bad."
Hendrick Motorsports had it all figured out Sunday at Dover, though, finishing 1-2-3-4, a feat matched only twice in NASCAR history. This week in Austin it could be Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske or Stewart Haas ruling the road course.
NASCAR has never produced so many different early winners, yet big names like recent Cup champions Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have not found victory lane.
Where it gets dicey: Race winners automatically punch their ticket for the 16-driver playoffs. The rest of the field is filled based on points standings.
"It's definitely in the back of your mind," said Jones, the No. 43 Chevy Camaro driver who doesn't have a win. "What if there are more than 16 winners, are you guaranteed a playoff spot? It's not something we've ever come across.
"A lot of guys you figure to win haven't yet. I'm guessing they will fill up those remaining spots pretty quickly."
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Harvick, the 2015 series champ who has 58 Cup wins to his name, said he is not worried.
"I've been through these types of runs, a lot of that comes and goes," he said. "I do not expect to see 16 race winners. There is still a lot of time for our team. My anxiety level doesn't get that high. Not much is gonna stress me out."
Kyle Larson, who cashed at Las Vegas, expects the list of new winners to slow.
"I don't think you'll see many more," the No. 5 Chevy driver said. "I look at Denny (Hamlin). He'll definitely win. Harvick will probably win. Chase (Elliott), yeah, and then you can sprinkle in maybe one or two others."
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NASCAR is managing the garage area much tighter with technical inspections to prevent teams from gaining an edge, according to team owner Roger Penske.
"Which quite honestly is good for everybody," he said. "It's a level playing field. It's the same for us as it is for anybody else. I'm comfortable with that."
Richard Childress driver Tyler Reddick, searching for his first career Cup win, appreciates the parity, though he's fine with superstars.
"Of course you want to break through," the two-time Xfinity Series champ said, "but I don't want to see a situation where everybody gets a win. The guys who dominate races need to win, they deserve it. Yet the rest of us are that much closer where we can step in and steal one."