Welcome to the Year of Ford...w/ Vegas Notes

Joey Logano showed on Sunday why he belongs in the top tier of today’s NASCAR drivers and how the Monster Energy Cup Series championship he is defending is no fluke.

Logano battled teammate Brad Keselowski (who won at Atlanta last weekend) for a fairly exciting finish at Las Vegas to get his first win of 2019, and first at Vegas.

Besides the Penske Racing 1-2 finish, Ford had the most drivers in the top 10 for the second consecutive week with five. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. even notched Roush Fenway Racing’s first top 10 finish of the season.

When car manufacturers switch cars for NASCAR teams, it is, in the words of Darrell Waltrip, a craps shoot. Chevrolet teams struggled in 2018 after switching to the Camaro ZL1, for example. It took a while for teams to really find their footing and Chase Elliott was the car manufacturer’s only winner on non-restrictor plate tracks.

However, Ford teams have been successful so far with the new Mustang and are solidifying themselves as the biggest challengers to Toyota teams (*cough cough, Joe Gibbs Racing).

Team Penske has two wins already this year, and Stewart-Haas Racing drivers are racking up top 10’s and stage wins. Ford also had the most laps led at Vegas with 208 among five drivers and most laps led at Atlanta (178 among six drivers).

Joey Logano brought Ford to the 2018 championship in somewhat sneaky fashion. He and other Ford drivers may return to Homestead through sheer dominance.

So, if you have Ford drivers on your fantasy teams, congrats! You are poised for success, even from bottom feeder teams.

Other notes from Vegas:

• It’s going to be a frustrating year for Kyle Larson fans. Thank the crew this time!

• Kurt Busch just got his second top-five finish with Chip Ganassi Racing, this time with good pit strategy. Look for this newfound success to continue at Phoenix next weekend.

• Kyle Busch overcame adversity in the form of a pit road speeding penalty to finish in the top five. He’s the only driver in the Cup Series with top 10’s in all three races.

• Jimmie Johnson failed to finish on the lead lap for the second week in a row. This new crew chief deal isn’t working out so far.

• Jon’s prediction of Richard Childress cars having success at Vegas did not come true. Austin Dillon and Daniel Hemric finished 20th and 23rd, respectively. Neither finished on the lead lap and both have failed to finish in the top 10 this season.