Through six races of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, only two drivers have more than one victory, with Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski each winning two apiece. It may be too early to predict but these two look like early championship favorites.
Who else can be thrown into the mix? Do we have a Big Three like we had last season? Is 2019 still wide open?
Meanwhile, the Gander Outdoors Truck Series has had an exciting start to the 2019 season, regardless of whether you like Kyle Busch running in the series and winning in his three starts. Outside of that, the series has had some awesome racing and very good races in general.
Is this the most competitive season in the series? Who can be favorites all season long? Can somebody surprise and shake up the standings later on this season and race for a championship?
Q: Based on the early part of this season, who would you consider this year’s favorites for the Cup championship already? Zachary S., Macon, GA
A: Last season, we established very early on that there was going to be a Big Three throughout the year with Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. I don’t that happening this season, though, mostly, because of how unpredictable every week is going to be with the package being used for the first time at all of these tracks.
That’s not to say an underdog team will steal the show and win, but it does mean that the best teams will still rise to the top as they have so far this season.
Both Busch and Keselowski have two wins each, and they are running up front every week. Frankly, it’s not surprising for either of them, and something is telling me that both will definitely still be on top as the favorites for the title in November down in Homestead-Miami.
Busch has dominated NASCAR, in general, this season, winning seven of the 12 races he’s entered to date.
Keselowski is the kind of driver that usually starts out the year with a few wins and then quietly runs consistently throughout the summer months before making some noise once we get into the playoffs. Expect him to do the same, but potentially earning a few more wins through the summertime.
There are still other drivers like Joey Logano and Harvick who will contend all season and win some races, but Busch and Keselowski seem to be a step above everybody right now.
Q: Do you see the Truck Series being more competitive than ever before this season with no clear cut favorite right now? Lindsay P., Boca Raton, FL
A: With no true favorite so far this year, this may indeed be one of the best Truck Series seasons we have seen in a long time. Yes, you can say it’s been boring because Kyle Busch has run in every race but one so far, but once he is done, the series regulars will definitely mix it up.
Last season, you could easily say Johnny Sauter and Brett Moffitt were the class of the field all season long. However, this year, both are with new teams and even though they are still strong, they have not started off the way they did the last few seasons (or in Moffitt’s case, last season).
You have a series veteran in Matt Crafton who has not won a race in a long time and is long overdue to get back to Victory Lane. He has two championships to his name and he definitely should find his way back to the winner’s circle this year. ThorSport Racing has a very strong driver lineup, and all should have a chance to win the championship this season. There are very realistic chances that all four of its teams will make the playoffs.
GMS Racing with Moffitt definitely will win some races this season, and they may even sneak in a win with rookie Sheldon Creed. Add Stewart Friesen in the mix as well. There is not a driver in the series that deserves to find Victory Lane more than him. He has been close on multiple occasions and should definitely win a race or two and find his way into the playoffs this year.
Kyle Busch Motorsports has two very talented drivers in Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland. Neither have found Victory Lane yet but expect them to do so soon.
You can see with just some of the drivers listed here that this series is more competitive than ever before. The racing so far has been great, as it always is, and it should continue to only get better as we reach the middle part of the season.
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About the author
Brandon is a 22-year-old from NY and has been a passionate follower of motorsports for 14 years now. He recently graduated from Molloy College on Long Island with a BA in Communications. Working within NASCAR has been a dream for Brandon for a while, and he hopes to be able to live out the dream in the very near future.
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