Some snazzy new bodies were released on the cusp of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. Ford came up with its Dark Horse Mustang model, and Toyota came up with its Camry XSE. Only Chevrolet stuck to its Camaro ZL1. Yet when the races flagged off, only the Chevys soared to Victory Lane until Christopher Bell got in the Toyotas at Phoenix Raceway. Meanwhile, the Fords were nowhere to be seen.

But after going halfway through the season, this narrative is evidently changing. Ford is on a roll, while the other OEMs are lagging behind. The spotlight is on Chevy for its drab streak, and a serious discussion is afoot about their imminent doom.

The fall of the dominators of NASCAR?

Over the opening 12 weeks of the season, Chevrolet and Toyota were busy stacking wins. It was like an equivalent battle between Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing, the two stellar Cup teams representing the two OEMs. Ford dominates its rivals with a whopping eight wins already. However, their glory is on a downward trend, given only Hendrick’s presence on the winners’ chart.

Rubbin’ Is Racing co-host Michael McCarthy, aka Large Barstool, recently harped on this crucial point. Pointing out that the Chevy bandwagon would be a dry desert if not for Rick Hendrick’s garage, McCarthy said, “As much as Ford has been on the come…Ford looks very good. Chevy is not owned by Hendrick Motorsports, has not looked good – Trackhouse, Spire, RCR, and Kaulig. Outside of Hendrick this week, the best Chevy was a P-16. And only Suarez is a non-HMS Chevy that has a win in 2024.” 

Despite Alex Bowman continuing the Chevy streak in Chicago, Ford is close at their heels. Large Barstool started with a four-word declaration: “Chevys are in trouble.”

Then he suggested a possible reversal of roles between the two OEMs, given Ford’s slow growth at the season’s beginning. “We spoke about at the beginning of the season how much trouble the Fords were in, even though they had swept the championship in 2023. But now Fords have been on a tear – particularly Penske. Since Joey’s All-Star win, Blaney has his second win now in five races.”

Chevrolet’s lagging situation is due to a variety of reasons. Firstly, Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch’s lackluster season comes up. The 63-time Cup winner is currently amidst his longest slump, having gone 41 races without scraping Victory Lane. Then Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain is also mysteriously faltering—the stellar driver faced several upsets recently that stole his chances for possible victories.

Hence Barstool aptly suggested, “So it seems like things have flip-flopped. I know that Hendrick is the cream of the crop and all that kind of s**t. But outside of that…Chevy is a very top-heavy manufacturer right now, particularly in the Cup Series.”

On the other hand, Fords have been soaring, since Brad Keselowski’s breakthrough win at Darlington Raceway. And Ryan Blaney, who stamped his second win, recently admitted to the hot streak.

The defending champ is ready to defend

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After coming off a spectacular end to the 2023 season, Ryan Blaney was pumped for 2024. Carrying a championship title was no mean thing, but unfortunately, the Team Penske driver could not find his speed initially. He ran into a few untoward wrecks, starting with the Daytona 500. But after his fuel misery in Gateway, the No. 12 driver gritted his teeth for a blazing streak. Stacking wins in Iowa and Pocono, Blaney can now boast a winning streak in less than five races.

And Ryan Blaney acknowledges the boost that the Fords got in the latter half of the season. Despite a few upsets, the Penske team found their speed, and Blaney was ecstatic after the Pocono race. “Yeah, I mean, I feel like the last two months we’ve been spectacular,” Blaney said in his post-race press conference. “Speed in our cars has been great. A couple finishes might not reflect that. It’s really none of our doing. Gateway we had a great shot to win, didn’t really work out. New Hampshire, had a great run, got spun out. I am really feeling good about the speed in our cars right now across the board at Team Penske. I feel like we’ve found a lot of stuff.”

Evidently, Blaney’s glory could inspire his Ford compatriots to fetch some more wins this NASCAR season. Meanwhile, Chevrolet is being pressured to perform better. Let us wait and see what fate the championship races hold for these competitive OEMs.