by Patrick Zier | Sep 16, 2026 |
It was a beatdown the likes of which have rarely been seen in Cup racing this year. And taking all the blows was Toyota, which, if there has been a beatdown like this before, was the one who administered it. Not this time, though. Not last Sunday at St. Louis.
This time it was Kyle Larson and Chevy who put on the show, or more specifically, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevy’s top team, which has struggled to get competitive all season but demonstrated new life at St. Louis. When the race was finally over and the last mangled brake rotor had been cleaned up, Larson was in victory lane and there wasn’t a Toyota in sight.
The top Toyota finisher was Toyota’s top driver, Denny Hamlin, but he was a distant 9th. The next closest was Ty Gibbs in 18th. This kind of thing just doesn’t happen to Toyota, or at least it hasn’t happened this year. There was not a single Toyota in the top five, and discounting the three superspeedways, that’s the first time this season Toyota has been shut out. If you want to throw in the superspeedways, it also happened at Talladega this spring.
But even more shocking then that, Toyota never led a single lap. That’s right. For the first time in 28 races, superspeedways included, there was never a Toyota leading the race. That most likely is a one-off, and almost assuredly won’t happen again, the Toyota’s are simply too strong, but it does give Larson and the Chevys (more so than the Fords) a glimmer of hope.
For the record, the four Hendrick Chevys finished first (Larson), second (Alex Bowman), fourth (William Byron) and 31st (Chase Elliott). Elliott actually ran well during the race, staying in the top 10 and often running as high as fifth before a brake rotor exploded on lap 214 putting him out of commission.
Meanwhile, the other power team in the sport, and the team which has been crushing the competition – including Hendrick – all year, JGR, struggled for the first time this season, its four cars finishing ninth (Hamlin), 18th (Gibbs), 19th (Christopher Bell) and 32nd (Chase Briscoe). According to lapraptor.com, Briscoe was running sixth when Elliott’s brake rotor broke and he was caught up in the wreck, making him collateral damage.
The big question here, of course, is can Hendrick keep this up? Has it finally solved the balance problems that have been holding Chevy back all year? And if it has, what took so long? This team has as many resources as anybody and probably more than everybody except JGR.
The answer is lack of communication. Unlike the JGR cars who share openly with each other and also with Michael Jordan’s 23XI team, the Hendrick cars didn’t share information and were actually centered on gaining an advantage over their teammates. This is one reason they’ve had so much difficulty adjusting to the new car. Everybody working together is better than everybody working for themselves, and it seems they’ve finally figured that out.
Larson, Hendrick’s top driver and really the only competitive Hendrick car this season, went 51 races without a win (including last year’s NASCAR championship, which shows how ridiculous the NASCAR point system is) until Sunday at St. Louis.
He says he never doubted that he and Hendrick would make a comeback. “We’ve definitely been building to get back to victory lane,” Larson said at his postrace press conference according to NASCAR’s website. “I don’t know that we’re to a point where we can go dominate like we have in the past, but a day like today (Sunday) definitely gives you confidence…It’s just been neat to see all the hard work pay off,” Larson commented.
Although he is behind the top three Toyotas of Hamlin, Bell and Tyler Reddick, Larson has been the strongest non-Toyota on NASCAR’s intermediate tracks all season according to the Old Guy Sport competition index. Hamlin leads with 428 points, Reddick has 271, Bell 266 and Larson 213.
This is important because if he’s going to make a run at the championship, he’ll have to do it on the intermediate ovals which comprise six of the 10 chase championship races. And so far, in the first two of those, Larson has a fifth at Darlington, where he got more OGS points for leading laps under green than anybody, and the win at St. Louis, where he and Ford’s Joey Logano dominated the race, leading 80% of the green flag laps.
“I’m just proud of everyone at Hendrick Motorsports for working hard but staying patient,” Larson commented. “just doing everything possible to try and find some grip and speed and all the things it takes…I always had trust in our team, the trust in (crew chief) Cliff Daniels. It’s not like we’ve gotten worse as a team or have forgotten how to build fast race cars.”
No, they haven’t. But it sure took them a long time to figure it out.
NASCAR NOTES
Three most likely winners at Bristol: 1-Ryan Blaney, 2-Joey Logano, 3-Ty Gibbs. Last year’s winner at Bristol: Christopher Bell. Top five at Bristol last year: 1-Bell, 2-Brad Keselowski, 3-Zane Smith, 4-Blaney, 5-Logano.
Last week’s OGS St. Louis picks: 1-Denny Hamlin, 2-Tyler Reddick, 3-Bell. St. Louis winner: Kyle Larson. OGS season record: 12-11.
OGS competition index top 10 after 23 races: 1-Hamlin 574 points, 2-Bell 445, 3-Reddick 383, 4-Larson 367, 5-Gibbs 335, 6-Chase Briscoe 316, 7-Blaney 300, 8-Logano 250, 9-Shane van Gisbergen 236, 10-Chase Elliott 192.
OGS competition index top 10 on short tracks (tracks most like Bristol): 1-Blaney 235, 2-Logano 177, 3-Gibbs 169, 4-Hamlin 146, 5-Bell 139, 6-Briscoe 101, 7-Larson 96, 8-Elliott 72, 9-Josh Berry 61, 10-Bubba Wallace 49.
by Patrick Zier | Sep 13, 2026 |
Right now, Toyota is the Jolly Green Giant of NASCAR, stomping its way to a championship – most likely – by crushing every Ford and Chevy in its path. Except for two. Chevy’s Kyle Larson is taking some big swings and for Ford, Ryan Blaney is having some success trying to trip them up. But that’s it. Take either one away and there’s not much left.
Toyota’s dominance is clearly shown by the Old Guy Sport competition index, which judges cars and teams by how they race instead of simply crossing the finish line, which is the primary criteria in the NASCAR points system. And when you use the OGS competition index, if it wasn’t for Larson and Blaney, Chevy and Ford might as well leave their cars in the garage.
It should also be noted that the OGS competition index does not count races run at the three superspeedways, Atlanta, Daytona and Talladega, because where you finish and leading laps is determined primarily by avoiding the “big wreck” and being in the right lane at the right time on the last lap, and most of that is out of the driver’s control.
By almost any competitive measure, Toyota’s dominance is staggering, something not seen in NASCAR in a long, long time, if ever. Going into Sunday’s race in Madison, Ill., an intermediate track just outside of St. Louis, Toyota holds down the first five places in the OGS competition index.
The four JGR drivers, Denny Hamlin (574 points), Christopher Bell (445), Ty Gibbs (335) and Chase Briscoe (316) are one-two-four and five, with another Toyota driven by Tyler Reddick third. Larson, with 305 points, and Blaney, with 300, are sixth and seventh, respectively.
As a team, the four JGR cars have 1,670 points. That’s more than Hendrick’s four cars, led by Larson, and Penske’s four cars, led by Blaney, have put together. The Wood brothers car, which is built by Penske, is included in the Penske totals, which have Hendrick with 651 points and Penske with just 612.
Looking at some other indicators, Toyotas have won 13 of the 22 non-superspeedway races while Chevy has five and Ford four. And Gibbs drivers have registered 46 top five finishes compared to 20 for Hendrick, 10 by Larson, and 14 for Penske including six from Blaney. So Toyota has won more races than Chevy and Ford combined and Gibbs has scored more top fives than Hendrick and Penske combined.
The Toyotas look to be in total control. Of the 10 playoff races, six are on intermediate tracks, three on short tracks and one on a superspeedway. So if you’re going to win in the playoffs, you need to be strong on the intermediate tracks and going into Sunday’s race at St. Louis, Toyota has won nine of the 11 run on those tracks so far.
While all this looks like a Toyota tidal wave, Larson is quietly becoming a threat to let the air out of Toyota’s tires. Checking the OGS competition index, he has scored points for leading races under green 13 times, more than any other driver. Hamlin is next with 12. And in the last two races, one at New Hampshire, a short track, and last Sunday at Darlington, an intermediate oval, Larson has a pair of fifth place finishes.
Speaking before the playoffs started, Larson said “I don’t think they change the way I think about a race or the way I approach a race,” according to NASCAR’s website. “This series is just really tough and the teams are really good. There’s a team or two that are just way faster than everybody right now,” he added.
“All 16 teams in this championship are, I think, very, very good and can go on runs, but the Toyotas are incredibly fast. We’ve seen that all year,” Blaney, Ford’s strongest entry, said according to NASCAR.com. “I think the Fords, for myself and the 22 (Joey Logano) and the 2 (Austin Cindric) and the 60 (Ryan Preece) and the 17 (Chris Buescher), I feel we’ve had a real good month and closed the gap there.”
In reality though, Blaney is the only Ford capable of running down the Toyotas, if anyone in a Ford can, and Larson looms as their biggest threat. That said, the Toyotas look almost untouchable, with Blaney and even Larson no more than an annoyance as they race to the finish far ahead of anybody else.
NASCAR NOTES
Three most likely winners at St. Louis: 1-Denny Hamlin, 2-Tyler Reddick, 3-Christopher Bell. Last year’s winner at St. Louis: Hamlin. Top five at St. Louis last year: 1-Hamlin, 2-Chase Briscoe, 3-Chase Elliott, 4-Ryan Blaney, 5-Joey Logano.
Last week’s Old Guy Sport Darlington picks: 1-Hamlin, 2-Reddick, 3-Bell. Last week’s winner at Darlington: Bell. OGS season record: 12-10.
OGS competition index top 10 after 22 races: 1-Hamlin 574 points, 2-Bell 445, 3-Reddick 383, 4-Ty Gibbs 335, 5-Briscoe 316, 6-Kyle Larson 305, 7-Blaney 300, 8-Shane van Gisbergen 226, 9-Logano 208, 10-Elliott 192.
OGS competition top 10 1-on intermediate tracks (tracks most similar to St. Louis): 1-Hamlin 428 points, 2-Reddick 271, 3-Bell 266, 4-Briscoe, Larson 151, 6-Elliott 120, 7-William Byron 99, 8-Corey Heim 78, 9-Brad Keselowski 63, 9-Gibbs 61, 10-Blaney 58.
by Patrick Zier | Sep 9, 2026 |
TAMPA – South Florida Coach Brian Hartline doesn’t want his team to be like Mike. He wants it to be like Army. And no, we’re not talking about going to the wishbone or some version of it. “We have a lot of respect for the way they operate,” Hartline said Tuesday before heading for West Point, N.Y. and Saturday’s game against the Black Knights.
“It kind of feeds into everything I believe in.”
Army doesn’t have a lot of size. It doesn’t have a lot of speed. It struggles against teams with superior talent, especially when it steps outside the Group of 6. And even in the Group of 6, specifically the American Conference, it often doesn’t measure up physically. What it does have is a lot of heart, a lot of pride and a no-quit attitude regardless of the circumstances.
“It’s not about your talent level,” Hartline said. “It’s about your skill and discipline level, your ability to develop skill based on the technique, based on the fundamentals you need to do your job and then your ability to develop the discipline to do it consistently, prepare for it the right way, execute the right way on game day. That’s what it’s about.”
Ever since he arrived on the South Florida scene, Hartline has preached those things to his team. He believes that when you get your mind focused on playing well and then go out and play well, when you stay within yourself and do what you’re supposed to do, the wins will come.
“There’s talent, there’s skill and there’s discipline,” Hartline continued. “Talent is kind of what God’s blessed you with and your job is to maximize that. Your skill and discipline development is purely on you. They kind of embody that,” Hartline said of Army.
“They maximize their skill and talent,” Hartline said. “They maximize from a discipline standpoint. They know what they’re supposed to do on each job and they know their job description. So, you know, I have a lot of respect for the way they operate.”
The big thing Army has going for it, especially in the wild, wild West that college football has become, is stability. Jeff Monken, its coach, is in his 13th year. Only four coaches in the college game have longer tenure. Because it is a service academy, Army doesn’t have to deal with the transfer portal, NIL or collectives.
Players come to Army because that’s where they want to be. Monken has a chance to develop them, integrate them into his system. And it shows. Army is always troublesome, sometimes good and occasionally very good, like when it won the American in 2024. The Black Knights haven’t had a losing season since 2015. Primarily, that’s because they run a jazzed-up version of the wishbone, an offense which is almost extinct.
Army’s opener against Bryant is a case in point. Army won, 59-3. Okay, you say, who cares? For heaven’s sake, it’s Bryant. But the story here is not that Army beat Bryant, it’s how they did it. Army gained 569 yards rushing with 16 different players carrying the ball. Everybody that suited up for the game played.
More importantly, Army was virtually mistake free. It ran 70 offensive plays, including 57 runs, and NEVER HAD A TURNOVER OR A SINGLE NEGATIVE PLAY. Let me repeat that, not one turnover or a single negative play. It had only one offensive penalty, for holding, and only one on defense, giving it two for the entire game. And that’s not unusual. In 2025, Army was the least penalized team in college football. It also led the country in time of possession.
“Why is it hard to play them? Probably because it’s aways difficult to go against somebody that’s pretty consistent,” Hartline commented. “They show up the right way. They do things the right way. They hold themselves accountable.
“Those are the kind of people you – frankly – probably don’t want to compete against and so I have a lot of respect for, you know, how they operate, what they do and the way they go about their business. So a great opportunity for us,” Hartline added.
“For them it’s not about what other people do, it’s about what they do. I have a lot of respect for that,” Hartline repeated. “And, you know, they’re expert at it. So they’re going to do a good job maximizing every drive, maximizing their skill set and what they’re best at.”
What Army wants to do is grind you up and spit you out. It’s what Army does. At Michie Stadium, there is a bronze plaque that every player touches before every home game. On it is inscribed a quote attributed to General George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff during World War II, although there is some question as to whether he actually said it. Doesn’t matter, because it embodies the essence of Army football.
“I want an officer for a secret and dangerous mission. I want an Army football player,” the plaque reads. And so Saturday, if USF is to win, it will, to borrow a slogan from the Army, have to be all it can be, because Army does what Army does, and nobody does it better.
