The 16 teams competing in the 2022 NASCAR Owner’s Championship Playoffs looked slightly different from the Driver’s Championship.
The 2022 NASCAR Owner’s Championship Playoffs were something that fans paid more attention to this season compared to recent years. That is due to the possibility of having a different Owner and Driver Champion for the first time since 1963.
For the 2022 NASCAR Driver Playoffs, there were 16 drivers who found themselves competing for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship. However, these same 16 drivers were not the same drivers competing for the NASCAR Owner Championship.
The regular season for the NASCAR Cup Series ended at Daytona with 16 different winners. However, Kurt Busch, one of the winners, was injured during a qualifying crash at Pocono and missed a significant number of races before the NASCAR Playoffs were about to start. Busch decided to withdraw his medical waiver, which made him no longer eligible for the Driver Playoffs, which allowed Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney to qualify for the Driver Playoffs without a win.
Ryan Blaney would go on to finish 8th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, but 17th in the Owner Standings.
The 23XI No. 45 was still eligible for the Owner Playoffs, so 23XI Racing decided to switch Bubba Wallace to the No. 45 to compete for the Owner Championship and put Ty Gibbs into Wallace’s No. 23, while Team Penske’s No. 12 failed to make the Owner Playoffs.
So how did the NASCAR Owner’s Championship standings change during the 10 playoff races? A look at who improved and who fell between September 4 and November 6. The following lists where each team finished the NASCAR Owner’s Championship Playoffs after Phoenix, and compares the position to where they started the Owner Playoffs before the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington.
1st: Team Penske No. 22, Joey Logano, (+1)
Team Penske’s driver of the No. 22 Ford Joey Logano finished 1st in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while also finishing 1st in the Owner Standings. Logano started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 2nd and moved up one position to finish 1st.
- Logano’s Playoff stats: 2 wins, 4 top-fives, 5 top-tens, 12.1 average finish.
2nd: TrackHouse Racing No. 1, Ross Chastain, (+1)
TrackHouse Racing’s driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet Ross Chastain finished 2nd in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while also finishing 2nd in the Owner Standings. Chastain started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 3rd and moved up one position to finish 2nd.
- Chastain’s Playoff stats: 0 wins, 5 top-fives, 7 top-tens, 9.8 average finish.
3rd: Hendrick Motorsports No. 5, Kyle Larson, (+1)
Hendrick Motorsports’ driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Kyle Larson finished 7th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while finishing 3rd in the Owner Standings. Larson started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 4th and moved up one position to finish 3rd.
- Larson’s Playoff stats: 1 win, 3 top-fives, 6 top-tens, 13.4 average finish.
4th: Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20, Christopher Bell, (+5)
Joe Gibbs Racing’s driver of the No. 20 Toyota Christopher Bell finished 3rd in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while finishing 4th in the Owner Standings. Bell started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 9th and moved up five positions to finish 4th.
- Bell’s Playoff stats: 2 wins, 5 top-fives, 6 top-tens, 12.0 average finish.
5th: Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11, Denny Hamlin, (+1)
Embed from Getty Images
Joe Gibbs Racing’s driver of the No. 11 Toyota Denny Hamlin finished 5th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while also finishing 5th in the Owner Standings. Hamlin started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 6th and moved up one position to finish 5th.
- Hamlin’s Playoff stats: 0 wins, 5 top-fives, 9 top-tens, 6.6 average finish.
6th: Hendrick Motorsports No. 24, William Byron, (-1)
Hendrick Motorsports’ driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet William Byron finished 6th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while also finishing 6th in the Owner Standings. Byron started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 5th and lost one position to finish 6th.
- Byron’s Playoff stats: 0 wins, 1 top-five, 6 top-tens, 9.0 average finish.
7th: Hendrick Motorsports No. 9, Chase Elliott, (-6)
Hendrick Motorsports’ driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Chase Elliott finished 4th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while finishing 7th in the Owner Standings. Elliott started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 1st (Regular Season Champion) and lost six positions to finish 7th.
- Elliott’s Playoff stats: 1 win, 2 top-fives, 3 top-tens, 17.5 average finish.
8th: Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14, Chase Briscoe, (+3)
Stewart-Haas Racing’s driver of the No. 14 Ford Chase Briscoe finished 9th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while finishing 8th in the Owner Standings. Briscoe started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 11th and moved up three positions to finish 8th.
- Briscoe’s Playoff stats: 0 wins, 3 top-fives, 6 top-tens, 13.1 average finish.
9th: TrackHouse Racing No. 99, Daniel Suárez, (+4)
TrackHouse Racing’s driver of the No. 99 Chevrolet Daniel Suárez finished 10th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while finishing 9th in the Owner Standings. Suárez started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 13th and moved up four positions to finish 9th.
- Suárez’s Playoff stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 3 top-tens, 16.5 average finish.
10th: 23XI Racing No. 45, Bubba Wallace (9) & John Hunter Nemechek (1), (+2)
23XI Racing’s driver of the No. 45 Toyota Bubba Wallace finished 19th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while helping 23XI finish 10th in the Owner Standings. Wallace started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 12th and moved up two positions to finish 10th.
Wallace ran 9 of the 10 Playoff races in the No. 45 subbing for Kurt Busch, while John Hunter Nemechek ran one of the Playoff races due to Wallace receiving a one-race suspension for intentionally wrecking Larson.
- Wallace’s Playoff stats: 1 win, 1 top-five, 4 top-tens, 17.0 average finish.
- Nemechek’s Playoff stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 0 top-tens, 27.0 average finish.
11th: Richard Childress Racing No. 3, Austin Dillon, (+5)
Richard Childress Racing’s driver of the No.3 Chevrolet Austin Dillon finished 11th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while also finishing 11th in the Owner Standings. Dillon started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 16th and moved up five positions to finish 11th.
- Dillon’s Playoff stats: 0 wins, 1 top-five, 3 top-tens, 16.2 average finish.
12th: Team Penske No.2, Austin Cindric, (+2)
Team Penske’s driver of the No. 2 Ford Austin Cindric finished 12th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while also finishing 12th in the Owner Standings. Cindric started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 14th and moved up two positions to finish 12th.
Due to Cindric being the only NASCAR Cup Series rookie to win a race this season (Daytona 500), he was named NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year.
- Cindric’s Playoff stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 1 top-ten, 17.8 average finish.
13th: Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18, Kyle Busch, (-3)
Joe Gibbs Racing’s driver of the No.18 Toyota Kyle Busch finished 13th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while also finishing 13th in the Owner Standings. Busch started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 10th and lost three positions to finish 13th.
- Busch’s Playoff stats: 0 wins, 2 top-fives, 4 top-tens, 19.7 average finish.
14th: Richard Childress Racing No. 8, Tyler Reddick, (-7)
Richard Childress Racing’s driver of the No.8 Chevrolet Tyler Reddick finished 14th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while also finishing 14th in the Owner Standings. Reddick started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 7th and lost seven positions to finish 14th.
- Reddick’s Playoff stats: 1 win, 2 top-fives, 4 top-tens, 19.9 average finish.
15th: Hendrick Motorsports No. 48, Alex Bowman (5) & Noah Gragson (5), (+0)
Hendrick Motorsports’ driver of the No.48 Alex Bowman finished 16th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while helping the No. 48 finish 15th in the Owner Standings. Bowman started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 15th and remained there. Bowman ran half of the Playoff races after being sidelined due to a concussion after a crash at Texas. Noah Gragson ran the other five Playoff races in the No.48 subbing for Bowman.
- Bowman’s Playoff stats: 0 wins, 1 top-five, 2 top-tens, 21.8 average finish.
- Gragson’s Playoff stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 0 top-tens, 20.6 average finish.
16th: Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4, Kevin Harvick. (-8)
Stewart-Haas Racing’s driver of the No.4 Ford Kevin Harvick finished 15th in the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings, while finishing 16th in the Owner Standings. Harvick started the NASCAR Owner Playoffs in 8th and lost eight positions to finish 16th. Harvick was docked 100 Driver and Owner points after the team was penalized by NASCAR for modifications found on his vehicle after Talladega.
- Harvick’s Playoff stats: 0 wins, 2 top-fives, 5 top-tens, 17.0 average finish.
Overall Summation
The teams that saw the most improvement during the NASCAR Owner’s Championship Playoffs were:
- Joe Gibbs Racing’s No.20
- Richard Childress Racing’s No.3
Both teams gained five spots during the Owner Playoffs.
The teams that saw the worst deterioration were:
- Stewart-Haas Racing’s No.4 (-8 positions)
- Richard Childress Racing’s No.8 (-7 positions)
- Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 9 (-6 positions).
