NASCAR'S Top Three Teams for 2009

With the start of the 2009 NASCAR season upon us, it's hard not to look at the top teams in the garage and wonder who the front runners will be. Due to the turbulent economy, the off season has been filled with mergers, acquisitions and some teams folding up shop completely. However, NASCAR's top Sprint Cup teams emerged intact and are ready to win the championship in 2009.

It's a sure bet that the top three teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage will be the Chevrolets of Hendrick Motorsports, the Fords of Roush-Fenway Racing and the Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing. These are the teams that provided the top drivers of last year. Kyle Busch in Joe Gibb's number 18 M&M's Toyota led the points most of the season, Roush-Fenway's Carl Edwards amassed ten wins in the number 99 Aflac Ford and finished second in the points, and the Hendrick number 48 Lowe's Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson dominated the Chase for the Championship and won his third consecutive title.

The depth of the Hendrick Motorsports team is second to none. This year, they will field more championship winning drivers than any other organization in the garage. Rick Hendrick's stable of drivers include Jeff Gordon, a four time Sprint Cup champion, Jimmie Johnson with three previous championships, Dale Earnhardt Jr. who has two NASCAR Nationwide series championships and who also happens to be the sport's most popular driver, and new to Hendrick this year is legendary driver Mark Martin, who has won championships in the ASA (American Speed Association) and the IROC series (International Race of Champions) and no less than four second place finishes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. This team's toughest competition most likely will come from within the organization.

Behind the Hendrick drivers stands a stout team of crew chiefs. Chad Knaus has been the driving force behind all of Johnson's championships. In fact, the team of Knaus & Johnson has never finished worse than fifth in the series points since Johnson entered the sport in 2002. Jeff Gordon is returning to competition this year with crew chief Steve Letarte who has been with the team since he was seventeen years old. Letarte was tutored by Gordon's first crew chief, the much respected Ray Evernham who led Gordon to his first three championships. Letarte keeps a firm hand on Gordon and puts quality cars on the track for him to drive. If not for the fierce dominance of teammate Johnson, Gordon would probably have a few more championships to his name.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., new to Hendrick last season, brings with him his cousin and long time crew chief Tony Eury Jr. Eury Jr. was the car chief on Earnhardt's car when he won the Nationwide series titles, and assumed the role of crew chief when his father and Earnhardt's uncle Tony Eury Sr. stepped down from the role. Eury Jr. learned from the best as Eury Sr. has been called 'one of the most respected crew chiefs' in the garage. Eury and the new AMP/National Guard team won three races last year (two of them being the Budweiser Shootout and the Gatorade 150 qualifying race at Daytona) and made the Chase for the championship. Now that the team has one year of getting used to new resources and leadership, they will surely be a force to be reckoned with this year.

Mark Martin inherits Hendrick's number 5 Kellogg's Chevy this year. This car, with former driver Terry Labonte, gave Hendrick his first Sprint Cup championship back in 1996. Martin will have crew chief Alan Gustafson who has had many wins in the past with former driver Kyle Busch, before Busch was hired by Joe Gibbs. This is a team that's been through several drivers in the past years, but has never faltered. They are poised for a championship this year as is driver Martin. All the Hendrick cars benefit from the experiences and resources of the organization as a whole...and with a crew chief the caliber of Chad Knaus as part of the package, it's very hard to go wrong betting on any of the Hendrick teams.

The Fords of Roush-Fenway Racing will also be tough to beat this year. This organization boasts another bevy of past champions, led by Matt Kenseth (driver of the number 17 DeWalt Ford) with two Sprint Cup titles to his name. Although Matt went winless last year, he has started off the season with a bang by winning the sports greatest race, the 2009 Daytona 500. Kenseth lost long time crew chief Robbie Reiser last year when Reiser was promoted within the company. Kenseth begins this season with rookie crew chief Drew Blickensdurfer, with Reiser available for assistance at any time. Blickensdurfer may be in his first year as a Sprint Cup crew chief, but winning the Daytona 500 shows that his years as a Nationwide series crew chief have paid off. Look for the number 17 DeWalt Ford to be in the top 5 in the last ten laps of any given race this year.

Another one of Roush-Fenway's top performers is Greg Biffle in the number 16 3M Ford Fusion. Biffle has won championships in both the Camping World Truck series, and in the Nationwide Series. He strives to be the first driver in history to win championships in all three of NASCAR's top touring divisions. Biffle has long time crew chief Greg Erwin on the pit box calling the shots for him again this year, and this team is a proven winner.

Roush's youngest driver, David Ragan, is starting his third season this year. He showed marked improvement last year over his somewhat disastrous rookie season in 2007. (He became known as a 'dart without feathers'.) The dart gained feathers last season, and was one of the only drivers who was running at the end of all 36 races in 2008. This success is due to talent, and the careful guidance of championship winning crew chief Jimmy Fennig. Fennig won a championship in 2004 with driver Kurt Busch. Ragan ran so well last year that he has landed one of the most prestigious sponsors in the business, UPS.

Jamie McMurray in the number 26 Crown Royal Fusion will be an interesting team to watch in 2009. They seemed to get their act together late in the running in 2008 and had some good finishes after a mediocre start to the season. This year, McMurray will be teamed with former crew chief Donnie Wingo. The two worked together previously when McMurray drove for owner Chip Ganassi. The pair has a good working relationship, and team owners Jack Roush and John Henry have high hopes for the team this season.

Roush's fifth driver, and perhaps one of the strongest drivers in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint cup field is Carl Edwards, driver of the number 99 Aflac Ford. A former Nationwide series champion, Edwards was a real threat to Jimmie Johnson last season in pursuit of the series title. Edwards has a long time relationship with crew chief Bob Osborne, and the two have shared much success. Many experts are calling for Edwards to unseat three time champ Johnson this year. One of the fiercest competitors in the NASCAR garage, Edwards has demonstrated in the past that he will stop at nothing to win races. Who can forget his attempt to beat Johnson at the Kansas Speedway last year by trying to carom himself off of the wall to gain speed and pull around the number 48 Chevy to a certain victory. His attempt failed however, as the wall did nothing but slow him down. After the race, he explained that he was so desperate to win that he remembered executing that move in a video game once and it worked, so it seemed like a good idea at the time. He has since sworn that he'll never do that again... but you never know what he'll do when he's desperate.

The third of the powerhouse top three teams comes from the Toyota camp. The team is led by former Super Bowl champion coach Joe Gibbs and he boasts three Sprint Cup championships as an owner with former drivers Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart.

Joe Gibbs racing is dominated by the outspoken and frequently controversial driver Kyle Busch. (Kyle is the younger brother of the former champ Kurt Busch, also outspoken and controversial.) After being replaced at Hendrick Motorsports by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2008, Kyle, eager to prove to Hendrick that he'd made a mistake, went out and won a total of 21 races last year while competing in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck series simultaneously. He has an incredible ability to drive a racecar that is insanely loose. Kyle is the driver to watch if you want a good definition of the NASCAR term 'slideways'. Most of the time, he skids around the turns on the racetrack in such a manner that you can read the side numbers on the car instead of seeing the front grille which is what the TV cameras usually show. This particular talent lends itself well to the lack of handling common to the new 'car of tomorrow' that NASCAR introduced two years ago. The younger Busch, nicknamed the 'Shrub' (among other names...some cannot be printed), formed an instant bond with crew chief Steve Addington and the two have brought the Gibbs number 18 M&M's Toyota back to the winners circle. After leading the points most of the season last year, Busch had an incredible run of bad luck in the championship Chase. If not for a broken suspension part and a blown engine, he would have finished in the top three in points, giving Johnson and Edwards a run for the title. Look for him to be right back there this year, hopefully without the bad karma.

The other two drivers in the Gibbs stable are Denny Hamlin in the number 11 FedEx Camry, and a very young rookie named Joey Logano. Logano, who barely makes NASCAR's minimum age of 18, takes over the legendary number 20 from former Champ Tony Stewart. He also inherits a very valuable asset...crew chief Greg Zipadelli. 'Zippy', as he's usually referred to, chose to stay with Gibbs when Stewart left to start his own race team, Stewart-Haas Racing. Zippy guided the sometimes volatile Stewart to two championships and also guided his driver through some skirmishes with the press and with other drivers. Logano is a product of the Joe Gibbs development program, and has won races in almost all of the series that he's run in. He was the 2007 champion of the NASCAR Camping World East series. He brings a lot of talent to the Sprint Cup table, but will his lack of maturity hold him back? During speed weeks at Daytona, it was evident that he still needs to earn the respect of his new peers. His nickname is 'Sliced Bread' so hopefully he won't wind up as 'toast' at the end of the year. With the guidance of Greg Zipadelli, he should shape up to be a high quality competitor and continue to put the number 20 Home Depot Toyota in victory lane.

Hamlin and crew chief Mike Ford are a much respected team in the NASCAR garage. They've got a handful of wins under their belt and are poised to make a run for the title. Hamlin has had tremendous success in the Nationwide series and seems to be able to transfer the success to his Sprint Cup Camry. This team is always strong...look for them to visit Victory Lane this year and make the Chase for the Championship again as well.

There are other strong teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage, such as Richard Childress Racing, Yates Racing and the newly merged Earnhardt -Ganassi Racing. Also watch for the newly formed team of Stewart-Haas Racing, with former champ Tony Stewart and last year's Daytona 500 Champ Ryan Newman to have success. They will have support from Hendrick Motorsports, and you can't go wrong with that. It will be an interesting year...and as for predictions, I would put my money on Johnson for an unprecedented fourth title.

Sources: Jayski's.com, NASCAR.com