2013 NASCAR Midseason Grades

With half of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup series complete and an off-week this weekend, I figure it's time to hand out my grades for teams that compete.  I'm only doing the bigger teams, not teams like NEMCO or BK Racing.

ROUSH FENWAY RACING
Carl Edwards has a win in Phoenix while Greg Biffle won at Michigan and both are in the top-10 in points at this point of time.  Rookie Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. has filled in the vacant shoes left by Matt Kenseth nicely, but doesn't have a top-10 finish yet.  Things can change in the 2nd half and more wins by these drivers are encouraged. I'm giving RFR a B

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS
Jimmie Johnson has 4 wins, Kasey Kahne has a win, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has come close, while Jeff Gordon has been struggling due to bad luck.  Johnson & Earnhardt are 1st and 5th in points respectively.  Kahne is 10th with a win and Gordon is 12th.  The problem with the 24 car right now is Gordon does not have a win yet (has 5 DNFs) and he needs to do so at Indianapolis or another track to solidify a possible championship spot.  Kahne has 5 top-5 finishes and Junior is hanging around, looking for his first win in 2013.  Johnson right now has a perfect spot.  I'm giving HMS a A-

JOE GIBBS RACING
Matt Kenseth has fit in nicely with his new team after 14 years with RFR and already has 4 wins to prove it.  Kenseth won at Las Vegas, Kansas, Darlington & Kentucky.  3 of those tracks are 1.5 miles long, which is huge, especially in the chase.  The problem with Kenseth is that he has had 4 finishes of 30th or worse in the 1st half of the season.  Kyle Busch has been consistent, leading all active drivers with 9 top-5 finishes.  Rowdy has 2 wins this season, coming at Auto Club (CA) & Texas.  Denny Hamlin was involved in a wreck at California, and missed 4 races.  Mark Martin & Brian Vickers did a great job filling in for the 11, but the problem Hamlin has is that is 25th in points, and really needs 2 or 3 wins in order to grab a Chase spot.  I'm giving JGR a B+

STEWART-HAAS RACING
The team owned by Tony Stewart has really had a down year.  Tony Stewart had bad luck with wrecking at Daytona & Bristol has been inconsistent.  Luckily, Stewart won at Dover due to fuel mileage strategy which did not work for him at Loudon.  Stewart sits 13th in points, but owns a wild-card spot in the Chase due to his win at Dover.  Ryan Newman has also struggled and rookie Danica Patrick is showing signs of improvement.  I'm giving SHR a C+

MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING
Martin Truex, Jr. has a win at Sonoma and part-time driver Brian Vickers took the checkered flag in 1st at Loudon.  Mark Martin has done fairly well, and Clint Bowyer sits in 2nd in points.  Bowyer finished 2nd at Martinsville & Richmond, two tracks in which he has a good record.  Both Truex & Bowyer have a good shot at the Chase.  I'm giving MWR a A-

RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING
RCR has done well in 2013.  Kevin Harvick (in his last season before moving to Stewart-Haas Racing) already has 2 wins at Richmond & Charlotte, sitting 4th in points.  Jeff Burton is in contention for a possible Chase spot, but needs some more Top-5 finishes (finished 3rd at Loudon).  Paul Menard is 21st, but has only 4 Top-10 finishes.  I'm giving RCR a C+

PENSKE RACING
Penske Racing is having an opposite year from Brad Keselowski's championship season in 2012.  After failing post-race inspections and the suspension of Paul Wolfe (Keselowski's crew chief), the 2 car has not been the same after the Texas race.  Keselowski hasn't won yet, but has 6 top-5 finishes and sits 9th in points.  Joey Logano has 5 Top-5 finishes, but is 18th points and has 2 finishes of 40th in the last 2 races.  I'm giving Penske Racing a C

GANASSI RACING
Juan Pablo Montoya almost won his first oval race at Richmond, only to finish 2nd.  He also had a chance to win at Dover, but finished 2nd.  Right now, he sits in 23rd in points, and had a chance to win at Sonoma, but chances faded late.  Watkins Glen is coming up though.  Jamie McMurray however has only 1 top-5 finish and that was 2nd at Kentucky.  McMurray is starting to improve and is 15th in points.  A win could give him a chance at a Chase spot.  I'm giving Ganassi Racing a B-

PETTY MOTORSPORTS
Aric Almirola got his 1st top-5 finish at New Hampshire last week and is 16th in points, another driver in wild-card contention.  Almirola is getting better this season and getting more mature.  His teammate, Marcos Ambrose is 22nd, raced well at Sonoma, but can 3-peat at Watkins Glen.  Also, Ambrose needs a few more consistent finishes for Chase possibilities.  Petty Motorsports gets a B

FURNITURE ROW RACING
Lastly, I'm going with the 1-car operation of Furniture Row Racing, which fields the car for Kurt Busch.  After struggling the last few years on and off the track, Kurt Busch has finally got himself together with 4 top-5s and 8 top-10s.  Kurt Busch was 9th in points going into Loudon, but a late-race wreck drops him to 14th.  Busch needs a win and more top-5 finishes for a possible Chase spot for a young team.  I'm giving Furniture Row a B+