There have been a number of fantastic issues that got here out of Erik Jones‘ victory at Darlington Raceway this previous weekend. Jones gained his third profession NASCAR Cup Sequence race, crew chief Dave Elenz gained his first profession Cup Sequence occasion and Petty GMS Motorsports gained its first race as a company.

The group was shaped previous to the 2022 season as a two-car operation, taking the 2 charters from Richard Petty Motorsports. There weren’t many expectations for the staff however after Jones’ victory and younger polarizing Noah Gragson driving the second automotive in 2023, these expectations might change heading into subsequent yr.

However how a lot? That’s the query. Will Petty GMS be a champion contender within the close to future? Amy Henderson and Vito Pugliese debate simply how good the group can be within the coming years.

Who’s Down with STP – Yeah You Know Me!

2022 has been a transition yr for a lot of causes within the NASCAR Cup Sequence. A very new automotive within the Subsequent Gen platform, new venues and calendar shakeups, and a altering of the guard is underway with new groups and drivers changing into perennial contenders.

Some acquainted pictures have returned as nicely in current weeks, most not too long ago with the No. 3 in victory lane at Daytona Worldwide Speedway, and in final weekend’s Southern 500, the No. 43 notched win No. 200 with Jones bringing probably the most storied quantity in NASCAR again to prominence. Whereas the No. 43 has proven flashes of brilliance during the last 25 years, it has been far faraway from its heyday within the early-mid Nineteen Seventies, when Petty Enterprises was the goal everybody was aiming for.

Is its newest iteration within the type of Petty GMS Motorsports a fleeting second of glory or is it about to develop into the most recent staff to develop into a risk to win every week?

I consider it’s the true deal.

This isn’t merely a euphoric feel-good touch upon the heels of a signature victory – we’re not going to begin counting down 10 consecutive wins prefer it’s 1967, with the eleventh win to be the primary of seven Daytona 500s in February subsequent yr.

The emergence of this group began again on the LA Coliseum with a fourth-place end within the Busch Conflict and carried over by way of to the Daytona 500. Should you’ve tracked the No. 43 this yr, this can be a staff that has been punching nicely above its weight, and by no means resembles the one which was in place when Jones first joined the staff – or when Bubba Wallace departed. Persistently hovering across the low teenagers and high 10, the No. 43 has by no means had this type of constant velocity and talent to advance throughout a race since arguably when John Andretti and Bobby Hamilton have been on the controls.

The No. 43 was within the high 10 for many of this yr’s Daytona 500 earlier than getting caught up in an accident with eight laps to go.

It adopted that up with a entrance row begin at Auto Membership Speedway, main laps by way of pure velocity – not pit cycles – and shutting it out with a third-place end. Jones narrowly missed one other win at Talladega Superspeedway had he not wandered out too far in entrance of the sector exiting flip 4 on the ultimate lap, and couldn’t block three lanes of visitors directly.

The ultimate lap at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Jones was behind Corey LaJoie shoving him to the lead heading into flip 1 on the ultimate lap. At Daytona two weeks in the past, Jones led 22 laps earlier than getting caught up within the rainstorm wreckage with 21 laps to go. Had he even managed a high 10, the staff would have three consecutive top-10 finishes following their win at Darlington. As it’s, they’ve three high 10s within the final 5 races.

Level being, this isn’t only a flash-in-the-pan win. It is a staff constructing consistency.

What’s extra, it’s a staff that has a teammate that’s destined to go elsewhere subsequent season, with Ty Dillon departing and Noah Gragson changing him within the No. 42. Gragson managed his first high 5 at Daytona (positive, three-fourths of the sector was eradicated…) and as Richard Petty mentioned on Sirius XM Monday almost about Gragson, “If there’s a gap there, he’ll go for it; if there ain’t, he’s making one.”

It is a burgeoning group that jogs my memory of Trackhouse Racing Workforce. As an alternative of Mr. Worldwide, they’ve The King.

Maury Gallagher may not have the motive force resume or tattoos like Justin Marks, however he additionally didn’t begin with Chip Ganassi Racing’s infrastructure both. The Allegiant Airline CEO bought the staff and positioned Mike Beam as President of the reborn race staff, they usually’ve been steadily constructing a program to be happy with. Jones, not in contrast to Daniel Suarez, had an identical “thanks for coming, now depart” go round at Joe Gibbs Racing – regardless of successful at Daytona and Darlington – and never with out Kyle Busch’s former championship-winning staff and crew chief like Christopher Bell has acquired.

Gragson has had sufficient contact with opponents to conjure up pictures of Ross Chastain – buying and selling a 5 o’clock shadow and melon smashing for a mullet and shot-gunning a Busch Gentle with the followers after a win.

That is going to be a enjoyable staff to observe, with sufficient legacy nostalgia to harken again to a brand new period, whereas constructing its personal imaginative and prescient of a successful race staff.

It was that the one races that you simply’d count on to see the No. 43 as a risk could be at Daytona or Talladega, or a highway course when Marcos Ambrose was driving the No. 9 within the 2010s. After successful the Southern 500, 55 years to the day of the final time the enduring quantity was in victory lane, it’s helped set up a brand new normal of expectations for efficiency of the staff that largely existed as a stroll down reminiscence lane a number of instances a yr. It is a group that can be within the playoff dialog within the seasons to come back. – Vito Pugliese

And not using a True Teammate for Jones, A Title Run Gained’t Occur

Erik Jones’ win on Sunday (Sept. 4) was widespread, and a great one for the game and the followers.

You had Richard Petty, without end NASCAR’s King, returning to victory lane as an proprietor for the 2 hundredth time. You had Jones, a driver who was labeled the longer term by Joe Gibbs Racing … till Bell got here alongside and Jones was unceremoniously dumped.

It’s the primary win for Maury Gallagher within the Cup Sequence, and a victory for an underfunded two-car staff.

There’s nothing to not like right here.

Jones has been stable all yr, and he might undoubtedly put collectively an identical run or two subsequent yr to make the playoffs. However is the staff on the way in which to being a real contender?

No. And it has nothing to do with Jones.

Smaller groups have a troublesome row to hoe to be aggressive. That’s to not say they will’t. Trackhouse is operating with the highest groups each week, and typically beating them. It has two drivers within the playoffs this yr. 23XI Racing has put two completely different drivers in victory lane since final fall, and is at present operating for an proprietor’s title.

These groups could also be a step forward of Petty GMS Motorsports when it comes to funding, and that’s an enormous a part of the equation. Sponsorship isn’t straightforward to drum up.

However what’s holding the staff again as an entire is the motive force of the No. 42.

Cash and tools are arduous to come back by. So when a staff can herald a driver who can add one thing in that class, it’s a significant boon. Nevertheless it’s additionally a double-edged sword, as a result of not each driver who can provide the staff one thing is the appropriate individual for the job.

It’s not nearly Ty Dillon; the truth is he’s not likely a think about dialogue concerning the future at this level. He’s a symptom of an even bigger downside within the sport by way of little fault of his personal.

Dillon can deliver a staff one thing vital: a bit extra from a staff’s relationship with Richard Childress Racing. Be it tools or info, it’s enticing to a staff seeking to acquire a foothold. However two instances Dillon has come to a staff with hopes of improved efficiency for the group and twice he hasn’t delivered. Jones might have benefitted from something the staff gained from RCR however Dillon’s numbers don’t ship.

Jones is 18th in factors with one win, three high fives and 10 high 10s. With somewhat luck he may need had a number of extra. Dillon has one high 10 and is twenty ninth in factors. When a driver is struggling, it’s arduous to deliver so much to the desk that may assist a staff progress; he’s attempting to determine easy methods to run higher himself.

Dillon won’t return to the No. 42 subsequent yr. He’ll get replaced by Gragson, one other driver with cash behind his profession.

If their Xfinity careers are any indication, Gragson would be the extra gifted between himself and Dillon. He has 4 wins this season, a career-high and will nicely be a title contender.

So why is he the fallacious alternative for the No. 42?

Gragson hasn’t proven that he might be the type of staff participant that the staff must get to the subsequent stage. On monitor, he’s a hothead who typically forgets the larger image for each himself and his teammates. His driving fashion is one he can use to his benefit within the Xfinity Sequence with less-experienced drivers and lower-budget groups, however it gained’t win him any pals on the Cup stage besides possibly Ross Chastain for taking the warmth off him.

To take the staff to the subsequent stage, everybody needs to be a pacesetter in his personal proper. Gragson hasn’t proven that skill but. Jones has proven maturity and teamwork, starting in his personal Xfinity days. You’ll be able to’t say it’s an age distinction. Jones is simply two years older than Gragson.

When Gragson moved from the clogged Toyota pipeline and Kyle Busch Motorsports to JR Motorsports, the primary expertise provider for Hendrick Motorsports, he seemed to be positioning himself for a shot on the No. 48 automotive after Jimmie Johnson’s retirement, however that didn’t materialize.

There’s a motive for that, and if Petty GMS is overlooking or discounting that motive, they might be in for a rougher experience than they suppose.

Gragson has expertise, and he can in all probability contend for a win or two as Jones has. However the query is whether or not he can develop into the chief that helps to raise each his staff and Jones’.

Chemistry issues in racing. Gragson hasn’t made many pals, and has even acquired public criticism from staff proprietor Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his on-track actions.

Petty GMS is a staff that has already proven it may possibly develop as a company, placing collectively sturdy runs for Jones till every bit fell into place for the win. To take it to the subsequent stage, they want a robust connection amongst crew chiefs, automotive chiefs, drivers and groups. As a smaller staff, they’re already behind the eight-ball, and might’t afford a weak hyperlink.

To make both staff a title contender, the group wants them to each carry out … after which to work collectively and share and study from each other. Proper now, I’m not assured that they’ll have that. The No. 42 has the texture of a rich-kid experience greater than part of a bigger staff. A driver can deliver cash and backing, but when he doesn’t deliver a willingness and talent to work towards the larger image, no one actually wins. -Amy Henderson

Amy is an 18-year veteran NASCAR author and a five-time Nationwide Motorsports Press Affiliation (NMPA) writing award winner, together with first place awards for each columns and race protection. In addition to serving as Photograph Editor, Amy writes The Massive 6 (Mondays) after each NASCAR Cup Sequence race. She can be discovered filling in every now and then on The Frontstretch 5 (Wednesdays) and her month-to-month commentary Holding A Fairly Wheel (Thursdays). A New Hampshire native dwelling in North Carolina, Amy’s work credit have prolonged in all places from driver Kenny Wallace’s web site to Athlon Sports activities. She can be heard weekly as a panelist on the Arduous Left Flip podcast that may be discovered on AccessWDUN.com’s Across the Monitor web page.

Vito is among the longest-tenured writers at Frontstretch, becoming a member of the workers in 2007. Along with his column Voice of Vito (month-to-month, Fridays) he’s a contributor to a number of different shops, together with Athlon Sports activities and Well-liked Pace along with making radio appearances. He without end has a soft-spot in his coronary heart for outdated Mopars and presumably oil-soaked cardboard in his storage.

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